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1. Choosing market segment
The target marketfor anyB2B product or service isnotone homogeneousmass.Rather,itcan
usuallybe dividedintoseveral distinctgroupsbasedonwhotheyare,how theybehave,whatthey
wantor whattheythink.The mostcommonapproach to segmentation inB2Bmarketsisfeature
based.Here the targetmarket isdividedintogroupsbasedon‘firmographics’suchascompanysize,
locationor activity.Thisapproachmayalsosegmentthe marketaccordingto the nature of
relationshiporproductusage characteristics.Tosegmentbasedonfeaturesfollow six steps:1.
Understandwhatfeaturesof a customerare relevant,i.e.will impactyourpropositionforor
approach to the segment2.Get a database of all yourcustomersandrecord the relevantfeatures
nextto each3. Analyse yourprofiledcustomerbase toidentifythe majorgroupswhichexist4.
Researchcompetitorsandspeaktothose receivingnew businessenquiriestoadditionallyidentify
segmentsnotcurrentlyinyourcustomerbase 5. Prioritise segments bymappingonsalesandprofit
data fromexistingcustomersandaccessingthirdpartystatisticsonthe structure of the business
population6.Identifywhichsegmentsare likelytoneedaunique approachanddetail how your
propositionandmessagingwill reflectthisA feature basedapproachisuseful,butit’sfarmore
powerful tosegmentaccordingtocustomerbehaviours,needsandattitudes.Thisdeeperlevel of
understandingletsyoupreciselytailoryourofferandmessagingsothatyou’re a perfectfit andthe
natural choice. The target marketforany B2B productor service isnot one homogeneousmass.
Rather,it can usuallybe dividedintoseveral distinctgroupsbasedonwhothey
are,how theybehave,whattheywantorwhat theythink.
The most common approach to segmentationinB2Bmarketsis feature based.
Here the target marketisdividedintogroupsbasedon‘firmographics’suchas
companysize,locationoractivity.Thisapproachmayalso segmentthe market
accordingto the nature of relationship orproductusage characteristics.
To segmentbasedonfeaturesfollowsix steps:
1. Understandwhat featuresof acustomerare relevant,i.e.will impactyour
propositionfororapproach to the segment
2. Get a database of all your customersandrecordthe relevantfeaturesnext
to each
3. Analyse yourprofiledcustomerbase toidentifythe majorgroupswhichexist
4. Researchcompetitorsandspeaktothose receivingnew businessenquiriesto
additionallyidentifysegmentsnotcurrentlyinyourcustomerbase
5. Prioritise segmentsbymappingonsalesandprofitdatafromexisting
customersandaccessingthirdparty statisticsonthe structure of the
businesspopulation
6. Identifywhichsegmentsare likelytoneedaunique approachand

2. detail howyourpropositionandmessagingwillreflectthis
A feature basedapproachisuseful,butit’sfarmore powerful tosegment
accordingto customerbehaviours,needsandattitudes.Thisdeeperlevel
of understandingletsyoupreciselytailoryourofferandmessagingso that
you’re a perfectfitandthe natural choice.