Task Bi:
Target Market Report
Identification of Segmentation Approaches
1. Key words used in search behaviour
2. Peoples eating habits
3. People who work in Manchester
Approach:
Behavioural Segmentation: Key words used in search Behaviour
Advantages
· Narrows down target group to people looking for certain products or services
· Discards anyone not searching for related terms
· Easier to sell something to someone who was looking for it in the first place
· Behaviours are easier to target as they can be observed
Disadvantages
· If brand awareness is already to low then no one will search the key term related to the PSO.
· If search phrase is too broad then we could end up targeting the wrong set of consumers.
· Key search terms related to PSO are based on presumptions that that’s what people wanting the PSO would search to find it.
Approach:
Psychographic segmentation: Peoples eating habits
Advantages
· Western culture means as a general rule we can generalise as to the sorts of times people eat. As most have breakfast, dinner and tea
· Targets a lifestyle behaviour that is a requirement for humans to survive
· Would be simple to find out the habits (times of eating) of an office’s employees and then focus a promotion around that
Disadvantages
· Not everybody has the same eating habits
· Cultural Differences may affect eating habits, for instance Muslims only eat halal meats
· Habits could change and may be unpredictable from one consumer to the next
Approach:
Psychographic segmentation: People who work in Manchester
Advantages
· Lots of people work in Manchester, this is a psychographic lifestyle choice
· Relatively simple to define
· If a person works in Manchester then they have links to a company that may require a corporate buffet service
Disadvantages
· Presumption that people who work in Manchester would use the service
· May prove difficult distinguishing how to reach these consumers as it is so broad, in terms of what they want
Prioritisation of segmentation Approaches
First priority: Key words used in search behaviour.
This behavioural segmentation approach allows for the narrowing down of market by key words. Using this segment will mean that we ‘identify or construct segments on the basis of information that is evaluated as being highly relevant’ Dolnicar and Leisch 2004. As an agency we can gain historical evidence on past consumer search behaviour from the Google adword tool and this will mean we can tailor our focused key search terms around this to make it optimal for our service. Making sure our service reaches the correct customer is vital and looking at behaviours means we can see what people are already doing, and adapt our product to fill a gap. Monitoring behaviours therefore is necessary for our market.
Second Priority: People who work in Manchester City Centre
This segment identifies a psychographic segment as it is a lifestyle choice to work and live here; this segment also has a geographical aspect of businesses near our chosen branch of Fatsos, Manchester. ‘Some marketers argue that the internet has eliminated all geographical boundaries’ Botha et al 2006:66. I would disagree with this as in this situation I only want to target businesses in Manchester as this is where the branch of Fatsos is located. The way this segment is two dimensional means it’s more specific in targeting the business customers we want to use our service.
Third Priority: Peoples eating habits
The delivery and collection service relies on people eating. If people didn’t eat then there would be no need for Fatsos to deliver buffets to businesses in Manchester. The nature of the service means that it isn’t absolutely necessary for everybody to eat, as not everybody does at buffets. This segment will be discarded for the time being as not everyone’s eating habits are a requirement for selling corporate buffets.
Issues and Risks with the prioritisation of the segments:
There could be risks associated with my top two priorities as they are based on assumptions, for instance that the key words I decide will be the most appropriate for the group of customers I want to attract. The risk that all possible segments were made on presumptions of what we think people want this could be a major risk; without testing the market it proves harder to determine if were correct. However these are the people we want to target as a company therefore finding ways to target these people is a way of overcoming this risk.
Market Segments:
From looking at these approaches to segmentation a number of specific segments can be identified:
Target Segments:
Figure 1 shows specific segments that could be targeted via search terms, when Manchester is always a constant term in the search, because this is the branch of Fatsos we are focusing on. The combining of behavioural and geographic segments gives a two dimensional segment that allows for more efficient targeting; as although the key segment behaviour needs to be targeted the location of the Fatsos is important for the logistics of the service. I then end up with 5 possible specific target segments; these search terms are specific for the presumption that this is what people would search for if they were to want a corporate buffet in the area we operate. Figure 2 shows possible segments based on peoples lifestyle choices; my chosen segment from this being highlighted in red, People working in Manchester. This is a relevant sector for my service as people working in Manchester are likely to have links with the business they work for and this could pose as an opportunity for digital marketing.
Selected target segment and justification:
The specific segments I will target are search behaviour around the key words Catering in Manchester and Businesses in Manchester. The table right shows search result figures on Google adwords tool, it was from this I was able to narrow down the segment further. It shows that competition for my 2 chosen areas is medium; that searches locally per month are relatively good in terms of how many customers we could serve realistically it is these people I need to address with the digital marketing campaign and finally that global monthly searches are high. ‘Buffets in Manchester’ for instance was discarded because of the presumption that people searching this were looking for somewhere to eat not the purchase of a buffet for an event. The other segments shown in figure 1 and 2 that haven’t been selected here have been discared as after research and defining of my segments the service can be made more specific in order to fill a need for the target segment. Therefore the delivery/collection service will just be for corporate/business events in providing buffets and catering.
Task Bii:
Viability Report
Digital Marketing Approaches:
1. Website
2. Search Engine Optimization
3. Targeted ad campaign on LinkedIn
Approach: Website
Advantages:
· Can allow for a more personal experience
· Gives credibility
· Good for acquiring and retaining customers
· Usually a customer’s first port of call
Disadvantages:
· Site building costs, could be expensive.
· Site maintenance can be timely, even costly.
Approach: Search Engine Optimization
Advantages:
· Customers who are searching for what we offer are more likely to find us before competitors
· Key words can be linked to the business, target segment and product/service
· Cost effective
· Can easily see what competitors are using to optimise their site
Disadvantages:
· Getting the words right can be tricky as they are based on presumptions
· There is a constantly changing algorithm that indexes your pages so can prove hard to keep up
· Very competitive
Approach: Targeted ad campaign on LinkedIn
Advantages:
· Good for acquiring new customers in the business sector
· Ads only appear to potential customers that I want to see it
· Can have different ads appearing to un-acquired customers and customers we want to retain.
Disadvantages:
· Could prove costly depending on cost of terms used and if its pay per click or per impression.
· Not everybody in my target segment will be on LinkedIn.
· Ad’s only show so many times per day.
Prioritisation of Digital Marketing approaches
First Priority - The building and use of a website is first priority because it tends to be a customer’s first port of call, they go to a search engine and search for a firms website if they want something. This is why Fatsos needs a website not only for information but for an online ordering system to be linked to so that the segment of customers for our PSO can find us online and use our services; this would be in the strategic interest of the firm. The fact that a website gives credibility to a brand/product or service means that it will be beneficial for our overall business objective of increasing brand awareness. Research shows that ‘final conversion still occurs on a retailer’s website in the majority of cases with only 5% reporting having received transactions on social sites’ Wasing 2012. This is why a website is vital for Fatsos so that when people search key terms they are able to find us. Having a website will make all the other approaches listed viable and mean that our whole digital marketing approach is linked and integrated. This approach is appropriate for my chosen behavioural segment of key search term behaviour as this site can be built SEO in mind and alongside each other. Rene Power 2012 says ‘websites are the most important thing’ hence another reason for implementing this approach.
Second Priority - Search Engine Optimization is the next priority but will be linked with the building of a website as they work well together. This approach is necessary for targeting my chosen segment detailed previously. ‘Many small businesses in the UK are failing to make the most of their online presence, with 47% of SME websites studied having either very basic or no SEO work at all’ Charlton 2010. Showing that as a business if we use SEO and optimise our web pages we will be doing something other small businesses don’t meaning we may acquire more customers searching for particular search terms. Search engine optimization links with our target segment of search term behaviour as it is exactly this that this approach will target. The terms can be carefully selected so they have relevance to our service of business/corporate delivered buffets. It is important that the first priority of building a website is followed up with SEO as there is no point having the site if it isn’t indexed or can be found easily by potential customers or existing ones.
Third Priority - A targeted ad campaign on LinkedIn would be used because it means our advert can only be seen by the people we want to see it, so we will be able to target by geographical locations easily, this being part of the key word search term behaviour. Banner ads can sometimes reach the wrong consumers but this way it will be Business to Business and only the people I want to see It will be able too. Who sees it will be based on presumptions that certain businesses may require buffets within their company and it will only target the area Fatsos is able to supply. This ad campaign hopes to reach businesses that hold events in Manchester, of which these people will also be targeted by the searches they do in search engines via the above two approaches. With these banner campaigns on LinkedIn you may set ‘Daily Budget is the maximum amount that you are willing to spend each day’ LinkedIn 2012. This means that we will be able to control the costs of this campaign as well as all the factors concerned with targeting the correct segment of people, using the ad settings provided by LinkedIn. This method will be discarded at this time however due to potential high costs and how often ads would appear.
Issues and Risks with chosen Digital Marketing Approaches
There could be issues and risks with all digital marketing approaches listed, some can be minimised so that the approach is still the most appropriate. The Website has the least risk/issues associated with it as its major risk would be if the designer gets to clever, as people like things to be simple and easy to use. There are more issues with SEO of which is necessary to accompany the building and use of a website. The risk of black hat seo by other sites would make ranking difficult, however Google is clamping down making people code and design ethically. Another risk with this approach is that you have to make sure links are relevant and link with key words, you can never have too many links but relevance is key or once again Google could drop you down its rankings or even un-index you. The final issues with both these approaches could be that they could be time consuming in terms of upkeep.
Biii
Anti-viability Report
Non-viable Digital Marketing Approaches
1. An SMS campaign
2. Affiliate marketing
3. The search term ‘Fatsos Filling Station’ in SEO
Justification, risks and Issues
An SMS campaign to businesses:
Performing a SMS campaign for the service of delivery/collection of business event buffets in Manchester would be in appropriate because the gathering of appropriate mobile numbers would prove difficult. This approach wouldn’t be in line with our targeting of behaviours particularly search terms and work. The service we wish to provide is business to business; therefore the appropriate employee for contact would have to have a business mobile phone in order for us to send texts as a form of marketing. If the buying of lists was to be the solution to gaining businesses mobile numbers (for businesses who use mobiles) this still wouldn’t be a viable option one reason being: ‘The mobile phone is an intimate, always-on device and while that creates incredible opportunities, it also means that it's easy to cross the line and significantly harm a customer relationship with a single interaction’ Robles 2012. The risk of damage to the brand only strengthens the reasons for this approach not being viable for Fatsos as the overall business objective is to increase brand awareness. An SMS campaign would not be cost effective, because of the limited resources for gaining correct mobile numbers, could be damaging to the brand and texts could only carry limited information.
Affiliate Marketing:
This approach would be completely inappropriate because of the fact Fatsos has low brand awareness at the minute, this would make it difficult to get reputable firms to refer us. Although we aim to increase brand awareness (noted as the business objective in assignment 1) affiliate marketing wouldn’t be appropriate at this time to do so as it is more likely to convert and retain customers in terms of the brand at a later date. Other reasons this approach wouldn’t be viable is the cost, sites will charge every time someone clicks a link, or take a percentage of sales acquired via this link; because of the nature of the business of making buffets this approach wouldn’t be appropriate as it would mean profits couldn’t be maximised as it could end up taking too high a percentage of revenue just to have links through affiliates.
The search term ‘Fatsos Filling Station’ for SEO:
This is non-viable as from looking at data on Google Adword tool the search ‘Fatsos Filling Station’ brings by 36 searches globally, it has no competition and no local searches. Therefore it would be pointless at this stage to optimise that term as no one is searching for it. This I can presume is due to low brand awareness, therefore other terms must be used instead in order for people searching for the services we provide to find us (see viable terms in viability report).
From carrying out careful research and analysis when defining segments, digital marketing approaches and non-viable digital marketing approaches the PSO that is to be offered is a delivery/collection service of buffets for businesses in Manchester. This is the final PSO as it is now clearly defined who’d buy it (the target segments) and how it could appropriately be marketed.
Bibliography of all information used in text as evidence.
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