Look at this photo, which is emblematic of how market segmentation helps you sell more:
Two ice cream parlours, next to each other.
This is not a photomontage, and one might wonder how public authorities… assign licenses. But, well, that’s not what I want to talk about now. Let’s go back to our photo:
in a shop, there’s a crowd of people. The other one is empty.
What makes the difference?
I would exclude the distance of one meter in the location … The courtesy of the staff? The taste of ice cream? But local people tell me that even the right ice cream parlour makes a good ice cream. So, what is it?
I approach the two shops very curious.
I even look into the empty one and ask if they have the same management. The saleswoman says no, they are two different parishes.
I go out. I still don’t understand. Then, in a moment, I understand…
No, it’s unbelievable: the ice cream parlour full of customers sells “bio vegan” ice cream:
the other one just sells ordinary ice cream. As good as you want, but the “usual” ice creams.
Initially I get a surge of vetero-nutritionist orthodoxy: are you telling me that now in this world there are more vegans than omnivores? Really??
Ma mi faccia il piacere! (Please!). Totò would have exclaimed.
Then, I stop to reflect better on the marketing lesson that I have in front of me.
Here is a clear message:
the specialist and the generalist.
Specializing in a niche sector is preferable than being generalist (obviously if the niche is large enough to support business).
In this case, I would have never said that there was room for bio-vegan ice cream, but clearly bio and vegan are going strong today. Moreover, I doubt that all the customers were really vegans. Maybe some of them, but others will have been intrigued only by the novelty, the uniqueness of the offer, and the concept of “bio”. Anyway, they were queuing up there rather than entering the generalist ice cream parlour.
In short, market segmentation pays off if done well.
Also, the lead generation process follows this principle.
In the lead generation market, there are people who are generalists and sell you literally any lead…
… while others, like us, generate leads only with flesh-and-blood decision makers, which we pre-qualify on the basis of a series of objective parameters.
That is, we operate in the niche of qualified leads. And we are the only specialists in this niche for experts.
P.S.: The episode also contains a second marketing lesson: I’ll talk about it tomorrow.
