Literature/202603010904 properly segmenting the market

• Source: [[@ghanadan2025Not Buying It: The Art of Selling to Scientists, Doctors, and Other Professional Skeptics]]
• Tags: #segmentation #sales #science-business

To achieve product-market fit, one must be careful on how to define "Market". The argument here is that by properly segmenting a market, we increase the chances of finding a good fit. However, I wonder if this is not a tautology, since too narrow leads to a market of 1, which is also not useful to move forward.

We need to identify groups that share needs, motivations, and beliefs. Over-reliance on demographics leads to disasters ("senior scientists" is not a useful segment)

Step 1

• Observation: of editorial trends, in which riffs may become apparent. The tension between different groups, or ways of thinking can help identify what part we should be targeting. Internal data is also valuable. What are people searching for when they arrive to our website. Also sales metrics, who is purchasing, when, and why. Qualitative research, go out there and talk to people.

  Discovery consist on seeing what everyone has seen and thinking what no one has thought" - Albert Szent-Györgyi

Step 2

• Homogeneity: will the group respond similarly to the same message, or offering. The tricky part here is that the same group may have different demographics, therefore messaging has to be tailored to them.
• Profitability: Is this group going to lead to return on investment or is of strategic value?
• Identification: If you can't find and reach this group of people then it is not worth pursuing. If you are targeting a group of cancer surgeons, they will likely attend a cancer conference. If you are targeting surgeons with back pain, probably you will have to segment post-facto after you reached out to all surgeons. However, it may be impossible to find "surgeons who are technology laggards".
• Stability: is the segment the same over time or is it based on a fleeting interest. If the interest is triggered only by a contextual reality (like COVID-19), then it will change quickly.