Localization is the work of adapting a product, an advertisement or a piece of content so that it fits the language, cultural expectations, formats and legal rules of a specific market. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) defines it as adaptation “to meet the language, cultural and other requirements of a specific target market (a locale).” Translation is one part of it. The rest covers currency, dates, units, imagery, colours, legal wording, references that do not travel, and the landing page an ad points to. Localization exists because a campaign written for one country rarely works unaltered in another, and because buyers overwhelmingly prefer to read about products in their own language………Continue reading…

By Luis Rijo

Source: PPC Land

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Critics:

Markets generally fall into two broad types, namely consumer markets and business markets. A consumer market consists of individuals or households who purchase goods for private consumption and do not intend to resell those goods for a profit. A business market consists of individuals or organisations who purchase goods for one of three main purposes; (a) for resale; (b) for use in producing other goods or services and; (c) for general use in daily business operations.

Approaches to segmentation will vary depending on whether the total available market (TAM) is a consumer market or a business market. Market segmentation is the process of dividing a total available market, using one of a number of key bases for segmenting such as demographic, geographic, psychographic, behavioural or needs-based segments.

For example, a demographic segmentation of the adult male population might yield the segments, Men 18-24; Men 25-39, Men 40-59 and Men 60+. Whereas a psychographic segmentation might yield segments such as Young Singles, Traditional Families, Socially Awares and Conservatives. Identifying consumer demand and opportunity within these segments should assist the marketer to identify the most profitable segments.

Although there are many different ways to segment a market, the most common bases used in practice are:

• Geographic – Residential address, location, climate, region.
• Demographic/socioeconomic segmentation – Gender, age, income, occupation, socio-economic status, educational-level, family status, marital status, ethnic group, religious affiliation.
• Psychographic – Attitudes, values, beliefs, interests and lifestyles.
• Behavioral – usage occasion, degree of loyalty, user status, purchase-readiness
• Needs-based segmentation – relationship between the customer’s needs for specific features and product or service benefits

During the market segmentation process, the marketing analyst will have developed detailed profiles for each segment formed. This profile typically describes the similarities between consumers within each segment and the differences between consumers across each of the segments. The primary use of the segment profile is to assess the extent to which a firm’s offerings meet the needs of different segments.

A profile will include all such information as is relevant for the product or service and may include basic demographic descriptors, purchasing habits, disposition to spend, benefits-sought, brand preferences, loyalty behavior, usage frequency and any other information deemed relevant to the subject at hand.

The segment profile assists in the decision-making process and has a number of specific benefits:

• assists to determine those segments that are most attractive to the business
• provides quantitative data about segments for a more objective assessment of segment attractiveness
• assists in tailoring the product or service offering to the needs of various segments
• provides basic information to assist with targeting
• allocating the firm’s resources effectively

After profiling all the market segments formed during the segmentation process, detailed market analysis is carried out to identify one or more segments that are worthy of further investigation. Additional research may be undertaken at this juncture to ascertain which segments require detailed analysis with the potential to become target segments.

A key consideration in selecting the target markets is whether customer needs are sufficiently different to warrant segmentation and targeting. In the event that customer needs across the entire market are relatively similar, then the business may decide to use an undifferentiated approach. On the other hand, when customer needs are different across segments, then a differentiated (i.e. targeted) approach is warranted.

In certain circumstances, the segmentation analysis may reveal that none of the segments offer genuine opportunities and the firm may decide not to enter the market. When a marketer enters more than one market, the segments are often labeled the primary target market and the secondary target market. The primary market is the target market selected as the main focus of marketing activities and most of the firm’s resources are allocated to the primary target.

The secondary target market is likely to be a segment that is not as large as the primary market, but may have growth potential. Alternatively, the secondary target group might consist of a small number of purchasers that account for a relatively high proportion of sales volume perhaps due to purchase value, purchase frequency or loyalty.

Digital communications have allowed marketers to segment markets at ever tighter levels – right down to the individual consumer.^[34] This process is known as micromarketing, cyber-segmentation or hyper-segmentation. In effect, this allows to the marketer to pursue both a differentiated marketing strategy and a niche marketing strategy to reach the smallest groups in the marketplace.

Hyper-segmentation relies on extensive information technology, big databases, computerized and flexible manufacturing systems, and integrated distribution systems. Data is captured from electronic communications devices, mapped and logged with a management information system. This enables the integration of observed behaviour (domains accessed) with motives (content involvement), geographics (IP addresses), demographics (self-reported registration details) and brand preferences (site-loyalty, site stickiness).

Additional data inputs might include behavioural variables such as frequency (site visits), diversity including visitation across different landscapes and fluidity spanning multiple time periods. Programmed business intelligence software analyses this data and in the process, may also source data inputs from other internal information networks.

Marketers and advertisers can then use an inventory of stock images and phrases to compile customised promotion offers in real-time which are delivered to prospective purchasers with a strong interest in the product, or who are in an advanced state of buyer-readiness.