Learn Market Segmentation and Survey Methods

Businesses use customer surveys as a tool to gain valuable insights about their customers. To give accurate results, these surveys carry on market research on a specific group of the population whose behaviors and opinions matter to them.

The determination of the sample for their survey depends on what affects the credibility of the research conclusions. In this article, we will discuss all those things that come under a customer survey.

Ovationmr.com is one of the leading companies that provides valuable data insights to businesses all across the globe. The professionals at the company possess remarkable marketing research skills and use innovative technological methods for engagement and panelist validation.

What is Market segmentation?

It is a very important part of marketing strategy that allows businesses to target a specific set of audiences. By splitting the target audiences into smaller homogeneous segments of potential customers, it allows for improving the efficiency of marketing and advertising a business. Different companies use different methods to segment their target audiences so that they can adopt different approaches towards each of those segments.

Market Segmentation – Different Types

Mentioned below are few of the most common types:

• Demographic Segmentation

This method is most extensively used by companies to segregate their market according to defined traits. Some of the frequently used traits in demographics segmentation include gender, race, age, occupation, marital status, income, and education.

• Geographic Area Segmentation

As the name suggest, the market is divided as per geographical segments like state, county,, nation, etc.

• Lifestyle Segmentation

In this method, segmentation is based on the lifestyles choices of potential customers. These choices can include things like type of house, car, income, assets, club membership, etc.

• Behavioral Segmentation

This is more advanced type of segmentation. Here the audiences are segmented as per the patterns or behaviors exhibited by them. Artificial intelligence is also used to identify the behaviors of website users, and their range of choices. It is mostly used for attracting existing customers to do repeat business.

• Business Customer Segmentation

This one is pretty straightforward segmentation, where the nature and size of the company is considered.

Drawbacks of Focus Group Techniques

Focus group interviews are viewed as an effective way to identify the way people think and communicate about a product. This type of group interview involves six to ten participants to express their opinions on a specific issue. Here are some of the disadvantages of this technique in the business.

Impersonal

As group discussions may not be the best way to know about personal experiences about a product/service. In such types of settings, people may be uncomfortable discussing controversial or sensitive issues. Due to this reason, the focus group interview would fail to generate beneficial insights into the business.

Dominating Individuals

The objective of a group discussion technique is to find out what the survey participants think about a product or a service. However, the group may contain outspoken people that could skew the overall outcome of the process.

A single influential participant may cause other participants to modify their personal opinions. Due to this reason, the company may not know the real reactions of the participants. The solution to this condition is to get the assistance of facilitators to ensure that the viewpoint of all participants is heard.

Important Components Of A Customer Survey

Here are some of the key parts that make up a customer survey:

Target Population

It is nearly impossible for a business to cover the entire population to gain valuable insights about their offerings. Also, targeting the entire population isn’t just resource-intensive but also time-consuming. Also, it is not certain whether or not it will yield desired results.

To reduce the complexity, and make the process convenient and effective, it is important to choose a selected set of the population whose views matter to the business a lot.

The target population is the entire group of people pertaining to which information is required. The size of the target population can differ depending on the type of business. The smaller size of the target population makes it convenient to carry out research.

Accessible Population

There is a difference between the target population and the accessible population. The target population is the one that the researcher wishes to study. On the other hand, the accessible population is the actual population that the researcher can study.

Due to budget constraints, time, and geographical location, it isn’t practical for a person to recruit each and every person in the study. Due to this reason, a company employs a subgroup of the entire target group i.e., “accessible population”.

Drawing Conclusions

It is beneficial for organizations to include the target population as a participant to conduct a study. This helps in arriving at conclusions about the whole population. Market research professionals who use an accessible population use only a specific portion of the entire population to generalize the results and apply them again to the entire population.

Sample Populations

Sample populations are used in market research due to the near impossibility of studying the entire group. People who are included in this population more or less replicate the demographics of the target population of that business.

Sampling Methods

Types of methods used to compute the sample population of a business are:

• Probability Sampling

This method uses a mathematical algorithm-based technique to select the target population. Random sampling and cluster sampling are the two commonly used methods to implement this technique.

• Non-Probability Sampling

This type of sampling is done without using randomness. Snowball sampling, Quota sampling Convenience sampling, and Expert sampling are some of the ways to study individuals for specific research.

• Ethnographic Sampling

This strategy uses theoretical sampling, which enables researchers to emerge the research scope that depends upon information that is obtained by the business. Selective sampling is useful when researchers choose specific people or locations to conduct an interview.

Conclusion

For a successful customer survey, a business needs to perform extensive research to determine the target population, sample size calculation, selection of sampling technology and marketing strategy, and more. The above information will surely help improve your knowledge of these areas and create an impactful survey.