Real-Time Marketing for Business Growth: How to Use Social Media, Measure Marketing, and Create a Culture of Execution

24. Zeroing in on Consumer Target Markets

If your market is consumers, consider using a segmentation tool like PRIZM (Potential Rating Index by Zip Codes), a clustering tool developed by Claritas Inc. Consumer groups are broken into 39 different sectors within five different categories, comprised of education and affluence, family life cycle, urbanization, race and ethnicity, and mobility. The sector clusters are names of fun and descriptive groups such as The Cosmopolitans, Blue Blood Estates, and Hometown Retired. Each of the clusters is segmented by zip code so you can easily target like-minded individuals.

As you become more experienced in understanding your target market segments, your goal should be to continuously refine how this is applied ...