What is a concentrated marketing strategy

Table of contents
  1. Benefits of concentrated marketing
  2. Difference between focused and concentrated marketing
1.
Benefits of concentrated marketing

Marketers and businesses use various strategies to promote and sell their products in an effective way. To achieve better results we divide a certain target audience into segments. Once our market is segmented, we can implement a focused (in other words, differentiated), undifferentiated, or concentrated marketing strategy. Undifferentiated, or mass marketing strategy does not bother what the difference between the segments of your audience is but pays attention to what they all have in common, and is applied to all of them simultaneously. Whilst focused or differentiated strategy is targeted at unique features of each of the segments separately. Concentrated marketing, however, chooses a single segment of your potential customers and fully focuses on it.

What is a concentrated marketing strategy? Why do marketers use this strategy? And does it fit your niche? Let’s jump right in.

Benefits of concentrated marketing

“Divide and conquer!” this Roman slogan generally describes this type of marketing strategy which implies a single-segment concentration. In order to manage a successful campaign, we have to do a deep analysis of competitors, investigate their strengths and weaknesses, and then hit a single segment of our target audience with a precise message. We need to be aware of the advantages of our product and convey our customers to it. A disadvantage of the concentrated targeting strategy is that it’s all or nothing. If we evaluate a wrong segment, if we overestimate it or conduct a shallow analysis, we will lose time and resources. We also may choose the right segment but be incapable of delivering the right message to our customers. In this case, frequent customization and huge flexibility are needed. One more huge risk is that some environmental/political/economic or even fashion conditions may influence the preferences of your customers. Thus you have to conduct market research from time to time and adjust your product or marketing strategy to meet competition.

So what’s the point in using this strategy at all? Here’s the silver lining of concentrated segmentation:

1. The lowest marketing spending

Whereas in focused or mass marketing we have to target two or more segments at the same time, in concentrated marketing we deliver a single message to a chosen segment. This does not require large resources. Perfect for small businesses and start-ups.

2. Efficiency in the use of resources

Due to a precise target.

3. Low competition

Often, there are small niches overlooked by big companies and with a wise strategy, we can conquer the narrow market.

4. Customer loyalty

Certainly, our strong position will be defined not solely by a concentrated campaign but by a quality product as well. If both hit the target, no doubt the number of loyal customers will increase.

5. High expertise

Due to deep niche analysis and long-term single-segment focusing. Needless to say, a narrow market and frequent customization until the desired results, plus low to no competition make us an expert in a chosen niche.

6. Brand awareness

If we have achieved a successful campaign, our customers will have a clear understanding of what our company is about. Thus, our brand is strengthening.

Though concentrated marketing is based around a single segment, we have to evaluate all of them during our marketing research. Then analyze if it is financially attractive, if we can handle competition, if the segment will help us grow and if we have enough resources to stay in it.

Difference between focused and concentrated marketing

People tend to confuse focused and concentrated marketing. To put it simply, focused marketing strategies (in other words, differentiated marketing strategies) are applied to two and more market segments. For example, a mobile provider that uses this type of strategy may target some of its advertisements at retired persons, some advertisements at students, and some at mommies categories. The message in all of them will be completely different. Focused marketing means knowing your audience well, knowing the market and competitors, understanding the dynamics and leverage of a certain business. It can grow a brand’s awareness among various groups of people, deliver a personalized message and builds customer loyalty. Wise focused strategy inevitably leads to a revenue increase.

Concentrated market definition in its turn is a single message delivered to a single segment of people in a narrow market. As it has been already said, this type of strategy is the best for startups and entrepreneurs as it does not require large investments. With one to one marketing, the brands will find their ideal customer and keep him/her until their preferences change. In the case of our mobile provider, the concentrated strategy will be applied to a single group of people. 

Let’s say they have investigated that among all the competitor’s customers, the least attention is paid to students. Then we need to research if that onion is worth the peeling. If the students can afford our services, how much resources do we need, what results will we have, and can we compete in this niche for long? If the answer is positive, then it’s time to develop our message. On this account we need to investigate what appeals to students, what do competitors fail to provide them, what places do they visit, what bloggers do they follow, what slang do they use and what can make them change their current mobile provider? Our concentrated market targeting strategies will be built respectively.

You should not consider concentrated marketing as a shadow tactic somewhere behind the back of your competitors. In fact, it has the biggest chance to transform your local company into a recognizable brand. Just think about Starbucks. It completely changed the way people drink coffee. Instead of offering paper coffee cups for people on the run, Starbucks offers a ritual of drinking coffee. From a single cafe in Seattle in 1971, they had 33,660 stores internationally in 2020.

Liubov Zhovtonizhko_Photo
Liubov Zhovtonizhko Copywriter at Stripo
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