April 2021

TRUSTED ADVISOR

Market Segmentation Essentials

Market segmentation, or grouping customers based on motivations and needs, helps to create more effective communication and increase fungicide sales.

BASF has identified 5 key fungicide customer segments:

1. Technology Leader: These growers lean on precision ag to make informed decisions. They’re looking for a product that’s backed by data and produces a return on investment.
2. Visualizers: While they don’t want to make a fungicide application, they do want their fields to be the cleanest and the greenest. Crop health and control of their field are key motivators.
3. Frugal Researcher: Independent and economical, these growers will only consider a fungicide with proven performance. They look to third party data and trials for information and may be skeptical of branded products, leaning more toward generics.
4. Plant Health Loyalist: They see the value in Plant Health and apply fungicides consistently. Purchasing decisions are made early in the season, and they value a close relationship with their retailer.
5. Asset Optimizer: These growers are making decisions for the future, not just this season. Fungicide decisions are based on financial security and minimizing risk.

Consider what makes your customers unique and what they have in common. To leverage market segmentation effectively, analyze and evaluate how you can use this information to fulfill their unique needs. There must be some measurable difference between segments. It’s also important to take a look at how competitors may be approaching and selling to these customers.

Step into your customers shoes and think about how to meet them where they’re at. Determine which fungicides may be the best fit for each segment and position the products appropriately. Tailor your fungicide sales conversation to address both logical and emotional aspects of buying decisions.

There are many ways to segment your audience — geography and age being the obvious. But consider what else drives their decisions, how they respond to situations and what sets them apart from other customers.

For instance:

• Do you have a group of customers looking to retire soon or young customers just starting out and looking for innovative solutions?
• Are they a long-time believer in fungicides or looking to test the waters?
• Have they put off trying fungicides because aerial applications are not possible or practical?
• Are they looking to sell, trying to expand, or position the farm for future generations?

These are just a few ways your fungicide customers may differ. There is no one size fits all approach to market segmentation in ag retail, what matters most is creating customized segments based on your farmers’ needs.

You know your customers better than anyone; thinking strategically about what makes them tick will allow you to address their needs on a different level.

Ultimately, segmentation can help you become a better advisor by understanding a customer’s values, needs, and what drives their decisions. In turn, this allows you to create personally relevant sales information by segment and build more powerful personal connections with farmers.