Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning: Reaching the Right People in the Right Way

Marketing isn’t about speaking to everyone. It’s about speaking to the right people, in the right way, at the right time. That’s where Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning — often abbreviated as STP — come into play.

These three steps form the backbone of customer-focused marketing. They help you cut through the noise, stop wasting budget on vague messaging, and build stronger connections with the audiences that matter most to your business.

Whether you’re planning a new campaign, developing a product, or refining your brand voice, STP helps ensure your message lands exactly where it should.

What Is STP?

STP stands for:

1. Segmentation – Dividing your market into meaningful groups
2. Targeting – Choosing which groups to focus on
3. Positioning – Shaping how you want those people to perceive your offer

It’s a simple structure, but used correctly, it can completely transform how you approach marketing — from scattergun efforts to focused strategy.

Step 1: Segmentation

Not all customers are the same. Even within a specific industry or product category, different people will have different needs, budgets, motivations, and habits.

Segmentation is the process of breaking your audience into groups based on shared characteristics.

Common types of segmentation:

• Demographic – Age, gender, income, occupation, education level
• Geographic – Country, region, city, urban vs rural
• Psychographic – Lifestyle, values, interests, personality traits
• Behavioural – Buying habits, brand loyalty, product usage, readiness to purchase

You can also segment by industry (in B2B), or by specific needs — for example, a hotel might target business travellers, romantic couples, and family holidaymakers separately.

The key is to group customers in a way that’s relevant to your product and useful for decision-making.

Step 2: Targeting

Once you’ve identified your segments, the next step is to decide which one(s) to focus on.

You can’t be everything to everyone — so targeting is about selecting the audiences where you can provide the most value and get the best return on your marketing efforts.

Targeting strategies include:

• Undifferentiated (mass) marketing – One message for the whole market (rare these days)
• Differentiated marketing – Tailoring different messages to different segments
• Niche (concentrated) marketing – Focusing all efforts on one well-defined group
• Micromarketing – Highly personalised, sometimes down to individual customers

How you choose depends on your business model, resources, and goals. A global brand may run multiple targeted campaigns simultaneously. A local artisan may focus on one niche audience they know well.

The important thing is to be deliberate. Every choice to target one group is also a choice not to target another — and that’s perfectly fine.

Step 3: Positioning

Now that you know who you’re speaking to, it’s time to decide what you want to say — and how you want to be remembered.

Positioning is about shaping the customer’s perception of your brand, product, or service. It’s your place in their mind, relative to the competition.

You can position based on:

• Quality (e.g. “best in class”)
• Value (e.g. “affordable and reliable”)
• Innovation (e.g. “tech-savvy and modern”)
• Experience (e.g. “trusted for generations”)
• Lifestyle or values (e.g. “eco-friendly” or “adventurous spirit”)

A simple formula:

For [target audience], our

• 

  IMA Membership

  £37.00 / month

  Sign up now

is the [category] that [unique benefit], because [reason to believe].

Example:

For busy professionals, our meal delivery service is the healthy food brand that saves time without compromising on flavour, because every meal is prepped by expert chefs and delivered fresh to your door.

This approach helps align your messaging across channels and ensures consistency, which is essential for building trust and recognition.

STP in Action: A Specialist Stationery Brand

Let’s say you’re running an independent online shop selling sustainable, design-led stationery.

• Segmentation: You discover three key groups — eco-conscious students, creative professionals (like designers and illustrators), and small business owners.
• Targeting: You decide to focus primarily on creative professionals, who are willing to pay more for premium design, and value ethical sourcing.
• Positioning: You craft a message around “thoughtful design for bold ideas”, positioning your brand as a tool for self-expression and creativity, with strong sustainability credentials.

This shapes everything from your website language to your product photography to the platforms you use for promotion. You’re not just selling notebooks — you’re offering a creative lifestyle that aligns with your audience’s identity.

Why STP Matters

Without STP, marketing becomes guesswork. You end up speaking in vague generalities, hoping something sticks. But with STP, you:

• Focus on the customers most likely to buy from you
• Tailor messages that speak directly to their needs
• Position your offer in a way that sets you apart from competitors
• Use your resources more efficiently

In short, STP makes your marketing smarter — and your brand sharper.

In Summary

Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning is more than just a planning exercise. It’s a way of putting your audience at the centre of everything you do — and that’s the core of good marketing.

Know your market. Choose your focus. Shape your story. That’s how you stand out in a crowded world.