Selecting the best business market segment for your B2B business doesn't have to be a statistical nightmare. It's really as simple as discovering a few characteristics that distinguish businesses from one another and using those characteristics to select business with characteristics that make them good potential business customers.

Do you know what firmographics are and how to use them to select the best business market segment for your target market?

Both demographics and firmographics are facts. Firmographics provide facts about businesses that help to group them into target markets, just as demographics enable business-to-consumer businesses to select a consumer target market.

This article provides three types of firmographics to help B2B business owners select a profitable business market segment to target. These include:

Selecting a Business Market Segment With Organizational Firmographics

Selecting a Business Market Segment With Financial Firmographics

Selecting a Business Market Segment With Industrial Firmographics

Using Organizational Firmographics To Select a Business Market Segment

The first organization firmographic to consider in selecting a business market segment is size. You separate potential business customers into sizes by considering how many employees they hire, how many plants, stores or branches they include at where they are located.

If the business is small with few employees and in only one location, the business owner probably makes most purchasing decisions. If the business is large with many employees and locations, an employee is most likely assigned purchasing. Thus, the size of the business reveals personal demographics that can enhance your B2B marketing and sales.

Age of the business can help you determine the types of products and services needed and the best way to market to the businesses. For instance, young businesses require more of a consultant approach to marketing because they don't always know what is on the market or exactly what they need. Older businesses usually know exactly what they need, but often meeting their needs requires customizing features to meet their needs.

The geographic location of a business market segment reveals regional characteristics that influence businesses. In addition, each location has different tax laws, regulations, and economic environments that make businesses different by location.

You can use organizational firmographics to select a business market segment with good profit potential. Then you can target that business market.

Selecting a Business Market Segment With Financial Firmographics

Financial firmographics include sales volume, profits and market share. They can help the B2B business owner to distinguish businesses by whether or not they have the financial means to buy a product or service. Financial firmographics also identify a business market segment that's sales volume demands more automated products.

For example, if you provide a personnel service, it's more likely that medium size businesses will use your service. Small businesses have such few employees that the owner or bookkeeper can handle personnel services, and large businesses have so many employees that they need an in-house personnel department.

Ownership factors can also help you select the business market segment for your target market. You need to know whether the business leases or owns its office, plants, stores, warehouses, and equipment. By monitoring the relationship of ownership factors, you can determine relationships between these factors and the businesses needs and purchases.

B2B business owners can determine which businesses are most likely to purchase their products or service by knowing how financial firmographics influence purchasing decisions.

Selecting a Business Market Segment With Industrial Firmographics

Industry provides another business market segment to help you determine your best target market. For example, businesses in information industries differ considerably from those in manufacturing and those in service industries. These differences make some businesses better potential customers than others and influence how, when, and why they will buy certain products.

Other industry specific firmographics provide different business market segments that influence the types of products they need and the kinds of customers they are. Consider the following:

Manufacturers differ in the equipment, components and supplies that are used in high-tech production compared to low-tech production. Their processes and facilities also differ.

Luxury market businesses need different production processes and buy different types of supplies than businesses who manufacture higher-volume, mass marketed products. Thus, one type will be a better potential customer for your B2B products than another.

A consultant is a business market segment in the information industry, but the consultant's business is very different from a major book publisher. Consultants' incomes are limited by how much they can charge for their time. Book publishers' incomes are limited only by the number of books they can publish and sell.

By understanding how industrial firmographics influence business needs, you can distinguish the business market segment most likely to provide your B2B business, new and repeat customers.

In Conslusion

Selecting the best business market segments from these industrial, financial and organizational firmographics will enable you to comprise a profile of your best and most lucrative target market.

Thus, you should keep records of all contacts with present and potential business customers. Then categorize those records by business market segments so that statistics can reveal the best way to relate to a specific business market segment.

You will increase your changes of selecting a profitable target market for your B2B business if you use records and research to make business market segment selections.