What are the best ways to identify and target consumer subcultures?

1 Define your objectives

Before you start researching consumer subcultures, you need to define your objectives and research questions. What are you trying to achieve by targeting these subcultures? What are the benefits and challenges of doing so? What are the specific characteristics, needs, preferences, and behaviors of these subcultures that you want to understand? How will you measure the success of your marketing efforts? Having clear objectives and questions will help you focus your research and avoid wasting time and resources.

2 Conduct secondary research

Secondary research is the process of collecting and analyzing existing data from various sources, such as academic journals, books, reports, websites, social media, blogs, podcasts, or videos. Secondary research can help you gain a general overview of the consumer subcultures you are interested in, as well as identify some of their key trends, issues, opinions, values, and influencers. Secondary research can also help you discover new subcultures that you may not be aware of, or refine your existing subculture segments based on new insights.

3 Conduct primary research

Primary research is the process of collecting and analyzing new data from your target subcultures, using methods such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, or experiments. Primary research can help you gain a deeper and more specific understanding of the consumer subcultures you are targeting, as well as validate or challenge your assumptions based on secondary research. Primary research can also help you explore the motivations, emotions, attitudes, and behaviors of these subcultures, as well as test your marketing ideas and concepts with them.

4 Analyze and segment your data

Once you have collected enough data from secondary and primary research, you need to analyze and segment your data to identify the most relevant and profitable consumer subcultures for your marketing goals. You can use various analytical techniques and tools, such as cluster analysis, factor analysis, or latent class analysis, to group your data into meaningful and homogeneous subcultures based on their similarities and differences. You can also use personas, stories, or visualizations to represent and communicate your subculture segments.

5 Develop and implement your marketing strategy

After you have identified and segmented your consumer subcultures, you need to develop and implement your marketing strategy to reach and engage them effectively. You can use various marketing mix elements, such as product, price, place, promotion, people, process, or physical evidence, to create a unique value proposition and positioning for each subculture segment. You can also use various marketing channels, such as online, offline, or hybrid, to deliver your messages, products, and services to these subcultures. You should also monitor and evaluate your marketing performance and outcomes, and make adjustments as needed.

6 Build and maintain relationships

Finally, you need to build and maintain relationships with your consumer subcultures, to foster loyalty, trust, and advocacy. You can use various relationship marketing tactics, such as personalization, customization, co-creation, community building, or social responsibility, to create a sense of belonging and identity for these subcultures. You can also use various feedback mechanisms, such as reviews, ratings, comments, or surveys, to collect and respond to their opinions, suggestions, or complaints. You should also keep up with the changes and dynamics of these subcultures, and adapt your marketing strategy accordingly.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?