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Occasion Segmentation: Unlocking Purchase Moments

Market research 04 12

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Table of Contents

01

What is Demographic Segmentation?

Occasion Segmentation implies dividing consumers into subgroups based on different occasions when they make purchases or plan to buy. Marketers take advantage of these occasions to market products/services which are perfect for the celebration or the occasion. Some products are seen as suitable for a particular occasion or event. As a result, the brand targets their audience with those products to increase the sale.

On Valentine’s Day, you can see the business of chocolates, cakes, and flowers everywhere. These businesses target couples on this day with marketing messages for their products. On such occasions the business witnesses a surge in profit.

Similarly, you will see chocolate brands targeting customers on Mother’s or Father’s Day, Christmas, or New Year. These are some holidays targeted by all kinds of brands. This is how the business makes use of Occasion Segmentation for marketing strategy.

The main advantage of using occasion segmentation for a marketing strategy is to increase the response rate. Brands target those customers who are compelled to purchase because of the occasion-driven need. People are most likely to buy from brands that can help them express their feelings to the recipient of the gift on a particular occasion.

Occasion segmentation

02

What is Occasion Segmentation?

Occasion Segmentation is one of the variables of Behavioral Segmentation. It is also referred to as timing-based Segmentation.

Occasion segmentation is used to imply universal occasions – New Year, Christmas – and personal occasion – Birthday, Anniversary. The variable is further divided into three types of occasions depending on the purchasing pattern of the customers.

Universal Occasion: This refers to the purchasing behavior of most of your target customers. These occasions involve holidays or seasonal events celebrated by most of your target market.

Regular -Personal Occasion: This involves those occasions when customers repeat their purchase pattern over a period of time. The occasion could be based on their personal life like Birthdays, or Anniversaries. This type of purchase pattern is easy to predict and you can prepare a marketing strategy for the special occasion in advance.

Rare-Personal Occasion: These occasions are difficult to predict. Purchase behavior in this case can be irregular and spontaneous. This may include road-tips, vacations, weddings, etc.

Benefit Segmentation depends on the characteristics of products or services that the customers perceive as suitable for the occasion. In this category, it is the different benefits a product offers in terms of the event or occasion that defines the audience.

03

Why should you use Occasion Segmentation?

Occasion Segmentation is the best guide to figure out the products or services that customers interact with on distinct occasions. You can conduct the research in terms of category in order to identify which category of products are selling well. This way you can determine where your brand is performing better and also identify opportunities to grow your brand in the market.

You can use the insights for improving or developing products, market strategy, brand strategy, etc. Occasion segmentation can show you the need, or motivation that is causing them to interact with your brand. This type of segmentation is best used when customers interact with products or services frequently. The purchase pattern reveals the motivation, need, situation, etc. of the customer.

Occasion segmentation cvr

04

Occasions you can Use for Occasion Segmentation

Let’s say, you are a chocolate manufacturing company and you want to target the occasion of Thanksgiving Day, your target audiences are the families that visit malls for shopping.

What: Thanksgiving Day

Who: Families

Where: Malls

Why: Chocolates are an ideal gift to give to anyone, and kids enjoy them the most

You can select any occasion as long as you know that your target audience values the product or service for the occasion.

Current Affairs: Insurance companies make use of storms that cause damage to the farmers. They use News to stress the importance of Crop Insurance Policies. The more a news channel amplifies the risk the more an insurance company uses it for their benefit. The insurance company couples it with the value lost due to damaged crops to convince the farmers that they need insurance for their crops.

Events: Engagements and Weddings are the most targeted events for jewelry shops, especially Diamonds and Gold. Brands that help the lovers express their love for one another make it more valuable for the customers.

Holidays: Christmas is known for giving gifts to family and friends. This gives brands used for gifts a good opportunity to develop marketing messages to drive their sales. Retail brands also use this occasion to use brands that market household products and create hampers by combining products. Customers are most likely to buy from a brand that is displaying its gift sections more prominently. This saves their time from wondering what they should give to their loved ones.

05

Tips for using Occasion Segmentation for Marketing

Make it Relevant:

You should not just ‘go with the flow’ only because the occasion is celebrated by tons of people. The occasion should be relevant to the brand and the industry. If your brand does not have a product, service, or content that fits the occasion you should not proceed with it. Make sure to choose an occasion that is relevant. Going for an occasion your brand can relate to will improve the chance of sales.

Creativity:

Make your marketing campaign different from what everyone else is doing in the industry. Using the same marketing strategy as others will not make your customers curious about you. It will not convince them to spend their money on your brand. You have to make the marketing more creative to draw your customer’s attention to your brand.

Market Trends

06

FAQs

Occasion-based Marketing implies brands taking advantage of the occasions, events, or holidays to showcase their brand to the target audience. It is a way to improve sales and attract customers. The aim is to market products/services which suit the purpose of the occasion.

The four basic variables of Behavioral Segmentation are:

Universal Occasion is used to refer to those occasions which are for every person around the world, like New Year.

Occasion-based Behavior is referred to the purchase behavior of consumers during special occasions. People purchase more around holidays or buy chocolates for Valentine’s Day.

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