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Target Marketing vs Mass Marketing

If you are in the business of selling goods or services, then you are reliant on marketing to build awareness of your brand. Two common forms of marketing that are used today are target marketing and mass marketing.

What Is Target Marketing?

Target marketing is a process where a market of any size is broken into specific segments. This makes it possible to concentrate the marketing process on the specific targets which can benefit the most from the goods or services that are offered.

Targets can be identified from a large group by creating specific demographics. Although any attribute can be turned into a potential niche that can be targeted by a marketing effort, there are three common demographic types that are used by brands and businesses which use this form of marketing.

  • Household Segmentation. Grouping is based on a measurable statistic. This may include gender, age, income levels, marital status, overall education, ethnicity, or religion.
  • Geographic Segmentation. Grouping is based on the location of potential customers. Home or business addresses and zip codes are the most common method of segmentation, but city, county, state/province, neighborhood, or area codes can provide similar results for marketing purposes.
  • Psychographic Segmentation. Grouping is based on a person’s or a household’s socioeconomic status. This may be based on vocational skills, middle class status, wealthy class status, pensioners, or those who have a career in unskilled manual labor.

What Is Mass Marketing?

Mass marketing is a process where goods or services are promoted toward a wide variety of markets and audiences. Instead of targeting a specific segment, the goal of this type of marketing is to make goods or services seem to be appealing to the most people possible.

When compared to targeted marketing, mass marketing would occur at a larger scale. If a targeted campaign were to focus on a single neighborhood, a mass marketing campaign might focus on the entire city. Most national-level or global-level marketing campaigns are treated as a mass marketing effort.

Why Choose Target Marketing?

Target marketing is a cheaper solution for most brands and businesses. Because groups of consumers are specifically identified as being receptive to the value proposition being offered, there is no need to target a mass audience.

This means everything from the pricing and promotion of goods or services to the distribution needs of a brand and business become easier. The added ease creates lower costs and efficiencies, making it possible to achieve a good profit margin.

Although target marketing is limited to the size of the groups that are identified as being receptive, there is a better chance per person that a sale will be generated.

Why Choose Mass Marketing?

Mass marketing may cost more than target marketing, but it also offers more potential per campaign. Because the value proposition is being made to be as generic as possible, it can reach more people. More potential customers mean there is more potential revenues to harvest for a brand or business.

Mass marketing is a way for some brands to gain advantage over a business that may have an established niche market developed through target marketing. Although a generic value proposition may not be inviting to everyone, a lower cost with a comparative value to a targeted item or service could cause a consumer to shift their brand loyalty.

Although mass marketing is not limited to the size of a group, it is not a campaign process that every brand and business can embrace. The cost of marketing to a large audience with no guarantee is a risk that not everyone is willing to take.

Target Marketing vs Mass Marketing: Which Is Better?

Brands and businesses tend to find the most success when they include some form of marketing that includes principles from both options. Target marketing is useful when identifying specific products or services that are wanted by core customer groups.

Mass marketing, however, is useful for brands and businesses which are attempting to expand their reach.

Although target marketing does require more research, it can also provide results that are specific. That is why many SMBs tend to focus on this form of marketing. It is cheaper, more reliable, and still gets a value proposition out to a core customer base. Target marketing has the chance to go viral as well, creating a limited mass marketing opportunity.

Mass marketing gets the message out to everyone, everywhere, and is costly, but effective.

By appealing to targeted groups while having an overarching presence, it becomes possible to find new customers, bring back returning customers, and establish consistent revenues.

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