In every group of people, there are subsets of people. They are part of a larger group but have some differing viewpoints. In some cases, these differences tilt the scales for the larger society and in other cases, the subset gives an ultimatum to the larger group: respect our values or we will leave and form our own group. Some folks in academic circles have called these subsystems.

In marketing, we deal with groups that we identify as consumers who are likely to buy our products and services. We call them target markets. The larger the target market, the more likely you will run into subsets within the larger group. And since marketing is charged with engaging the target market with your brand in a positive way, dealing with differing opinions can be difficult. If you step on one subgroup’s values in order to attract another subgroup to your brand, you run the risk of losing customers. This is the tightrope that marketers face.

Since this is an election year, you are seeing real-time examples of this. Political parties need to market to the masses in order to be effective. Yet, how can you gather divergent groups of people together for a common cause? You will find one subset insisting the candidate take a hard stand in one direction that may be counter to another subset of the group. The same thing can happen to your brand. How can you win?

First, it is important to build the marketing to subsets into your strategic marketing plan. Understand where their values lie. What is it they want from you that is unique to other subsets within your target market? For instance, I went into my local Walmart in the middle of the day on Wednesday. It is senior citizens’ day at my store. Here is what I observed. The motorized shopping cart scooters were all charged and ready to go. There were more attendants helping people identify open checkout lanes. The cashier lanes (as opposed to the self-checkouts) were all manned and open. The registers that take both cash and credit cards were all operating. All of these are things that senior citizens value. A younger shopper may find it annoying that an employee is trying to steer them to a cashier, let alone the cashier is trying to make lighthearted conversation. This is marketing to the subset. Walmart can make this happen by having a special day of the week when they cater to seniors.

This leads me to my second point: never let the smaller subset guide your marketing to the larger group. You can go too far in gratifying the needs of a small group to the detriment of the larger target market. There have been many large corporations who have fallen victim to this trap. They have been convinced to change their marketing, many times around a social issue, only to have it offend their larger target market. Why did they do so in the first place? Because they were trying to keep a smaller subset happy or were trying to expand into another demographic market. However, you cannot step on the values of your larger target market and expect them to stay loyal to your brand. Marketing is about growing your brand through positive interaction with consumers. Using my previous example, if Walmart forced everyone to go through a long, checkout process (the kind many seniors like), they would lose sales from people who want to get what they need and exit the store as fast as possible. They accommodate both kinds of shoppers.

Identify your target market’s subsets. Understand their needs. Don’t tilt all your marketing to one subset or the other, but give each group a little of what they want.