7.+ID+and+selecting+markets

When market data is assembled, important segments of the local market can be identified. Segments are groups of potential users who share similar wants and needs. The segments may be important to the agency because of their unique needs, the volume of services requested or other reasons.


 * //Does the organization utilize segmentation (systematically); i.e., **how do they identify and segment markets?** Is there **any formal prioritization**?//
 * //What **THREE primary markets** can you identify?//
 * //Which of the **THREE** do you recommend prioritizing, based upon what you know?//
 * //Please further recommend more **discrete segmentation** for the **one** market, e.g., for the segment children, you could add the following if relevant: (age); homework center (use); central library (geography); Hispanic (ethnicity).//
 * //Identify any **positioning strategy** you can determine (even if it is not formalized.) Recommend one of the three: build upon strengths; search for niche; or reposition the competition.//

**__Resources__**
 * //Course Library: “Market Segmentation: Grouping Your Clients,” & “Where Do Our Customers Live…” (Geographic Segmentation)//
 * //Chapter 6//

** Customer Market Research at KTPL ** Currently, KTPL utilizes a number of sources to better understand the community it serves. Internally, the reporting functionality of the integrated library systems provides a wealth of user information. Information about the age range (junior, adult, senior) and location (address and postal code) of users is collected upon registration, and can be further supplemented by which school is attended and voting ward. Circulation statistics offer insight into activity within each of the collections and at each of the branches. Door counter technology has also assisted in understanding usage by driving counts to hourly statistics and providing automated comparative analysis. Looking outside the library doors, the latest Statistics Canada Census provides data about the population of King Township. The Census includes information at the Township level for age, income, family situation, education, language, mobility, ethnicity, citizenship, employment and occupations. The 2006 Community Needs Assessment and town planning reports have been used towards market research for organizational and product planning projects. Not only have such reports accumulated opinions from the community via focus groups, but these reports also contain professionally acquired mid to long term forecasts. The library has also used surveys and feedback tools to gain more insight from the users. Past surveys elicited general satisfaction feedback, but more recently, surveys have been distributed after programs to get more specific information from the attendees. Recognizing that these surveys focus on current users, KTPL has also sent out surveys periodically to the general population as an inclusion to the tax bill package each residential owner receives. The Children’s Manager utilizes her interaction with the local schools to procure information on registration numbers, as well as demographic statistics prepared by York Region (population, births) and the school boards (registration, locations of full-time kindergarten). In some cases, market research has been as informal as stopping by real-estate offices and new home sales centers to talk to realtors and developers about who is buying homes in the area. Finally, with the prevalence of internet usage, KTPL has made use of Google Analytics, focus groups and other tracking tools to learn more about the users of its website. Information can be obtained about where users launch from to get to the library’s website, their origin, as well as the usage of the various tools presented in the site, and in some cases, statistics from within these tools. For example, the number of downloaded e-books can be obtained from Overdrive. During the 2005 redesign of KTPL’s website, focus groups were used to generate input on types of use, preferences and concerns.