Targeting Non-Profits in the Technology Sector
US non-profit organizations have disparate views about how and where technology can play a role in helping them achieve their most important objectives and enable them to operate more efficiently to maximize the utility of every donor dollar. With the understanding that a one-size-fits-all approach to marketing in this environment is sub-optimal, a leading global cloud provider asked us to help them identify, size, and profile distinct market segments to determine who they should go after and how to tailor their go-to-market strategy.
To accomplish these objectives, we used a two-step approach:
- We conducted comprehensive secondary research to develop hypotheses about the attitudes, needs, and behaviors of US non-profits, particularly at the intersection of technology and their organization’s key objectives. This provided us with a preliminary view of the US non-profit industry in order to determine specific areas of inquiry required to develop a meaningful segmentation.
- We conducted a comprehensive quantitative survey with over 700 US non-profit organizations that covered a range of key areas that would form the basis of the segmentation and enable deep profiling to inform tailored strategies. This survey included an exploration into non-profit organizational objectives and challenges, as well as their overall attitudes and behaviors related to technology, and cloud more specifically.
From the data collected in the survey, and using both advanced and descriptive-analytical methods, we were able to:
- Identify and size unique market segments within the broader US non-profit market
- Develop rich profiles of each segment including their key objectives, challenges, technology outlook, cloud usage, cloud purchase drivers and inhibitors, cloud decision process and influencers, etc.
- Build an algorithm (or “typing tool”) that classifies non-profits into one of the identified segments based on minimal amount of known information
- Provide specific recommendations on how to best market and message to each segment
As a result of the study, our client has been able to prioritize its marketing and sales efforts, develop tailored go-to-market strategies, and operationalize them across the US non-profit market.
