Narrowing the Facts

Kevin Donaldson knows that as Balihoo grows, its need to further define its customer base will too.

That’s why Donaldson, Balihoo’s VP of product management, says it is important for the marketing software company to better understand market segmentation and how it might play a role in Balihoo’s future.

“Market segmentation is one of those things that you can’t really perform without knowing how to do it effectively,” Donaldson says. “You have to have the right tools and the right know-how, otherwise you’re just spinning your wheels.”

Enter OpenView Venture Partners and the market segmentation workshop the firm hosted for its portfolio companies (which includes Balihoo) in March. The collaborative forum did wonders for clearing up market segmentation’s misconceptions, while laying out a plan that each company could follow to begin segmenting its target markets.

OpenView portfolio company Exinda, for example, discovered that what it thought was one of its segments was actually a much larger category waiting to be segmented further. Central Desktop, another OpenView portfolio company, is now in the process of identifying its third target segment, opening the door for future growth and better awareness of its customers’ needs.

“OpenView is very unique in how it supports and supplements its companies,” says OpenView senior advisor and Enthiosys CEO Luke Hohmann, who led the market segmentation workshop in March. “Market segmentation isn’t easy, but it’s not overly complex either. It takes time and resources, both of which OpenView has committed to its companies.”

Read the case study in full to learn about the Market Segmentation forum.