Edalatkhah - Shima

CUSTOMER-DRIVEN B2B MARKETING
STRATEGIES FOR A SOFTWARE COMPANY
Case: Statzon
LAHTI UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED

SCIENCES LTD
Bachelor of Business Administration
Degree Program in International Business
Autumn 2019
Shima Edalatkhah
Abstract
Author(s) Type of publication Published

Edalatkhah, Shima Bachelor’s thesis Autumn 2019
Number of pages, 86
Title of publication
Customer-driven B2B Marketing Strategies for a Software Company
Case: Statzon
Bachelor of Business Administration
Abstract
This thesis concerns proposing B2B customer-driven marketing strategies for a software com-
pany, Statzon, to penetrate Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) countries’ academic segments. The pur-
pose of this study is to examine the B2B marketing strategies to meet the expectations of the
target segment users in a functional and cost-effective process.
The thesis is divided into theoretical and empirical sections. The theoretical part focuses on
marketing strategies, marketing penetration process, and subscription marketing model hints
by reviewing earlier studies. The author retrieved the collected data from both printed and
electronic formats, books, articles, journals, and online sources.
The empirical part applies a qualitative research method by analyzing questionnaire results.
To fulfill the study goals and to answer the research questions, a ten-question questionnaire
was emailed to 273 subjects. The survey subjects were library directors, vice directors, and
head librarians of NB8 universities as the authentic source for data collection.
The collected result presents the demanded data categories in the NB8 academic segment,
the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of data service platform, the decision-making process,
and pricing hints about each country academic segment from the users’ point of view. Based
on the conclusions of this study, education, finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and recreation
were the most popular data categories for the academic segment. The most notable KPIs of
data service figured out to be the variety of data categories, regular data updates, and down-
loadable visual data. 70% of results show that the decision about the data service provider is
based on students’ feedback. Finally, the study outcome shows while the average data service
fee in NB8 is €5,194, fair price in the Nordics is considered to be €5,000-7,500, while in the
Baltics users had more diversified anticipations.
Keywords
B2B marketing strategy, Subscription model, Target segment, Niche market, Leads
CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Purpose and Research Methodology .................................................................. 1
1.2 Thesis Objectives and Research Questions........................................................ 1
1.3 Scope and Limitations of the Study..................................................................... 2
1.4 Thesis Structure ................................................................................................. 2
1.5 Research Methodology and Data Collection ....................................................... 3
2 MARKETING STRATEGY ......................................................................................... 5
2.1 Customer-Driven Marketing ................................................................................ 5
2.1.1 Customer Groups ........................................................................................ 8
2.1.2 Driving Forces on Modern User Behaviors .................................................. 9
2.2 Market Penetration Strategies ...........................................................................11
2.2.1 Market Segmentation..................................................................................12
2.2.2 Targeting the Market...................................................................................13
2.2.3 Market Positioning ......................................................................................15
2.2.4 Cost Leader Strategy ..................................................................................16
2.2.5 Differentiation and Competitive Advantages ...............................................16
2.2.6 Setting Barriers to Entry ..............................................................................17
2.3 Subscription Model, The Proven Business Model ..............................................18
2.3.1 Subscription Promotion Objectives .............................................................19
2.3.2 Subscription Promotion Strategies ..............................................................21
2.3.3 Concept of Dark Net /PVC ..........................................................................24
2.3.4 Paid, Owned and Earned Media .................................................................25
3 CASE COMPANY: STATZON ..................................................................................27
3.1 Background .......................................................................................................27
3.1.1 Customer Profile .........................................................................................27
3.1.2 SWOT Analysis ..........................................................................................27
3.2 Target Markets ..................................................................................................29
3.2.1 NB8 Political Analysis .................................................................................29
3.2.2 NB8 Economical Analysis ...........................................................................30
3.2.3 NB8 Social Analysis....................................................................................30
3.2.4 NB8 Technological Analysis .......................................................................30
3.3 Competitors .......................................................................................................32
4 EMPIRICAL RESEARCH AND DATA ANALYSIS .....................................................34
4.1 Data Collection ..................................................................................................34
4.2 Survey Results ..................................................................................................34
4.2.1 Chief Faculties in Academic Segment of NB8 .............................................36
4.2.2 Significant Data Categories in the NB8 Academic Segment .......................37
4.2.3 Essential Data Service KPIs .......................................................................38
4.2.4 Decision Making Process in NB8 ................................................................39
4.2.5 NB8 Data Service Pricing Hints ..................................................................40
4.3 Recommended Customer-Driven Marketing Strategies .....................................42
4.3.1 Setting SMART Goals.................................................................................42
4.3.2 Content Curation ........................................................................................43
4.3.3 Lead Nurturing ............................................................................................44
4.3.4 OPN ...........................................................................................................45
4.3.5 Setting Barriers Against Competitors ..........................................................46
5 CONCLUSION ..........................................................................................................48
5.1 Key Findings ......................................................................................................48
5.1.1 Data Service KPIs to Penetrate the NB8 Academic Segment .....................48
5.1.2 The Missing Competitive Advantages of Statzon ........................................49
5.1.3 Penetration Process ...................................................................................50
5.1.4 Pricing Policy ..............................................................................................51
5.1.5 Marketing Promotional Strategies for Statzon in NB8 .................................52
5.2 Final Remarks ...................................................................................................55
5.3 Study Assessment .............................................................................................57
5.4 Limitations of the Study and Suggestions for Further Research .........................58
6 SUMMARY ...............................................................................................................60
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................61
APPENDICES..................................................................................................................66
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Thesis structure .................................................................................................. 3
Figure 2 Research methodology ....................................................................................... 4
Figure 3 Marketing process (adapted from Venkatesan 2019) .......................................... 5
Figure 4 Planning marketing (adapted from Hawkins & Mothersbaugh 2009) ................... 6
Figure 5 SPT model (adapted from Kotler & Armstrong 2014, 72) .................................... 7
Figure 6 PQSM model (adapted from Bhalerao & Pandey 2017) ...................................... 7
Figure 7 Globalization forces (adapted from Nitisha 2018) ................................................ 9
Figure 8 Pricing policy tips (adapted from Balle 2019) .....................................................10
Figure 9 The risks that loyal customers avoid (adapted from Keller 2013) .......................11
Figure 10 Market penetration process (adapted from Claire 2017)...................................12
Figure 11 Market segmentation process (adapted from Kotler & Armstrong 2014,216)....13
Figure 12 Applied strategies to targeting the market (adapted from Schildge 2018) .........14
Figure 13 Market positioning (adapted from Kotler & Armstrong 2012, 216) ....................15
Figure 14 Sustainable competitive advantage (adapted from Porter 1985) ......................17
Figure 15 Barriers to market entry (adapted from Aaker 2011) ........................................18
Figure 16 Subscription categories (McKinsey Analysis 2018) ..........................................19
Figure 17 Subscription promotion process (adapted from Campbell 2019) ......................20
Figure 18 Driving Traffic and lead nurturing strategies (adapted from Morris 2015) .........22
Figure 19 Taking pre-subscribers (adapted from Morris 2015) .........................................23
Figure 20 The official launch (adapted from Morris 2015) ................................................23
Figure 21 Subscription marketing metrics (adapted from Talbot 2018) ............................24
Figure 22 Net, Dark Net, and Deep Net (adapted from Corcoran 2009) ...........................25
Figure 23 Statzon SWOT analysis ...................................................................................29
Figure 24 Competitors’ analysis criteria (adapted from Haaff 2019.) ................................32

Figure 25 Subjects participation rate by country...............................................................35
Figure 26 Most common NB8 academic faculties ............................................................36
Figure 27 The most significant data categories in the NB8 academic segment ................37
Figure 28 Essential data service KPIs for NB8 academic segment ..................................38
Figure 29 NB8 academic segment demand features for data service ..............................39
Figure 30 NB8 academic segment data service price range ............................................40
Figure 31 NB8 data service fee hints ...............................................................................41
Figure 32 Setting SMART goal (adapted from Madison 2019) .........................................42
Figure 33 Content curation process (adapted from Hlavac 2019).....................................43
Figure 34 Other people’s network model (adapted from Corcoran 2009) .........................46
Figure 35 Recommended NB8 penetration process .........................................................51
Figure 36 Recommended market strategies targeting NB8 academic segment ...............54

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Customer groups (Solomon 2017, 29).................................................................. 8
Table 2 NB8 PEST analysis (WorldBank Group 2019).....................................................31
Table 3 Competitive capability analysis (Aha 2019) .........................................................33
Table 4 Thesis process timeline .......................................................................................34
Table 6 Statzon service KPIs for NB8 academic segment ...............................................49
Table 7 The potential competitive advantages of Statzon ................................................50
Table 8 Data service annual subscription fee in NB8 .......................................................52

Abbreviations
Ad Advertisement
AMA Ask me anything
B2B Business-to-business
B2C Business-to-customer
CEO Chief executive officer
CLV Customer Lifetime Value
COO Country of origin
GDP Gross domestic product
DAU Daily active user
GDPR General data protection regulation
KPI Key performance indicators
MAU Monthly active user
NB8 Nordics-Baltics Eight (Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden-Estonia,

Latvia, Lithuania)
OPN Other people’s network
PEST Political, economical, social and technological (analysis)
PQSM Promotion, quality, sales and marketing (model)
R&D Research and development
ROI Return of Investment
SEO Search engine optimization
SME Small and medium-sized enterprise
SPT Segmentation, positioning and targeting (model)
SWOT Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (analysis)
WAU Weekly active user
WOM Word of mouth

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1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Purpose and Research Methodology
The goal of this thesis is to examine customer-driven B2B marketing strategies for the
case company, Statzon. The strategic plan aims to enhance the number of subscribed us-
ers by figuring out:
• Statzon service KPIs for the target market
• The potential competitive advantages that Statzon can provide
• Target market penetration process
• Suitable pricing policy for the target segment
• Marketing promotional strategies for Statzon
The motivation behind this study is that the author had her internship in the case company
as a marketing intern. During practical training, the author noticed the case company’s
service for academic segment needs more fitting features to penetrate the target markets.
To tackle the penetration challenges, considering what exactly the customers need is the
key to improve service quality and to increase the number of subscribers in the target seg-
ment. Moreover, the case company admitted that tailored strategies are missing.
1.2 Thesis Objectives and Research Questions
The study seeks strategies to increase the number of subscribed users. To avoid getting
cold calls, sending unsolicited email newsletters and spamming, understanding the spe-
cific solicited features on users’ point of view is a must to offer real value to the users. Tar-
get markets are analyzed by the author to understand the demands better. A survey con-
taining key performance indicator (KPIs) of users’ favorable service was sent to target ac-
ademic users to highlight the essential values from the users’ perspective.
The research questions after consulting with Statzon CEO and co-founder, Kimmo Kuok-
kanen, include:
1. What are the customer-driven KPIs to enable Statzon penetrating NB8 aca-
demic segment?
2. What are the potential competitive advantages of Statzon in NB8 academic seg-
ment?
3. How is the penetration process to NB8 academic segment?
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4. What is the optimum pricing policy for NB8 academic segment?
1.3 Scope and Limitations of the Study
The thesis presents marketing penetration strategies for the case company targeting NB8
(Nordic-Baltic Eight) countries, by focusing only on the segment of academic users to pro-
vide profound research results to the case company. Other studies can focus on different
target markets or segments.
This study only focuses on the annual subscription model as the current business model
of the case company. Further research can be done about other subscription models such
as monthly or quarterly subscriptions.
To implement the empirical part, the author contacted the library managers of the target
markets. Further studies can focus on other target groups, for instance, students, as the
dominant end-users of the provided service.
1.4 Thesis Structure
The thesis consists of six chapters. The first chapter provides a mind map of the whole
study. Considering Statzon’s provided service and business model, chapter 2 concen-
trates on three major concepts: Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy, Market Penetration
Strategies, and Subscription Business Model. Chapter 3 includes details about the case
study. The first subsection of chapter 3 highlights the case company by introducing and
analyzing its status, and the second sub-chapter focuses on the selected segment in tar-
get markets. Chapter 4 consists of the empirical part of the study. Its first part focuses on
the collected and analyzed data, and the second part includes interpretations of the re-
sults as the practical strategies for market penetration. Chapter 5 presents the conclusion,
and the sixth chapter summarizes the research. Figure 1 shows the thesis structure.
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Introduction
Marketing Strategy
Customer Driven Marketing Penetration
Subscription Model
Marketing Strategies
Case Company: Statzon
Background Target Markets Competitors
Empirical Research & Data Analysis
Data Collection Analysis of Results Recomended Strategies
Conclusion
Limitations &
Key Findings Final Remarks Study Assessment Suggestons
Summary
Figure 1 Thesis structure
1.5 Research Methodology and Data Collection
The aim of this study is to answer the questions of what and how. Accordingly, this study
applies the qualitative research method. To answer the research questions, the study in-
cludes the following steps:
Firstly, to figure out the key indicators of provided service strategies, the research ana-
lyzes the target markets by focusing on academic segments websites, social media, and
users’ reviews.
Secondly, the researcher implements a 10-questioned questionnaire created using Survey

Monkey online tool. The questionnaire was emailed to library directors, vice directors, and
the head librarians of most universities in NB8.
Thirdly, considering the GDPR rules, the questionnaire data is collected anonymously.
The questions are designed in a way that implies to which country the answers belong.
4
The survey results help the researcher to provide the strategies based on the voice of
customers. Figure 2 summarizes the research methodology.
Research approach Research method Source of data
Primary data
Inductive Qualitative
Secondary data
Figure 2 Research methodology

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2 MARKETING STRATEGY
2.1 Customer-Driven Marketing
To create an effective marketing strategy successfully, businesses need to consider the

customers’ needs and preferences. To make a long-lasting relationship the companies
should not focus just on the products or service they wish to offer, but what the customers
want to have. Since customers will pay for real value, the businesses should consider the
shifting paradigm toward customers’ role as the central pillars of designing the killing ser-
vice. (Thomas 2014.)
There is a standard guideline for the marketing professionals to follow: figure 3 illustrates
the marketing process. The marketing process starts with objectives of 5Cs and on top of
that is complete comprehension of the targeted customers. After setting the objectives
based on customer needs and taste, strategy is designed. The strategy comprises of seg-
mentation, targeting and positioning, based on those the service features, price, place,
and promotion tactics are set, known as 4Ps of marketing. The fourth phase of marketing
process is allocated to the financials, “show me the money,” including the growth margin,
return of investment, ROI, and customer lifetime value, CLV. All the process will be con-
sidered to check out the feasibility of marketing plan. (Venkatesan 2019.)
•Margin • Customers
•ROI • Company
•CLV • Competitors
• Collaborators
• Context
Financial Goals and

measurement objectives
Tactics Strategy
•Product/service •Segmentation
•Price •Targeing
•Place •Positioning
•Promotion
Figure 3 Marketing process (adapted from Venkatesan 2019)

6
Understanding customer behavior is the basis of marketing strategy. The next step is a
comprehensive analysis of the target market by considering the potentials and capabilities
of the company. By implementing market research, companies will know the driving eco-
nomic and technological influencers on the market. Meanwhile, they can identify promis-
ing customer segments. The next step is assessing the competitor’s power versus weak
points. Market analysis also helps in more accurate identification of market segments and
the target customers to form the unique strategy based on planned product or service. By
constant monitoring of the customer's behavior on the decision process as well as the
sales information, the existing problems should be identified and resolved as an ongoing
ever-improving process. (Hawkins & Mothersbaugh 2009,11-12.) To recap the points
mentioned above, figure 4 contains the planning marketing strategy steps.
Monitorin
Setting
Customers' Market Competito g customer Identifying Resolving
marketing
analysis analysis rs' analysis decision problems problems
strategy
process
Figure 4 Planning marketing (adapted from Hawkins & Mothersbaugh 2009)
To be a winner in today’s competitive markets, companies need to have innovative and

unique marketing strategies. As discussed above, the first step in setting a successful
marketing strategy is a comprehensive understanding of customers by analyzing their
types, needs, and values. Then grasping the market by analyzing the target market, mar-
ket segments to set target and positioning by considering the competitors’ competitive ad-
vantages. (Kotler & Armstrong 2014, 72.)
Kotler & Armstrong (2014, 72) define segmentation, positioning, and targeting as SPT
model to consider the successive objectives in planning an effective marketing strategy.
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1. Market segmentation
2. Market targeting
3. Differentiation and positioning
Figure 5 SPT model (adapted from Kotler & Armstrong 2014, 72)
Accordingly, the focus of the next parts is on setting Customer-driven marketing strategy
based on customers comprehension and market penetration strategies.
To illustrate the importance of customer behavior in business and the reason why consid-
ering the voice of the customer is becoming more and more essential, Bhallerao & Pan-
dey (2017), introduce the key factors of promotion, quality, sales and marketing, PQSM
model, as follow:
Focus
on
Promotion
Factors affecting Service Quality

customers’ To
gain Salesforce
behavior
better Market
Figure 6 PQSM model (adapted from Bhalerao & Pandey 2017)
According to Bhalerao & Pandey, purchasing starts with customers not manufacturing a
product or offering a service. The purchase process sparks by being aware of a need or
desire for a specific product or service, then proceeds to purchase phase. (Kajabi 2018.)
According to the 80-20 rule proposed by the Italian economist, Alfredo Pareto, 80% of the
sales come from 20% of customers. Statzon needs to identify this 20% customer segment
in each market and concentrate on providing the niche data category they need to enrich
its service quality. The 80-20 rule sets the 80-20 sales principle as a highly effective and
concentrated business solution to drive customers toward sales funnel. (Rivard 2017.)
To create optimum value, any enterprise not only needs to precisely know what the cus-
tomers’ needs, wants and demands are, it also needs to be updated by the evolving taste
and needs and modern features (Claire 2017). The first step in designing a customer-
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driven marketing strategy thus is to know the customer groups well (Proprofs 2019). The
following part includes a more in-depth look into customer groups.
2.1.1 Customer Groups
According to Solomon (2017, 28), consumer behavior refers to the process by which indi-
viduals or groups select, purchase, consume or dispose of a product, service, idea or ex-
perience to satisfy needs or desires. Table 1 contains consumers types and definition.
Table 1 Customer groups (Solomon 2017, 29)
Consumer types Definition
Actual users Consumers who have the intention to use or experience
Loyal customers Actual users who frequently purchase certain

/ heavy users
product, brand or service
Brand commu- Users who share a set of social relationships based on interest or consump-
nity tion of a particular brand. Consumer genuine need is not the main purchase
reason in many cases
Purchasers but The purchase process forms for other means than consumption such as
not users giving a gift or just satisfying the purchase desire
Impulse buyers Consumers who buy on impulse without any initial or specific wish or need.
The motive behind the purchase process varies among emotional appeal,
advertising appeal, discount, other users influence or other factors.
New consumers Shoppers who do not have any previous knowledge about the usage of the
or experiences product or service. They can be first time buyers who try out new products
or the users who seek an alternative to current product or service
Well informed The customers who accurately know their needs and the available options
consumers in the market. They are confident about their choice of product, service or
the brand they are buying usually based on an enjoyable experience
Since actual users, new consumers, and well-informed users are the main target groups
for the case company of the thesis, the further focus of this study will be on these groups.
The actual users also can be divided into daily active users DAU, weekly active users
WAU or monthly active users, MAU. After knowing the customer types, their pre-pur-
chase, purchase and post-purchase behavior also is the other determinant factor in
9
business success as a clue for marketers to figure out if the offered product or service can
meet the needs of the customer or not. (Bhalerao & Pandey 2017.) The next segment fo-
cus is on the driving factors on users’ behavior to figure out customers’ traits more deeply.
2.1.2 Driving Forces on Modern User Behaviors
Reviewing the success stories of different businesses reveals the importance of compre-
hensive knowledge about customer behavior. Knowing the variety of determinant factors
on customers’ behavior can be a guideline for designing and planning the customer ser-
vice. Globalization and online shopping made evolutions in customer behavior by more
customer-friendly service, including a variety of access products and services that save
users time and budget. However, the significant role of quality, price, cultural values, and
references cannot be ignored in modern users’ behavior. (Samli 2013, 3.)
Globalization
Globalization has cut down the business communication costs more accurately and effec-
tively and has accelerated the flow of providing products and services; meanwhile, ease of
access on information has increased consumers’ demands as well as competitiveness
among manufacturers and service providers. The positive result of this evolution is the
economic boom and higher living standards. (Nitisha 2018.)
Globalization Forces
Reduction of Change in
Advancement of High
Cross Trade Customer
Technology Competition
Barriers Behaviour
Figure 7 Globalization forces (adapted from Nitisha 2018)
Culture
As the set of values, shared beliefs, norms, and attitudes, culture influences individual
evaluations about the same product or service. Regarding consumer behavior, culture im-
pact reflects the consumer's way of thinking and pre and post-purchase traits. (Solomon
2017, 515.) One of the determinant cultural factors in ease of business and selling prod-
ucts or service is power distance (Hofstede & Minkov 2010, 61). Power distance refers to
the extent to which the less powerful members of the organization within the same country
expect and accept that power is distributed unequally (Kucharska & Bedford 2019, 1).
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Quality
The product origin or the service resource, especially when we are talking about the data
service, matters a lot to the users. Even the country of origin (COO) has a strong effect on
customers behavior, consciously or unconsciously, and the quality perception, in the tar-
get market. (Solomon 2017, 574.)
Reference/WOM
The other determinant feature in building trust among users is the different customers’ re-
view; in other words, Word of Mouth (WOM), about already used product performance or
service quality. In a study by Nielsen Company, 66% of respondents mentioned they trust
previous users, who posted their opinion online. WOM can affect a user’s evaluation
based on a reference group experience. (Solomon 2017, 422-423.)
Price
Price has a significant influence on consumer behavior that cannot be ignored. As the
lower price than the competitor can cause a significant spike in the business, if the price is
higher than what expected, the outcome of the sale can be disappointing. Accordingly,
some tips about pricing policy matter to any business. (Balle 2019.)
• For already offered product or service, any rise in price contains the risk of turning the
consumer off. Exceptionally, in case of high demand or low competitive market, not only the
risk of missing the customer is lower while setting price higher, it can also encourage
Price Hike consumers to buy more as the evidence of consumption trendiness or high value.
• Price-conscious consumers appreciate the low price, but initially breaking the price down
Lower Price can distort the brand image and make customers suspicious about the offered quality.
Effects
• Keeping track of daily sales and the price points is a must to balance the pricing policy
Tracking buyer over time
behavior
• Setting the right price is very tricky at the initial stages of manufacturing a product or
service, to do so, considering the profit margin and price research assist to figure out the
Consideration consumer's preferred price.
Figure 8 Pricing policy tips (adapted from Balle 2019)

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Brand Loyalty
Many times, brand loyalty is a heavier factor that shades on price competition, quick ser-
vice, and in some cases, even quality. Brand loyalty in the marketing concept indicates
the credibility of the brand from a customer perspective. While brand awareness not nec-
essarily leads to customer engagement, in a favorable situation, the shift from brand
awareness to brand loyalty is the positive result of marketing strategies. (Keller 2013, 19 &
35.) Figure 9 shows the main reasons users turn to brand loyal customers are mitigating
various types of risks such as financial, functional, health, and time-based risks.
Financial risk
Not worthy product or service upon paid price
Functional risk
Not performing as expected
Health risk
Specifically, in case of consuming the new products, unpleasant disapproval
Time risk
The most crucial risks to meet the deadlines
Figure 9 The risks that loyal customers avoid (adapted from Keller 2013)
After the initial understanding of the customer groups and the market environment, the
next part discerns the winning marketing strategies.
2.2 Market Penetration Strategies
The competitive advantages of corporations reflect their effective users-based marketing

strategies. Businesses need to create their own plan for an effective strategy. Customer-
driven marketing strategy is the applied technique in companies that is not just focused on
profit-making, but also on having an edge against the competitors. In other words, the
main focus is on competitors’ preferences by following the leading keys. First, by targeting
the market after market segmentation, and then building a relationship by meeting the
customers’ needs and most importantly, being unique and innovative by competitive
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advantages. (Claire 2017.) Succeeding parts focus on market penetration strategies seek-
ing the goal of creating value for the target customer.
1. Market segmentation
2. Targetting the market
Market Penetration 3. Meeting the needs
4.Building a relationship
5. Positioning
Figure 10 Market penetration process (adapted from Claire 2017)
The concentration of the next part respectively is on market segmentation, market target-
ing, and positioning, to have a deeper understanding of the penetration process.
2.2.1 Market Segmentation
Marketing segmentation is the process of selecting the target B2B or B2C customers to
serve and determining a value proposition that best meets the customer’s needs. In other
words, it includes dividing the market to distinct segments of customers with different
needs, service features, characteristics, and behaviors who might need a separate prod-
uct or service. (Kotler & Armstrong 2014, 205-207.) As there is no single strategy to select
a market segment, different variables, including demographic, geographic, psychographic,
and behavioral factors, should be taken into account. Business markets also can be seg-
mented by operating characteristics such as industry and company size, as well as pur-
chasing approaches. The effectiveness of segmentation analysis roots in figuring the seg-
mentations which are measurable, accessible, substantial, distinguishable, and actiona-
ble. (Kotler & Armstrong 2014, 200-207.) The first step to achieve a successful marketing
segmentation is evaluating the segment growth size. The company strategy can be undif-
ferentiated and mass marketing or differentiated marketing considering the segments. Dif-
ferentiated marketing offers a different service for each segment. Managers also can con-
sider micromarketing, including local marketing, for each segment. The most suitable
strategy is planned based on the company resources, product or service variability, mar-
ket differentiation, and the competitive level of the market. (Kotler & Armstrong 2014,
216.) Figure 11 summarizes the market segmentation process model.
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Market
segmentation
B2B Considering company resources B2C

& market competitive level
Considering industry or Evaluating the Considering demographic,

segment Recognizing
company size & the needs geographic, psychographic &
purchasing approaches growth size behavioral factors
Devising marketing
strategy
Undifferentiated /mass marketing Differentiated marketing

Same offer for different segments Various offers for each segment
Figure 11 Market segmentation process (adapted from Kotler & Armstrong 2014,216)
Once the proper segments are determined, the target markets are selected as the next
step of the penetration process.
2.2.2 Targeting the Market
Once the market segments are defined and clarified, it is time to evaluate each market
segment’s attractiveness. After evaluation, it is time to select the chief segments. Market
targeting consists of designing strategies to create optimum value for the target custom-
ers. (Kotler & Armstrong 2014,76.) Market targeting promotes focusing on resources and
growing quicker. In simple words, market targeting refers to a decision over serving all
people who are willing to buy or concentrate on specific segments. This decision is deter-
mined by a variety of factors such as market segments size, growth rate, buyers, competi-
tion level, and the type of product or service. Targeting the market helps the sales depart-
ment to identify market opportunities better and then develop the right offer for each target
market. Based on target market features, the enterprises can adjust the price, select distri-
bution channels, and plan advertisement on each market. Market targeting also can offer
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the managers the chance to evaluate the revenue, costs, and profit implications of each
segment. Nevertheless, selecting the very best target market is almost impossible be-
cause of the product or service complexity, also research and analysis cost as a result of
the complexity of market response estimation. (Schildge 2018.) Figure 12 summarizes
how market communication, content marketing, SEO, paid Ad search, email, and blogging
can improve content engagement and help to implement marketing strategies:
•Market targeting improves communication efficiency both in website content and

Market
Communic
social media posts, based on audience category.
ation
•By focusing on audience unique interest and needs, more valuable, engaging ,and
Content creative content can be created.
Marketing
•To highlight brand visibility through the search engine, using more proper
keywords or phrases including voice search, helps driving drive traffic to the
SEO website as well as market targeting.
•As the other strategy for driving more traffic to the website, paid Ad search
Paid Ad efficiency improves by market targeting with more relevant buyer's searched
Search keywords
•Market targeting helps to send the right emails to the right people at the right
Email time with the right content to guide them regarding buying decision process.
Display •Market targeting helps to advertise on the websites the audience visit frequently
Ads
•Guest blog posting as the opportunity to build trust and make brand visible in
Guest other relevant websites will be more strategic by considering the ideal audience
Blogging and their interests
Figure 12 Applied strategies to targeting the market (adapted from Schildge 2018)
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2.2.3 Market Positioning
By clearly articulating the differentiation against competitors, great brands align their posi-
tions among customers (Roberts 2018). To pace toward success in a competitive market,
after deciding over the target segment and setting the objectives and strategy regarding
target markets, the company needs to have a clear plan about its differentiation and posi-
tion compared to other competitors. The succeeding three phases drive companies to set
their positioning:
1. Identifying possible
differentiations to create
competitive advantages
2. Selecting core advantages to

build positioning
3. Selecting an overall
positioning & set
barriers to entry
Figure 13 Market positioning (adapted from Kotler & Armstrong 2012, 216)
By deciding about the right positioning, the company focuses on delivering the selected
position through effective communication (Kotler & Armstrong 2014, 216). In marketing
and business context, market positioning refers to consumers’ perception of a brand,
product, or service. In other words, market positioning represents the process of establish-
ing the identity and image of a brand in a certain way to the customers. To set a long-last-
ing positioning, marketers need dynamic and ongoing initiatives to develop the target mar-
ket’s perception of the product or service in an intended way. Cost leadership, differentia-
tion, and setting barriers to entry, back up a successful and lasting positioning. (Wilkinson
2013.) For instance, as Roberts (2018) mentions in his blog, Tesla positioned itself as a
luxury sport model electric vehicle.
16
2.2.4 Cost Leader Strategy
The cost leadership is a strategy by businesses to create a low cost of operations within
their niche market. The goal is primarily gaining advantages over competitors in the same
industry. Cost leadership defines as the strategy that attempts to position a company in
the customer’s mind as a product or service provider with a lower price than competitors.
(Wilkinson 2013.) In the food industry as an example, Taco Bell, set its position as cheap
Tex-Mex food and managed to hold the largest market share of fast-food Mexican restau-
rants for years. (Roberts 2018.) While the concept of cost leadership might seem simple,
its implementation is not easy to achieve as the strategy is designed to maximize profit
with the best possible product or service, yet the lowest available costs. Laying stress
upon maximizing profit differentiates cost leadership with price leadership, as the latter fo-
cusses only on keeping the prices more economical than the competitors. (Gray 2019.)
Below mentioned hints can leverage the cost leadership:
• Saving up by researching for cost-effective resources

• Maintaining an ongoing relationship with customers to accelerate on-time payment
• Specializing in a specific product or service to offer a detailed experience to the
user
• Boosting efficiency by hiring the right staff and comprehensive training for a well-
defined process
• Applying automation to save time
• Implementing the right technology to minimize errors
• Taking advantages of discounts and loyalty programs (Gray 2019.)
2.2.5 Differentiation and Competitive Advantages
Differentiation strategy helps the company to position itself as a unique product or service
provider in the customer’s mind. Ideally, with a successful differentiation strategy, compa-
nies can appeal their customers to pay more as they will not be able to find a comparable
product or service in the market. By the time a unique feature of a product or service adds
specific value, it gives the image of premium to the product or service. (Wilkinson 2013.)
Kotler and Armstrong (2014, 210) define the competitive advantage as follow:
“Competitive advantage is an advantage over competitors gained by offering greater

customer value, either by having a lower price or providing more benefits that justify
higher prices.”
17
Competitive advantage brings superiority for a good or service over customer’s other
choices. The three main determinant bases of competitive advantage are firstly the spe-
cific benefit for the customer, secondly niche market, and thirdly competition strategy. To
be successful, companies should articulate their entitlements to the customer. (Amadeo
2019.) Michael Porter, as cited in Amadeo’s blog, steps further and discusses the durable
and sustainable competitive advantage as he alerts businesses that if currently, a com-
pany is a market leader, this does not mean it will have this position forever. To build a
sustainable competitive advantage, a company must set clear goals, strategies, opera-
tions, and aligned corporate culture and values toward those goals. Meanwhile, it needs to
plan broad and narrow cost leadership and differentiation alongside strategic stages of
business. (Amadeo 2019.)
Scope Cost Differentiation
Cost
Broad Differentiation
Leadership
Differentiation
Narrow Cost Focus
Focus
Figure 14 Sustainable competitive advantage (adapted from Porter 1985)
While many firms base their competitive advantage on price, quality, and the speed of re-
sponsiveness to customer, the innovation and technology role in moving toward differenti-
ation is proven (Amadeo 2019).
2.2.6 Setting Barriers to Entry
Crafting barriers to competitors is the backbone of the sustainable leading position in the
market to grow sales and profit, also preventing competitors from turning to customers’
option (Aaker 2011). Figure 15 shows some strategies that help setting entry barriers:
18
Figure 15 Barriers to market entry (adapted from Aaker 2011)
Protective Technology of Prius’ Hybrid Synergy Drive, Ongoing Innovation of Chrysler that
led market for 18 years without notable competitors in minivan category, Scale of IKEA,
Investment of CNN and Execution as well as Brand Networks of Apple App Suppliers are
the examples of how brands can create a “wow experience” for the customers and set
barriers to compete. Engagement level or the Customer Involvement such as Crocker
kitchen community backing General Mills can build a community for a brand. Self-Expres-
sive Benefits are functional benefits which are not easily copiable. Brand equity refers to
authenticity feeling, which is behind strong brands such as PowerBar. Brand Loyalty im-
plies the must-have feeling to customers, and Brand Differentiation appeals to the cus-
tomer and Exemplar Status refers to the situation when a brand represents the whole
product or service category such as iPhone or Jeep. These features drive a big gap with
competitors to enter the same market or at least the niche segment. (Aaker 2011.)
2.3 Subscription Model, The Proven Business Model
As Wallance mentions in her article from McKinsey studies, Subscription Revenue Model
as one of the most popular online services has elevated many businesses. By overview-
ing the literature, in 2011, subscription brands made an estimated $57,000,000. This
amount in 2016 jumped to $2.6 bn. The subscription business model has grown by over
100 percent in recent years. Temped by astonishing business model growth, many other
businesses have shifted toward a subscription model, for instance, Walmart (Beauty Box),
P & G and Sephora. (McKinsey 2018.)
Turban in Bigcommerce defines the subscription business model as a model that offers
recurring product or service in return for the recurring payment (Big-commerce 2018).
Sloat from Zuora defines the subscription model as the relationship with the customer and
the transactions which are happening on a platform. Thus, the mindset should be based
19
on building a subscription relationship. (McCann 2016.) The fantastic feature about sub-
scription business is that it does not necessarily need massive investment, and based on
the planned business model, the budget can be under control. The last point adds value to
this business model for many businesses, specifically the startups. (Morris 2015.)
Chen (2018), in his article, mentions as subscriptions are increasing worldwide, online
streaming-media service providers such as Netflix, HBO, Spotify, etc. also follow this busi-
ness model. (McKinsey 2018.) Generally speaking, subscription falls into three main cate-
gories of replenishment, curation, and access. The provided value mainly is saving time
and money, a unique product or service or exclusive access. Figure 16 illustrates the e-
commerce subscription categories (McKinsey 2018.)
Figure 16 Subscription categories (McKinsey Analysis 2018)
2.3.1 Subscription Promotion Objectives
The way modern consumer makes a purchase had evolution in recent years. In the infor-
mation age, a combination of content, social marketing, and SEO as inbound marketing is
the best strategy to fill the customer acquisition funnel. Dedicated content at any phase of
the customer journey is needed. Thus, to expand the revenue and implement a successful
subscription business model, businesses should implement tried and true appealing strat-
egies. (Riet 2017.)
While innovative subscription businesses are thriving worldwide, 72% of the subscribed
customers do not make the second purchase in 6 months of the initial acquisition; the
20
falling rate stands for some missing values. Consumers retention is of the main goals of
subscription companies, and the point is how to keep sustainable long-term consumer en-
gagement that backs up business’ success. (Morris 2015.)
Campbell, in her blog post, points out the five objectives to succeed in the subscription
model. Firstly, setting a goal facilitates fast growth. Many times, recurring revenue ties to
monthly or annual fees. Based on long term goals, setting pricing tiers would be more
practical. Boosting acquisition is the second objective for which a better customer experi-
ence needs to be provided over time as a continuous process. To improve the acquisition
rate, sign-up process should be as easy as possible. Once the number of acquisition num-
ber grows, the number of bounce rate can be balanced better. Balancing the bounce rate
can generate more churn, more customers, and as a result, more revenue. The next influ-
ential hint is providing reliable subscription billing system followed by highlighting the
value of product or service experience which can be accessed after subscription, as the
main motive to pay. (Campbell 2019.)
Determining Goal
Boosting acquisition
Planning for growth
with a better
before it happens
experience
Developing Strong
Streamlining a
Customer
relationships billing process
Figure 17 Subscription promotion process (adapted from Campbell 2019)
Improving the number of subscribers is just a start point of the journey. Building a strong
customer relationship is a must for businesses. Unhappy customers simply will bounce to
the other service or product if the offered value is not lasting. Knowing customers’ needs
well can facilitate the pricing process specifically while the customers actively are paying.
Finally, the growth plan followed by predicted churn rate as well as operative costs esti-
mates income. Growth planning is vital to avoid the risk of overloading the business infra-
structure. (Campbell 2019.)
21
2.3.2 Subscription Promotion Strategies
Businesses should provide a great experience to the consumers to grow subscribers’ rate.
More importantly, to subscribe, the consumers select end to end experience of tangible
benefits, which can be a lower cost, saving time, or even increased personalization. (Chen
et al. 2018.)
It is essential to test the product or service while launching to make sure it fits into the
market or not. Building awareness like dangling carrot policy, before initiating the product
or service, is highly effective in getting new leads and generating revenue to fund the busi-
ness. (Morris 2015.) As no one likes to pay an ongoing fee, raising the number of sub-
scribers is not easy. A” Honey Pot” strategy is an essential strategy before launching
phase; something that can get people into a subscription service. The honey pot can be
free trial access along with a bunch of free bonuses people get instantly. The principal ap-
peal is the instant gratification with delayed payment; once they are inside the honey pot,
it is the time to offer so much value and impressive features that users do not intend to
leave (Boadella 2017.) The next parts elaborate step by step procedures of improving
subscribers’ rate.
Phase 1. Driving Traffic and Lead Nurturing
Lead nurturing as a set of relation-building activities in sales funnel stage designed to turn
cold prospects into customers (Jones 2019). Experiment with marketing is the inevitable
approach to check out the customer’s voice. It helps to collect initial interest to build antici-
pations. Launching a teaser on the landing page about an upcoming product or service
can be the first step of building awareness while the customers’ concerns are figured out.
The goal behind preparing launching teaser is collecting emails. One and a half month be-
fore starting subscription would be the proper time to use prelaunch teaser video. For the
teaser video, 80% of the product or service needs to be ready. The teaser video on the
landing page needs to contain the main elements like exciting tag line, smart concept,
scarcity of product or service and a call to action and above all, a super incentive plan as
an opportunity to win that encourages the potential customers to register with their email
address. (Morris 2015.)
The niche type of product or service has a significant role in the frequency of the subscrip-
tion rate. At this point, highly niche blog can be another key to both showcases the prod-
uct or service and appeals the potential users to the specifications of offered niche service
or product. The next step is keeping the leads warm, to do so, businesses need to com-
municate with customers by sending weekly emails, including tidbits. The goal is being in
22
their mind continuously, building anticipation and making them interested by notifying what
is coming and its date. Figure 18 illustrates how to drive initial traffic to a teaser page for
the lead nurturing. (Morris 2015.)
Teaser video of upcoming product or service
Niche blogs
Social media ambassadors
Communicate with leads (1.5 months)
Build up anticipations (what and when is coming)
Collecting emails
Figure 18 Driving Traffic and lead nurturing strategies (adapted from Morris 2015)
Usually, the rate of converting visitors to email at this phase is about 20%; if it is under
5%, then something is wrong either with the product or service to fit into the market. Con-
centrating on a niche market that the enterprise already is experienced or passionate
about, helps significantly in designing a suitable product or service. (Morris 2015.)
Phase 2. Start Taking Pre-Subscribers
The second phase is more complicated than first, as the goal is converting visitors to
sales, not emails. Step two reflects how the product or service is performing. Gaining paid
subscribers needs turning the anticipations to revenue. Validation at this phase occurs
with creating interest and backing it up with the fitted package. Usually, by weekly emails,
5-10% is expected to turn to paid subscribers. Organizing the tailored service package or
the product package is essential at this point. The initial subscribers can build up the mar-
keting army and encourage potential customers to subscribe. (Morris 2015.)
23
Convert initial anticipations to revenue
Complete validation
Communicate by weekly emails
Evaluate product or service versus growth of future conversion rate
Assemble marketing army (referrals)
Figure 19 Taking pre-subscribers (adapted from Morris 2015)
To avoid many common problems, to set clear expectations, to keep promises, and to
meet the expectations on time is imperative to have happy subscribers. (Morris 2015).
Phase Three: The Official Launch
At step three, the site should be ready or at least more complete than previous times in a
creative dashboard. It is the time to go back to the unconverted lead list, as they might
need more detailed information, specific incentive, or need reference or examples to trust.
The initial subscribers’ testimonials or reviews can add to validation. It is highly recom-
mended to take advantage of influencer partners or at least some bloggers to help to an-
nounce the official launch but of course not in a pushy way. (Morris 2015.)
Complete website
Announce the official launch by influencer partners
Announce official launch to unconverted lead list
Mention the available incentives
Figure 20 The official launch (adapted from Morris 2015)
In the Metrics of Subscription Model Marketing blog, Talbot (2018) mentions the primary
metrics to consider during offering service as:
24
Customer Lifetime Customer

Offer Conversion
Retention By Offer Value
Net New Business Annual Recurring

Churn Rate
Revenue Revenue
New Revenue Referral

Customer
From Current Generation From
Engagement
Customers Existing Customers
Figure 21 Subscription marketing metrics (adapted from Talbot 2018)
Finally, to convey a feeling of scarcity, there should not be all the time access to a free
trial. The idea is building up a wish-list or a waiting list and creating an opt-in form to notify
users once the cart opens, then they can enroll in the free trial. This trick offers the feeling
of exclusiveness and scarcity to subscription as an exceptional service, which is not avail-
able all the time. The sense of scarcity will increase the conversion rate, as users need a
time plan or a deadline. (Morris 2015.) To tackle the challenge of keeping subscribers, the
businesses need regular nourishment to the product or service value. The consistent offer
drives the interests of users and creates value and ultimately, the retention of customers.
(Talbot 2019.)
2.3.3 Concept of Dark Net /PVC
Before going through the influence of Dark Net on businesses, let’s have a literature re-
view over the Net, Dark Net, and Deep Net definition provided in Figure 22 by Corcoran
2009:
25
Net Dark Net Deep Net
Anything that The websites or The networks that

can be crawled social sites that want to be off the
by net crawlers cannot be grid, many times
to scan and scanned by web for doing illegal
analyze the crawlers like affairs
content and private mode of
turn it to an social media
organic search accounts
result
Figure 22 Net, Dark Net, and Deep Net (adapted from Corcoran 2009)
Dark Net or Private Virtual Community might sound uninviting or malicious internet termi-
nology. First coined by Alexis C. Madrigal, Senior editor at Atlantic, dark social refers to
social sharing that comes from outside sources that web analytics tools are not able to
track. The digital space is creating a new form of communication while the vast bulk of
data is gets lost, for instance, traditional analytics tools are not able to capture activities on
private chats of platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram or Facebook messengers, etc. For
example, sharing a full link of a Twitter post on personal email without tracking tags does
not give valid analytic data to the marketers. Dark Social refers to the reality of the cus-
tomer's journey by switching channels while it is not linear and easily trackable. (Chan
2016.)
Dark Net used to be a bad thing which currently, for the dark traffic it earns, turned to valu-
able concept. It is a private virtual community Globally, 70% of the online referrals come
from dark social. This effects marketers and brands ability to collect enough data for their
intended content, product, or channel. (Corcoran 2009.)
2.3.4 Paid, Owned and Earned Media
Paid Media
Refers to those the brand pays to leverage a channel like display ads, paid search, and
sponsorship. The role of paid media is shifting from foundation to catalyst phase to feed
owned and created media. The advantages of the paid media are that they save a lot of
26
time while being scalable and controllable. The demerit of this media type though is its de-
clining response rate and reduced credibility. (Corcoran 2009.)
Owned Media
Owned media are the channels a brand created and controls like website, blogs, and so-
cial media accounts. Their role is building a long-term relationship with both existing and
potential customers as well as earned media. The benefits are they are controllable, cost-
efficient, and they attract their niche audience. On the dark side, building such channels
kills a lot of time. (Corcoran 2009.)
Earned Media
Refers to the time, the customers turn to channel, for instance, WOM or BUZZ or Viral.
Earned media is usually the gifted result of a well-planned owned and paid media, and the
highlighted benefit of earned media is thanks to its transparent and genuine content, it is
the most credited sort of media, and it has a substantial role in sales. The dark side
though is that the earned media is not controllable and always is mingled with the risk of
negative comments, besides its neither scalable nor measurable. Practically, achieving
earned media can be facilitated by being a member of communities where getting influ-
encers excited about the brand value and business features. (Corcoran 2009.)
27
3 CASE COMPANY: STATZON
3.1 Background
Statzon is a brand-new Finnish start-up established in September 2018. Statzon provides

comprehensive market data, analysis, and forecasts out of a variety of industries and
saves user’s time and money. Statzon vision is to inspire a generation of knowledge-seek-
ers with fast, reliable, and easy to use statistics. Statzon offers an outstanding collection
of reliable data and market forecasts from hundreds of industries of over 200 countries.
The data is collected from thousands of public and private authentic sources. By its inno-
vative Insight Instrument, Statzon offers collected data for a variety of businesses and in-
dustries, it also visualizes statistics and tells the story of market status by its background
including Statzon customer profile, as well as the future forecasts. (Statzon 2019.)
3.1.1 Customer Profile
Considering the ever-increasing importance of industrial data access in different competi-

tive markets, Statzon has a wide range of potential customers all over the world. As the
wide variety of market segments implies, Statzon needs a comprehensive data bank to
meet the user's demand. For the limited time frame of the thesis, this study narrows down
its concentration only on the academic segment of NB8 market.
3.1.2 SWOT Analysis
To know the case company with a more in-depth outlook, the SWOT analysis of the case
company helps to figure out the internal power versus weak points of the company as well
as the external or market threats and opportunities.
Strengths
Even though Statzon is a brand-new start-up, its management team is over 15 years ex-
perienced in data providing service. Experience helps the company to grow fast. Since
Statzon managing team already has an extensive network of different industries and
thanks to the positive image they already have among their previous customers, the po-
tential clients are willing to try the new insight instrument of the company. The other merits
of the company are, its innovative insight instrument that gives user-friendly access to the
visualized data sets by which users can figure out market bulk, trend, and future forecasts.
As a Finnish pioneer brand, Statzon does not have a direct competitor in the home market
yet; this paves the way for Statzon to win a considerable market share in the home mar-
ket.
28
Weaknesses
As a newly founded start-up, Statzon has limited financial as well as human resources, in-
cluding marketing and sales team. Thus, currently, the company doesn’t run active mar-
keting campaigns. Its developing team also contains a few. The other point about Statzon
is the brand, which is not well known neither in domestic nor international markets. To
build trust among users, Statzon needs more visibility among users of different segments,
many potential customers or trial users seek very niche market data banks, to provide
such a service with limited resources, Statzon needs more time.
Opportunities
There is a vast market out there for Statzon to penetrate; all the company need is knowing
precisely what data categories the customers need and set the proper price policy suited
to different markets. Active marketing campaigns are required to help brand visibility, build
trust among customers, improve the numbers of subscribers, and eventually win a more
significant share of each target markets.
Threats
As a branch of the software market that is growing fast in the technology age, data provid-
ing market competitiveness attracts many businesses. There are already some famous
and robust competitors for Statzon including statistical offices, industrial associations as
well as firms and organizations databases, on the other hand, technology is pacing toward
faster, more comfortable and more transparent paradigm. Statzon both needs to be up-
dated by the latest technology and ahead of its competitors to retain the current subscrib-
ers and convince potential clients to subscribe.
29
•Experienced •Limited resources

•Innovative technology •Small team for huge
•User-friendly service markets
•Pioneer in Finnish •Not a prominent
market international brand
•Wide network •Very niche markets
Strenghts Weaknesses data
Opportunities Threats
• Penetrating new
•Strong international
markets competitors
• B2B cooperations •New competitors
• Winning bigger •New Technology
market shares
Figure 23 Statzon SWOT analysis
3.2 Target Markets
As an IT service company, the more markets Statzon penetrates, the faster the company
will grow and increase its subscribers and revenue. Statzon, as an international brand, in-
tends to enter all markets and into the segments already mentioned in the company pro-
file. Nevertheless, the scope of this study is limited to the academic segment of NB8, in-
cluding Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway, and Sweden - Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
To help the company with a more in-depth insight into each of this market, the rest of this
chapter is dedicated to PEST analysis of each NB8 country.
3.2.1 NB8 Political Analysis
Thanks to their independence, the close regional cooperation made up NB8. The cooper-
ation roots back to 1992 and follows the guidelines of local development in foreign political
dialogue, cooperation in diplomatic representations, civil security including cybersecurity,
defense cooperation, energy cooperation, and developing NB brand. (Linkevičius 2019.)
The above points decrease the political risks in the target markets for any market penetra-
tion plans.
30
3.2.2 NB8 Economical Analysis
Considering the Gross Domestic Products Per-capita, Norway with $75.704.2 US GDP
per-capita and purchase power index of 97.6, stands on top of 8 target markets. Accord-
ing to World Bank 2019, Denmark and Sweden follow Norway, respectively with
$57.218.9 US and $53.253.5 US GDP per-capita, yet the purchase power index in Swe-
den (84.0) is higher than Denmark (78.7). (WorldBank 2019.) To adapt its pricing policy to
the target market, Statzon should consider the fact that the Baltic countries GDP and pur-
chase power index differs notably with Nordics. For instance, Latvia with purchase power
index of 38.1 and GDP per capita of $15.684.6 US (World Data 2019) needs more precise
pricing plan.
3.2.3 NB8 Social Analysis
The biggest potential target market of Statzon among NB8 in the academic segment is
Sweden with a population of 10,057,000 in 2017 and more academic centers, including 14
public universities and 17 public university colleges. The research and development ex-
penditure share of total GDP in Sweden also highlights it as the biggest potential market
among NB8. Sweden with 3.25 % R&D share of GDP (WorldBank 2019), stands above all
other NB8 members. Denmark, with 2.87% R&D expenditure share and 37 public higher
education centers, is the second large potential market of the selected segment. Iceland,
on the other hand, with just seven universities in total is the smallest market for Statzon to
penetrate.
3.2.4 NB8 Technological Analysis
Education expenditure share of total GDP in Iceland (7.7%) is more than other target mar-
kets, interestingly, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden similarly specify 7.6% of their total
GDP to education expenditure. On the other hand, the most significant imported software
service share (59%) in 2018 belongs to Finland.
31
Table 2 NB8 PEST analysis (WorldBank Group 2019)
Political Economical Social Technological

Constitutional GDP Per Capita: Population (2017): Education expenditure (% 0f
Monarchy 57,218.9 US$ 5,764,980 GDP): 7.6%
Low market Unemployment rate: R&D Expenditure (% of Software service import % of
Denmark entry risk 5.0% (2018) total GDP) 2016: 2.87% total service import (2017):
Purchase power in- Higher education: 8 uni- 37%
dex: 78.7 versities, 29 college uni- High-tech export (2018):
versities 7,666,289,300 US$
Republic - Low GDP Per Capita: Population (2017): Education expenditure (% 0f
market entry 20,200.4 US$ 1,317,380 GDP): 5.2%
risk Unemployment rate: R&D Expenditure (% of Software service import % of
Estonia 5.5% (2018) total GDP) 2016: 1.28% total service import (2017):
Purchase power in- Higher education: 15 37%
dex: 45.3 public and nine private High-tech export (2018):
universities 1,923,63,.850 US$
Republic GDP Per Capita: Population (2017): Education expenditure (% 0f
- Low market 45,804.7 US$ 5,508,210 GDP): 7.1%
entry risk Unemployment rate: R&D Expenditure (% of Software service import % of
Finland 7.8% (2018) total GDP) 2016: 2.75% total service import (2017):
dex: 72.0 universities, 23 UAS High-tech export (2018):
3,702,238,090 US$
Republic GDP Per Capita: Population (2017): Education expenditure (% 0f
-Low market 71,311.8 US$ 343,400 GDP): 7.7%
entry risk Unemployment rate: R&D Expenditure (% of Software service import % of
Iceland 2.9% (2018) total GDP) 2016: 2.08% total service import (2017):
Purchase power in- Higher education: 3 pri- 37%
dex: 72.6 vate and four public uni- High-tech export (2018):
versities 67,571,120 US$
Latvia 7.9% (2018) total GDP) 2016: 0.44% total service import (2017):
dex: 38.1 universities High-tech export (2018):
1, 637,303,150 US$
Lithuania 6.0% (2018) total GDP) 2016: 0.85% total service import (2017):
dex: 42.3 public and eight private High-tech export (2018):
universities 2,386,787,010 US$
Monarchy- 75,704.2 US$ 5,267,,970 GDP): 7.6%
Norway entry risk 3.9 % (2018) total GDP) 2016: 2.03% total service import (2017):
Purchase power in- Higher education: 7 uni- 41%
dex: 97.6 versities, 22 university High-tech export (2018):
colleges 3,590,613,290 US$
Monarchy- 53,253.5 US$ 10, 057,700 GDP): 7.6%
Sweden entry risk 6.4% (2018) total GDP) 2016: 3.25% total service import (2017):
dex: 84.0 public universities, 17 High-tech export (2018):
public university colleges 15,140,153,540 US$
32
3.3 Competitors
Statzon has many direct and indirect competitors, including the statistical offices, industrial
associations, e-libraries, and organization’s databases.
To highlight the competitive advantages of Statzon, one of the primary decision criteria
rooted on benchmarking from competitors, by focusing on their business model and ser-
vice characteristics, pricing strategies, target markets as well as social media content
types. The competitors’ analysis contains their profile including a wide range of infor-
mation about their organization, customers, revenue, employees, market share, website,
pricing, market awareness, strengths, and weaknesses, etc. (Haaff 2019.) Figure 24 de-
picts the competitor's analysis criteria.
Competitors’ Analysis
Market
Service
landscape &
Profile
position
Customer
Market share
profile
Service
Differentiatio
n features
analysis
Pricing Competitive
strategies advantages
Figure 24 Competitors’ analysis criteria (adapted from Haaff 2019.)
In a broader analysis, the competitors’ capabilities should be compared with the case
company’s situation. Not only the different advantages and disadvantages should be
taken into account, rating the merits and demerits of each company also can help to dis-
tinguish the current market position of each company and to figure out how big is the gap
with Statzon’s goal, objectives, vision, and mission. (Aha 2019.)
33
Table 3 Competitive capability analysis (Aha 2019)
Assessment Statzon (S) Low High
Competitors(C) Capability 1 2 3 4 5
Unique capabilities S:
C:
Best capabilities S:
C:
Same capabilities
Poor capabilities S:
C:
Benchmarking competitors, as the first task of the thesis author, as Statzon marketing in-
tern, is already done. For the confidentialities of the case company’s strategies, analyzing
Statzon competitors is out of the scope of this study.
To keep the consistency of the thesis, the author only focuses on customer-driven market-
ing strategies based on the results of the empirical part of the thesis, that will be dis-
cussed in detail in chapter 4.
34
4 EMPIRICAL RESEARCH AND DATA ANALYSIS
4.1 Data Collection
This study writing process launched in May 2019 after consulting with the case company’s
managing team over the needed further research about the thesis subject. Thus, based
on the agreed contract between Lahti University of applied sciences and Statzon CEO
and co-founder, Kimmo Kuokkanen, the author as the case company’s marketing intern,
started desk research regarding the theoretical part of the study. Meanwhile, the question-
naire is designed based on the highlighted research questions proposed by the case com-
pany’s managing team. The desk research started mid-May 2019, and after consulting
with the case company’s management, the thesis author emailed the questionnaire to the
target customers in early June 2019.
By receiving scattered replies, the data analysis of the empirical part started since mid-
July. To illustrate the steps followed to collect the data, table 4 presents the thesis writing
process timeline.
Table 4 Thesis process timeline
Activity May 2019 Jun 2019 July 2019 August 2019
Desk research
Designing the
survey
Emailing the sur-

vey
Data analysis
Recommended
strategies
4.2 Survey Results
The aim of this study was to figure out the answers to the research questions to provide
customer-driven strategies for the case company. As mentioned earlier, the research
questions of this study are:
1. What are Statzon customer-driven KPIs in NB8 academic segment?

35
ment?
Based on the mentioned above research questions, the author designed a 10-questioned
questionnaire aiming to figure out the viewpoints, evaluation, and expectations of target
customers from the data service provider.
The questionnaire was emailed to 273 library directors and head librarians of NB8 coun-
tries. The collected data scale was quite small by just 24 answers out of 273 in total,
where Finland owned the most prominent share while Iceland’s share of respondents was
zero. Figure 25 shows each country respondents’ rate.
Finland 25%
Denmark, Estonia 20.83%
Sweden 16.67%
Latvia 8.33%
Lithuania &
Norway 4.17%
Iceland
0%
Figure 25 Subjects participation rate by country
The survey was designed to meet the study goals by digging out the KPIs of favorable
service from the perspective of target customers. On the next step, based on the ques-
tionnaire results, the author highlights the potential competitive advantages that Statzon
can add to its current service. Lastly, the author proposes the most appropriate pricing
policy and penetration strategy for the target markets.
Aiming to provide multiple possible strategies to help Statzon to reach out more significant
market share as a prominent player in data providing service industry, the focus of this
part is investigating the Statzon service KPIs out of each answer.
36
4.2.1 Chief Faculties in Academic Segment of NB8
To figure out the answer to the first research question,
What are Statzon customer-driven KPIs in NB8 academic segment?
Statzon primarily needs to recognize the principal faculties in target markets. The results
of the survey question 1,” In which country is your university located?”, and question 2,
“which faculties are available at your university?”, indicate that Business and Hospitality,
as well as Social Sciences with nearly 50% share among other faculties, should own the
core concentration of Statzon in the target markets. In other words, according to the rule
80-20 already mentioned in chapter 2, the two faculties of Business & Hospitality, and So-
cial Sciences, with the maximum share of popularity need 80% of Statzon concentration to
provide the required categories.
However, there were some specific faculties for Statzon to take into account among re-
sponses, including the faculty of forest sciences and landscape architecture, the faculty of
horticulture and crop production, as well as the faculty of veterinary medicine and animal
sciences. Providing the niche data bank for faculties mentioned above can add up to
Statzon competitive advantages.
•Business & Hospitality

50'%
•Social Sciences
50%
•Technology
45.83%
•Science
37.5%
•Art
33.33%
•Law
25%
•Medicine
16.67%
Figure 26 Most common NB8 academic faculties

37
4.2.2 Significant Data Categories in the NB8 Academic Segment
The third question of the survey, “Which of the following research segments are popular in
your university?”, elucidates the most popular data categories respectively are Education,
Finance, Healthcare & social work, Manufacturing, and Recreation & hobbies. Having a
more in-depth look at each answer, Latvian users selected education and finance as the
most popular research data categories. Danish users picked education, finance, social
sciences, manufacturing, accommodation, and food service as the most in-demand re-
search category. For Swedish subjects, education, healthcare, accommodation and food
services, recreation and hobbies, construction, veterinarian medicine, horticulture and ag-
ricultural data categories were the most favored ones; furthermore, some Swedish users
mentioned the importance of available niche data in categories mentioned above. Leader-
ship and Technology, on the other hand, were the most in-demand data categories for
Norwegians, including in-depth data that is on priority for them to select a service. Finnish
respondents selected education, finance, healthcare, circular economy, construction,
manufacturing, education, recreation, and hobbies as the most crucial data categories.
Lithuanian subjects mentioned education, political sciences, and sociology as the trendi-
est categories of data research.
MOST POPULAR DATA CATEGORIES

Recreation &
hobbies
10%
Education
Manufacturing 31%
17%
Health & social

work
Finance
21%
21%
Figure 27 The most significant data categories in the NB8 academic segment
38
4.2.3 Essential Data Service KPIs
Question 6 and 8 of the survey were designed to remark the results for the second re-
search question,
What are the potential competitive advantages of Statzon in NB8 academic seg-
ment?
The responses to question 6 of the questionnaire, “What do you specifically like about the
current data providing platforms?”, signify that variety of data categories, by far, is the top
urgent feature for Statzon to provide. Fair price and easy to use design are the other im-
perative trait needed for excellent service. In-depth information, on the other hand, stands
as the third important aspect for an outshine service. Looking back at Statzon database,
by bearing in mind the needed features that matter to users, Statzon can add up more
countries to its data collection of education, finance, healthcare, veterinary, and recrea-
tions. Meanwhile, as the potential users highlighted, Statzon needs to provide more de-
tailed data subcategories regarding already mentioned topics.
Figure 28 Essential data service KPIs for NB8 academic segment
The responses of survey question 8, “What features would you like to add to your current
data service provider?”, grant valuable hints for the intended or missing features in the
current service they are already using. The first essential feature, as could be assumed by
39
question 6 results is more data categories. The second missing feature is regular data up-
dates or automated updates. Downloadable graphs and charts are the other missing fea-
tures in already available services. The results indicate that most available services al-
ready include forecast feature, yet some do not transparently reveal the primary source of
the provided data.
MORE AFFORDABLE PRICE

25%
REGULAR DATA UPDATES

33.33%
MORE DATA CATEGORY

41.67%
PRIMARY RESOURCES EXPLENATIONS

20.83%
FORECASTS
16.67%
DOWNLOADABLE GRAPHS AND CHARTS

29.17%
0.00% 5.00% 10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%30.00%35.00%40.00%45.00%
Figure 29 NB8 academic segment demand features for data service
4.2.4 Decision Making Process in NB8
To answer the third research question,
How is the penetration process to NB8 academic segment?
The replies to question 9 clarify the decision-making process in the target markets. In
most cases, library directing team after checking feedback from students decide about us-
ing a service. While in some other the university management decides about the service
provider, the results indicate that in over 70% of universities, the final decision is made af-
ter checking feedback from students. The replies also imply that in some universities of
Latvia, Finland, and Estonia, library management decides about service provider without
checking students’ feedback. On the other hand, it was underlined by the Swedish and
Norwegian subjects that the students’ feedback is a determinant factor in the decision-
making process.
The results of question 7 show the most potential customers are satisfied with their cur-
rently using service (almost 80%), it is a challenge for Statzon to penetrate in NB8
40
academic segment easily. To set Statzon’s pricing strategy, including its price hike clearly,
the results of this study traces the customer's behavior, which should be leveraged by
considering the profit margin of the company.
4.2.5 NB8 Data Service Pricing Hints
The last but one of the most important research questions for the case company was:
What is the optimum pricing policy for NB8 academic segment?
To help Statzon to set its optimum pricing policy for the target markets, the survey ques-
tion 5, “How much are you paying for the annual subscription?” and 10, “What would be a
fair price annually for the intended service and features package?”, were designed to help
planning the most appropriate pricing policy for Statzon service.
Responses to question 5 indicate that the majority of subjects (22.73%) are paying less
than €3,000 for their current data platform service. 13.64% are paying €5,000-8,000, and
18.18% are paying between €8,000-10,000. The range of €3,000-5,000 includes the
smallest prorate of customers, though. Unfortunately, question 5 does not help us with
more profound insight into what specific features each service with the mentioned price
range includes. Over 36% of respondents who are categorized by “other” in figure 30,
skipped answering the question.
Data Providing Service Fee

Data Providing Service Fee
36.36%
22.73%
18.18%
13.64%
9.09%
less than 3000 € 3000-5000€ 5000-8000€ 8000-10000€ other
Figure 30 NB8 academic segment data service price range
It is inferred from the responses that the average paying price rate in NB8 currently is
€5194. The reactions toward questions 5 and 10 imply that there is a correlation between
GDP as well as R&D expenditure share of GDP of the NB8 members (NB8 PEST analy-
sis, chapter II). Considering the answers by country, Swedish subjects mentioned they are
presently paying €8,000-10,000, in their point of view a fair price is nearly €7,500 provided
41
that the data service includes offering niche market data. Most Estonian users mentioned
they are paying less than €3,000 for the currently used service and in their point of view, a
fair price for the intended service including all features would be €2,000-4,000, yet the ma-
jority of Estonian subjects’ replies were inclined to €2,000. The responses imply that the
current service they are using does not offer regular data updates and downloadable
graphs and charts.
Latvian users mentioned different perspective price-wise. Some specified free services as
the most popular feature, others said they are paying €3,000-5,000, and fair price would
be €2,000- 6,000. Meanwhile, a variety of data categories and transparency of primary re-
source is missing in their currently using service. Danish subjects’ idea about the fair price
differed from €2,000-8,500. Lithuanian users mentioned they are paying €3,000-5,000,
and for the service with all the mentioned features, it would be satisfactory to pay about
€4,500. Norwegian users are paying €8,000-10,000 and referred 5,000 € as a fair price.
Most Finnish subjects are paying €5,000-8,000, and the reasonable price in their point of
view was €5,000 and €7,000.
Lithuania
Paying: €3,000-5,000
Fair: €4,500
Figure 31 NB8 data service fee hints
According to questionnaire results, each country’s perception of a fair price for a complete
data package service differs. To be successful in both market penetration process and
preserving Statzon’s brand image, Statzon is recommended to apply an adaptive pricing
policy.
42
4.3 Recommended Customer-Driven Marketing Strategies
As already mentioned in chapter II, according to Hawkins & Mothersbaugh marketing

strategy steps model, after analyzing the customers, markets, and customer decision-
making process, it is time to identify Statzon problems and resolve them. By contemplat-
ing on thesis questionnaire results as well as the theories already pointed out in chapter 2,
this part is going to pinpoint recommended customer-driven marketing strategies for
Statzon.
4.3.1 Setting SMART Goals
This study proposes Statzon to set smart goals based on the voice of customers by con-
centrating on the data categories they highlighted, the price they consider fair and the fea-
tures they asked for the service to have a tailored marketing campaign for an academic
segment of NB8. To set the goals, Statzon should clarify what position in marketing the
company is looking for, does it want only to be present in the target markets or later take
the market-leading role? Besides, Statzon should consider academic users mainly belong
to actual and well-informed customer categories. (Chapter 2) Thus one of the objectives
can be turning them to loyal customers.
Measurable
Attainable
Specific by assessing the
Based on the
target market
for the academic target market &
segment company
potentials
Relevant Time-Based
Considering VOC
Assessing
(Voice of the
revenue during
Customers)
time-frames
Figure 32 Setting SMART goal (adapted from Madison 2019)
Setting goals, needless to mention, will spotlight the marketing directions of Statzon; nev-
ertheless, it would not be enough without adding some specific features such as detailed
and distinct market data of categories mentioned in previous parts. Statzon goals need to
be accurate by focusing precisely on features which are missing currently; for instance,
penetrating at least one academic center of each NB8 member country by 2020. The
43
objectives can be adding some data categories like Leadership, IT, Landscaping, Design
& Restoration, Political & Social Sciences, etc. and promoting the network. Then a time
frame should be considered for each objective and based on different time intervals; the
achievements should be assessable. If the objectives are not met on time, the problems
should be identified and resolved. Once the objectives are met, Statzon should grant the
academic users as marketing army to be a reference group to build trust among other us-
ers by the WOM strategy.
4.3.2 Content Curation
One of the principal keys to unlock the penetration process to the target market segment
is offering the tailored features and content the customers are looking for on owned, paid,
and hopefully earned media. Regarding the service features, Statzon already provides
downloadable and printable visual data. It regularly updates the data; besides, the fore-
cast by 2023 is available for all industries. The current missing feature is a variety of data
categories, and subcategories of very niche categorized data. In other words, engaging
content based on the data which is missing currently in target markets can act as the
Honey Pot, discussed in chapter 2. To have engaging content, Statzon needs sorting, ar-
ranging, sifting, planning the vast amount of content, then present it in a meaningful, story-
telling, consistent and organized way around a specific theme actively on its owned and
paid media.
Insights from
market
Measuring,
Selecting key
Filtering &
missing topics
Focusing
Marketing to Creating
Target Market Content
Figure 33 Content curation process (adapted from Hlavac 2019)
Two chief elements in content curation are filtering and focusing on crucial sub-categories
to drag the attention of the academic readers on data levels of the headings that pro-
foundly matter to this segment.
44
While selecting and planning the content, Statzon marketing team should consider Who?
What? Where? mind map. They both need to recall who is their audience, what content
they need, and where the content should be displayed. More importantly, Statzon market-
ing team should make sure that selected content conveys the message to the target audi-
ence that who benefits Statzon’s service, what values and features make Statzon different
from other available platforms and where the users will reach to by using Statzon values.
4.3.3 Lead Nurturing
Regarding relation-building activities in sales funnel stage to turn cold prospects into cus-
tomers, Statzon needs to create a clear cut, meaningful, and trustful interactions at every
move in sales funnel. Pointing out the hints provided by Kemmis (2018), the author is go-
ing to propose some lead nurturing strategies for Statzon in the following parts of the the-
sis. The leads should be well aware of the service features and security. They also ought
to discover the differentiation of Statzon and evaluate it with other possible services time-
wise, price-wise, and quality-wise. Once the mutual intents are clearly understood, it can
lead to building trust and completing the purchase process.
Creating a Branching Content Funnel
Since Statzon provides an astronomical number of datasets wide range of industries, it is

baffling for Statzon marketing team to develop related and organized content. One possi-
ble way to manage the content in Statzon archive is creating branching content funnels
that match Statzon leads to the most appropriate content. For example, Statzon can send
agricultural content to academic leads of the same faculty in different channels like Face-
book or LinkedIn. At the next step, based on leads interest and engagement, Statzon can
boost the leads’ interest by related blogs, infographics, and then emails, etc.
Targeted Video Ads
Video ads are efficient and trendy by the ability to tell the story about market data class in
an eye-catching, easy to understand, quick and creative way. The video ads can act as a
mid-funnel aid to reach out leads; for instance, those leads who do not open their wel-
come emails. Video ad works well in retargeting leads as they are visually appealing to
convey the marketing message attractively and indirectly.
Quiz Statzon Audience
Unlike surveys that are boring for customers to reply, lunching a targeted quiz for aca-
demic data leads can arise their interest by reminding them of the necessity to reach out
data tier on Statzon.
45
Inviting Leads to Statzon Slack Channels
Inviting segmented leads to join Statzon Slack channel can firstly make them feel included
in a particular group and secondly gives them the chance to engage with Statzon in a
friendly and structured way to ask any questions they have regarding the service. Holding
live AMA, Ask Me Anything, can be a friendly yet creative way to convince, for example,
the library managing team of an academic center to subscribe annually.
Sending Personalized Welcome Video
Statzon already is sending personalized welcome emails and email marketing campaigns
which are also personalized, short and goal-oriented as a backup for lead nurturing. The
other strategy is personalized welcome videos that can help to build a loyal relationship
and trust by letting customers see the leading team or the person behind the Brand and
virtual world. It also offers the chance to Statzon to point out its niche differentiating fea-
tures that competitors’ service does not provide, in a visionary and appealing way.
Dumping Cold Leads
As quantity does not guarantee the quality, inevitably, over the time Statzon will have cold
leads that are not engaging with any marketing strategies. With the somehow manipula-
tive approach, Statzon can manage its cold leads list and the email service cost by a
catching goodbye or break up message; meanwhile, Statzon can offer them to click a link
to stay on the list. The point is since naturally as human being we all hate to be rejected,
in the best scenario, some of these leads re-engage.
4.3.4 OPN
As a very efficient strategy to increase the subscribers, Other People’s Network, OPN,
can engage more audience by commenting on their content and involving them to com-
ment on Statzon content. Instant example of such strategy can be using guest bloggers
and as a win-win strategy.
46
Engaging
Influencers
Commenti
ng on their OPN at
content Statzon
Having
them
comment
on
Statzon's
content
Figure 34 Other people’s network model (adapted from Corcoran 2009)
Thinking back the winning strategy includes paying as little as possible for gaining as
much brand experience as possible in a favorable socially connected media, Statzon can
apply OPN. Statzon has high potentials to cooperate with guest bloggers in a win-win way
by both promoting brand visibility and helping the bloggers with the credibility of their con-
tent. It is a brilliant chance to teach the academic users about Statzon specializations by
the value Statzon is bringing to the other people; let’s say, the academic community mem-
bers. The bigger goal behind OPN is enhancing Statzon SEO ranking by a shift from hav-
ing owned and paid media toward earned media creatively by exciting the readers about
the data categories, trends, forecast and any other niche information that the users are al-
ready interested.
4.3.5 Setting Barriers Against Competitors
As already discussed in chapter 2, setting barriers to market entry is essential to grow

faster in target market segment. Needless to mention, it needs a lot of resources and con-
centration to be a market leader in the academic segment of data providing industry and
own the resources to prevent competitors grow fast in the same market.
Leading Edge Technology
If Statzon aims to position itself as the market leader in the academic segment, it needs to
access the forefront technology. Statzon already offers valuable features like down-
loadable and printable visual data, market size, growth and forecasts of tons of industries
data furthermore Statzon regularly updates its databank, yet it needs to access automated
data updates to create a big gap with its direct competitors.
47
Scale
As the other impressive feature that can prevent the competitors to dare to compete,
Statzon should boost its tailored academic data categories and subcategories to a large
scale and market it emphatically to spell out its competitive advantages for both the poten-
tial customers and the competitors.
Ongoing Innovation
Statzon dashboard’s first impressions imply its innovative layout and service features; yet,
it can add up its vales by some other supplementary paid or premium features. For in-
stance, some market reports beside the visual data for the busy academic users, or video
presentations to help the academic users presenting the content in a more professional
way and any other customized features to engage customers more in Statzon Honey Pot.
Statzon should market its extra or premium features so substantially that both persuade
the customers to the premium features and alert to competitors how fast and ingeniously
Statzon is remodeling its service features.
Self-expressive Benefits
Statzon marketing team should expound its data service values by importing a feeling of
scarcity. Different strategies can imply such belief and persuade the leads to buy. Firstly,
Statzon should limit the access of trail users to all data categories, during the intervals, as
a bonus, can offer further access on more detailed data class, subcategories, or relevant
data categories during the limited time with specific price bid. The marketing should con-
vey tied up, exclusive, and interrelated values that only Statzon provides.
Statzon Loyalty Programs
As business is bilateral relation, if Statzon intends to stand out among competitors in cus-
tomers opting, it should, in return, serve its academic customers Statzon unique Gems as
the reward of loyal customers. The more loyal customers Statzon owns, the harder com-
petitors can win its market share. Granting loyal gems at first point might seem against
cost leadership strategy, but in fact, it is a long-term investment.
48
5 CONCLUSION
5.1 Key Findings
The objective of this study was to answer the research questions to help Statzon to in-
crease the number of subscribers in the NB8 academic segment. The study research
questions were:

ment?
The following parts focus on summarizing the thesis findings.
5.1.1 Data Service KPIs to Penetrate the NB8 Academic Segment
The responses to survey question 1 and 2, “In which country is your university located?”,
and “Which faculties are available at your university?” clarify to answer the first research
question,
The survey Question 3, “Which of the following research segments are popular in your
university?”, helps to understand the demanded data categories for researchers of each
academic center. Statzon needs to offer these features, to be able to compete with its key
competitors including other e-libraries, statistical offices, and other companies or organi-
zations and their databases.
49
Table 5 Statzon service KPIs for NB8 academic segment
1. Business & Hospitality

2. Social Sciences
Most important faculties in NB8 3. Technology
4. Science
5. Art
1. Education
2. Finance
Most popular data categories 3. Health care & Social Work
4. Manufacturing
5. Recreation & Hobbies
1. Variety of data categories
2. Regular data updates
Essential Service Features 3. Downloadable graphs and charts
4. More affordable price
5. Primary resource explanations
5.1.2 The Missing Competitive Advantages of Statzon
To successfully penetrate the target markets, Statzon needs to support the features that
already are missing in target markets regarding the answers to the second research ques-
tion:
ment?
The study managed to respond to the second research question by analyzing the results
of survey questions 6 and 8. Question 6, “What do you specifically like about the current
data providing platforms?”, leads us to the competitive advantages of the existing service
provider while question 8 responses mark the missing categories and service features that
users would like to have in the service they are already using.
50
Table 6 The potential competitive advantages of Statzon
• Art & Performing art

• Design and Restoration
• IT & Technologies
• Landscaping and Equine Science
Missing data categories
• Leadership
& subcategories • Political Sciences
• Social Sciences
• Veterinary Medicine
• More niche data subcategories
Missing Service Features
• Automated data updates
5.1.3 Penetration Process
The students’, library managers’ and university managers’ role in selecting data service is
highly significant in the results of this study regarding the third research question:
3. How is the penetration process to the NB8 academic segment?
The results of question 9 indicate that in over 70% of universities, management teams will
choose a service provider based on students’ feedback. Based on the results, the domi-
nant decision-makers are library managers who decide about the service provider, yet de-
cision making in less than half (40%) of academic centers depends on the university’s
managing team. It is recommended that Statzon does not rely only on library managers to
contact for penetrating the target market segment. To convince the academic segment,
Statzon needs firstly to build awareness among university teachers and researcher staff,
before giving trial access to the university. In this way, students will engage more during
trail access to try Statzon service and then by providing feedback; they will influence on
the decision-making process. Considering the marketing penetration model proposed by
Claire (2017), Statzon needs to set objectives on how to meet the customer needs, build a
relationship, and position itself in the market. Figure 35 represents the author’s suggested
penetration process to the target markets.
51
1. Compiling recomended
data categories &
subcategories
What
2. Automating data updates
1. Dcision makers:
60% Library managers-40% University
managers-70% based on students feedback
Penetrating NB8
Who
Academic Segment
2. Building awareness among all users

before running trial access
(online demo, video teasers, emails etc.)
1. Communicating efficiently
during the trial access
(Demo, quiz, asking
How documented feedback)
2. Following up feedbacks
after trial access
Figure 35 Recommended NB8 penetration process
5.1.4 Pricing Policy
The 5th and 10th question of research survey leads us to figure out the answer to the last
research question:
4. What is the optimum pricing policy for the NB8 academic segment?
By checking the answers to survey questions 5, “How much are you paying for the annual
subscription?” and question 10, “What would be a fair price annually for the intended ser-
vice and features package?” it can be implied that there is a correlation between GDP and
R&D expenditure share of GDP of the NB8 members (NB8 PEST analysis Chapter 2),
with academic users’ price consciousness. The average paying price rate in NB8 currently
is €5,194. The study shows users’ perception of the intended data service fair price in
Nordics is more convergent (almost €7,500) as they are paying in a more limited range of
€5,000-10,000. Among Baltic countries, it is not possible to conclude a precise price; as
the paying range is quite divergent.
52
Table 7 Data service annual subscription fee in NB8
Country Current Data Service Annual Subscription Fee Range Fair Price in Customers Viewpoint
Denmark €2,000-10,000 €2,000-8,500
Estonia €2,000-7,000 €2,000-6,000
Latvia €3,000-6,000 €2,000-6,000
Lithuania €3,000-5,000 €4,500
Finland €5,000-8,000 €5,000-7,000
Norway €8,000-10,000 €5,000
Sweden €8,000-10,000 €7,000-7,500
The study results show the paying rang of less than €2,000-10,000. Therefore, this study
recommends Statzon to apply adaptive pricing policy for each target market.
5.1.5 Marketing Promotional Strategies for Statzon in NB8
Brushing up the study results brings the author to propose some marketing hints tailored
for target markets segments.
Above all, Statzon needs crystal clear and down to earth goals as the pillars of its market-
ing campaigns and content. At the next step, the selected and filtered content should be
adjusted based on customers’ demanded data categories. The third determining step is to
lead nurturing by creating a branched funnel to drive leads toward fitting content. Statzon
also can enrich its content by eye-catching and creative video ads both on owned and
paid media. Implementing quiz is the other mean to improve engagement as well as con-
tent quality. Inviting leads to Statzon Slack channel and holding AMA sessions can both
build trust and enhance the brand image in a friendly and innovative way. To Impress the
leads, Statzon can add up personalized welcome videos instead of relying only on tradi-
tional welcome emails. Dumping old leads that are not engaging anymore also can act as
a trigger to reengage some of them. The fourth step for Statzon to penetrate the academic
segment of NB8 is broadening the networking using academic experts and influencers’
network. To do so, Statzon needs to engage the influencers firstly and break the ice by
commenting on the influencers’ content, then tempt them to comment on Statzon content.
It can be vast visibility and credibility to build trust among the potential customers.
The ultimate step is setting barriers for the competitors to enter the market and taking the
market leader role in the academic segment. To bloc market entry, Statzon needs
53
refurbished technology and automated updates and premium features in service. Vast
niche data categories and subcategories also can disappoint the competitors to think
about winning market shares. Open-ended innovation also is the other competitive ad-
vantage to enlarge the gap between Statzon and its competitors. While trying to upgrade
each of the features mentioned above, Statzon should market each of them by underlining
its advantages. By limiting the access of trail users to all data categories, Statzon will have
more professional and niche data provider image; likewise, as subscription bonus, Statzon
can offer further access on more detailed data class, subcategories, or relevant data cate-
gories during the limited time with specific price bid. The marketing content should con-
vey tied up, exclusive, and interrelated values that only Statzon provides. Figure 36 illus-
trates the recommended strategies.
54
Setting SMART Goals
Specific, measurable, attainable,

relevant, time-based
Setting Barriers Against

Content Curation Lead Nurturing OPN
Competitors
Creating a
Insights from Engaging Leading-edge
branching
market Influencers technology
content funnel
Selecting key Targeted video Commenting on Huge academic

missing topics ads their content data Scale
Creating needed Quiz Statzon Having them Ongoing

audience comment on innovation
Statzon's content
Inviting leads to
Marketing to Self-expressive
Statzon slack
Target Market benefits
channels
Measuring, Sending
Filtering & personalized
Focusing welcome video
Dumping cold
leads
Figure 36 Recommended market strategies targeting NB8 academic segment

55
5.2 Final Remarks
The purpose of this thesis was presenting customer-driven marketing strategies for the
case company, Statzon, to penetrate the NB8 academic segment. The thesis applied the
implemented research results along with the guidelines from previous studies to answer
the research questions, aiming to propose subscription marketing as well as market pene-
tration strategies focused on NB8 academic segment.
In each step of doing business including promotion, service quality, sales, and marketing,
understanding the affecting factors on customers’ behavior is the key of success accord-
ing to PQSM model (Bhalerao & Pandey 2017). Thomas (2014) draws the attention of
businesses to the shifting paradigm toward customers role in designing a rewarding ser-
vice. Bhalerao & Pandey (2017) state that purchasing process starts with customers not
manufacturing a product or offering a service. With the comprehensive insights about the
needs of users in the academic segment of NB8 market, Statzon can draw a precise mar-
keting plan to meet the users’ needs successfully. The questionnaire results conduct us
toward the customer-driven KPIs for Statzon in NB8. According to the study results, the
biggest potential market for Statzon considering population, number of academic centers,
education expenditure share of GDP and R&D share of GDP respectively are Sweden,
Denmark, and Finland. The principle faculties in target market are Business and Hospital-
ity as well as Social Sciences and Technology. The most popular data categories are Ed-
ucation, Finance, Healthcare and Social work, and Manufacturing. What is missing in cur-
rent data categories is reported in detail to the case company. In general, the essential
features of data service according to questionnaire outcomes are more data categories,
regular data updates, and downloadable visual data. Thus, it is recommended to Statzon
to specify its core concentration on mentioned above countries, faculties, in-depth data
categories, and the service features.
The research results show that nearly 80% of the users are satisfied with their current
data provider platform; furthermore, Statzon’s competitors already are providing outstand-
ing values to users including a variety of data categories, user-friendly design, fair price,
visualized and downloadable charts and graphs. The information from questionnaire re-
veals that NB8 is highly competitive market for Statzon with already dominant and high-
profile competitors. Statzon needs to strive hard to convince the already happy academic
users to switch to Statzon subscription. The competitive advantages followed by proper
market position, based on those core advantages are determinant factors in market pene-
tration process Kotler and Armstrong (2014, 216). However, Amadeo (2019) believes,
competitive advantages do not root only in more competitive price, quality, and speed of
56
responsiveness, the role of innovative and high-tech service is very sensible in the current
technology age. Statzon already has many competitive advantages including modern,
user-friendly, and engaging design, downloadable and printable visual data, regularly up-
dates and market forecasts for all industries. Still, bearing in mind the study results,
Statzon content needs to be revised by more detailed niche data classification also the
applied technology of Statzon needs to be automated. Statzon also needs effective mar-
keting by highlighting the service details in its Honey Pot (Morris 2015) with engaging con-
tent. For instance, by building awareness occasionally about the particular data packages,
coming-soon data categories, and special offers for limited trial access. By considering
“Who? What? Where?” mind map, Statzon marketing team should present the Honey Pot
content in storytelling, consistent and organized way on earned, owned and paid media
via teaser videos and email campaigns. Besides, they should make sure that selected
content conveys the message to the target audience that who benefits from Statzon’s ser-
vice, what values and features make Statzon different from other available platforms and
where the users will reach to by using Statzon values. Following the hints from Kemmis
(2018), to manage marketing the astronomic data content of Statzon in an organized and
engaging way, Statzon needs to create branching content funnels, targeted teaser videos
on landing page (Jones 2019), video ads and sending personalized welcome email and
video to the leads. Inviting leads to Statzon Slack channel for AMA and implementing tar-
geted quiz for the academic segment can help leads nurturing to a high extend in a crea-
tive, cost-effective and friendly way.
Afterward, by constant monitoring the customer's behavior on the decision process as well
as the sales information (Hawkins & Mothersbaugh 2009,11-12), the existing problems
should be identified and can be resolved during ongoing and ever-improving process. To
penetrate in NB8 academic segment, Statzon should reflect on the decision-making pro-
cess. According to the study results, decision making in NB8 academic segment highly
depends (70%) on students’ feedback. The dominant decision-makers are library manag-
ers who decide about data service; however, in less than half (40%) of academic centers,
the university’s managing team decide about the data service. The study recommends
Statzon does not confine targeting library managers to contact. To convince the academic
segment, Statzon needs firstly to build awareness among university teachers and re-
searcher staff, before giving trial access to the university. In this way, students, as domi-
nant end-users, would engage more efficiently in trying Statzon service and then by
providing feedback; they will influence on the decision-making process.
Cost leadership strategy to maximize profit, offering best quality yet decreasing cost, is
crucial for Statzon as a startup with limited resources and would be achieved to a great
57
extent by automation. To penetrate NB8 academic segment, regarding Claire (2017)

model, Statzon needs precise positioning plan. The image Statzon represents its brand
matters highly as important aspect of market positioning. Market positioning shapes the
customers’ perception of a brand, product, or service (Kotler & Armstrong 2014, 216).
Thus, to successfully penetrate NB8 and win market shares of academic segments,
Statzon should consider the questionnaire results about data service fee range and the
users’ perception of the fair price. Setting variety of tiers can also improve customer life-
time value, CLV, (Venkatesan 2019), as one of determinant features in subscription busi-
ness. The study recommends Statzon to set different subscription tiers including Basic,
Customized, and Premium, tailored for the academic users based on the available niche
data classifications.
Setting different subscription tiers and having special offers for free trial access to specific
data category on limited time will convey the feeling of scarcity to the users. Morris (2015)
acknowledges the sense of scarcity can increase the conversion rate. The feeling of scar-
city as an excellent chance that has a deadline also helps Statzon to establish the brand
image more valuable and its service more exceptional. Once the position is determined,
Statzon can focus on setting barriers against competitors to grab its market share. For a
sustainable leading position (Aaker 2011), devising barriers against competitors including
scale, ongoing innovation, high technology, self-expressive benefits, and vast brand net-
works is crucial. To express its benefits and show its scale, Statzon should actively apply
differentiated marketing campaigns to advertise its service competitive and unique ad-
vantages spectacularly. The other significant strategy to boost Statzon network and set
barrier against competitors according to Corcoran (2009) is OPN. Statzon SEO ranking
can rise by other peoples’ network like guest bloggers.
Finally, as one of the most critical metrics in subscription marketing is referrals generation
(Talbot 2018), this study highly recommends Statzon to build relationship with its subscrib-
ers by offering unique loyalty programs and have a “honey pot” plan regarding the results
of survey, tailored for users’ popular and requested data categories by considering their
price conservativeness level.
5.3 Study Assessment
As the essential factors of conducting any research-based study, validity refers to the ac-
curacy of measurements and to the extent the results answer the research questions
(Saunders et al. 2014, 157).
58
To keep the validity of the research results, the researcher was cautious not to interpret or
breach data while trying to analyze the questionnaire results and proposing the strategies.
On the other hand, regarding the questionnaire, the researcher did not include any leading
or biased question in the questionnaire. While interpreting the results of the study, the re-
searcher considered reflecting the results as accurate as possible to convey the precise
idea of the customer, which hopefully can lead to valuable results as the future strategies
of the company.
As Saunders (2014, 157) defines, reliability refers to consistency in data collection tech-
niques and findings. Regarding the reliability of this study, both primary and secondary
sources are used. The survey was distributed directly by email containing the target of re-
search, and the collected results covered the answers to the all research questions. The
survey sample was quite large; there was a total of 273 receivers who were the library
managers, vice managers, and head librarians, as authentic potential customers for the
case company. The study was consistent as it reached the objectives. The collected re-
sults were small compared to the whole sample, with the total number of 24 responses.
With a bigger sample size, the acquired data could be more accurate. The results, there-
fore, are partially valid based on the study scale. The secondary data collected from
scholarly books, articles, business magazines, and business talks.
5.4 Limitations of the Study and Suggestions for Further Research
This thesis presents the marketing penetration strategies for the case company for the
NB8 countries by focusing only on the segment of academic users. Due to the study time
frame and needed concentration, other segments of the case company’s customer profile
or the other target countries have not been investigated.
This study only focuses on annual subscription models as the current business model of
the case company. Further research can be done over other subscription modes such as
monthly subscription or limited category access subscription together with a focus on pos-
sible premium features.
To implement the empirical part, the author reached out the Library management and the
staff of the target markets. A further study can focus on other target groups, for instance,
students, as the dominant end-users of the provided service.
This study failed to present any data about Iceland; a further attempt can reach out Ice-
land academic market.
59
In conclusion, this study achieved the goal of answering all research questions. The pro-
vided findings are based on authentic academic users’ answers to the questionnaire, as
the high potential customers for the case company. The limitations of the thesis are taken
into consideration, and the suggested further study is proposed to help the case company
successfully penetrate other target markets and segments.
60
6 SUMMARY
This study is implemented to propose marketing strategies for the case software com-
pany, Statzon, to penetrate the academic segment of NB8 market. The research ques-
tions were designed by consulting with the case company’s managing team. The thesis
aimed to figure out the expectation of academic data service users in NB8 markets re-
garding data categories, features, fair price, and penetration process. The subjects re-
searched in this thesis are library managers and head librarian of NB8 universities.
The thesis applied a qualitative research method; data was collected from primary and
secondary resources on the theoretical part of the study in chapter 2, which includes mar-
keting strategies and subscription marketing hints. Chapter 3 is dedicated to the case
company by investigating its status through SWOT analysis; meanwhile, the target mar-
kets are investigated by PEST analysis. The empirical part of the thesis relies on the im-
plemented 10-questioned questionnaire results in the first part of chapter 4. Statzon fitted
marketing strategies to penetrate the NB8 academic segment is elaborated in the second
part of chapter 4, including:
1. Statzon service KPIs for NB8 academic segment, containing the most important
faculties in NB8, secondly, the most popular data categories in NB8, and thirdly
the essential features of data providing service.
2. The missing service features as Statzon potential competitive advantages; includ-

ing data categories and subcategories and essential data service features.
3. NB8 academic segment penetration process.
4. Suitable pricing policy for NB8 academic segment including the current data ser-
vice annual subscription fee range followed by the fair price of the service in cus-
tomers point of view.
5. Marketing promotional strategies for Statzon in NB8, along with details about set-
ting smart goals content curation, lead nurturing, OPN, and setting barriers against
competitors.
Chapter 5 draws a conclusion on the outcomes of the study, followed by the limitations of
the research and the author’s suggestions for further studies. The thesis met its goals and
objectives by answering to all research questions considering the potential customers'
point of view.
61
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66
APPENDICES
Appendix I. Data Providing Platform Questionnaire
1. In which Country is your university located?
2. Which facilities are available at your university?
 Art
 Law
 Medicine
 Social Sciences
 Business and Hospitality
 Technology
 Science
 Other (please specify)
3. Which of the following research segments are popular in your university?
 Manufacturing
 Education
 Accommodation and food services
 Health and social works
 Recreation and hobbies
 Finance
 Construction
4. Which research tools or platforms are you using currently?
 Statistical offices
 Industrial associations
 Company or organization database
 Other e-libraries
67
5. How much are you paying for the annual subscription?
 Less than €3,000
 €3,000-5,000
 €5,000-8,000
 €8,000-10,000
 Other please specify
6. What do you specifically like about the current data providing platforms?
 Variety of data categories
 In-depth information about each category
 Visualized data
 Downloadable charts and graphs
 Easy to use design
 Fair price
7. What do you think about the current platform you are using?
 Very satisfying
 satisfying
 Not satisfying
 Poor service
8. What features would you like to add to your current data service provider?
 Downloadable graphs and charts
 Forecasts
 Primary resource explanations
 More data categories

68
 Regular data updates
 More affordable price
9. Who decides about the data providing service and how?
 University managing team with checking feedback from students
 University managing team without checking feedback from students
 Library directors and managing team after checking feedback from students
 Library managing team without checking feedback from students
!0. What would be a fair price annually for the intended service and features package?
2,000---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------50,000
69
Appendix II Data Providing Questionnaire Results
Q1.
70
Q2.
71
Q3.
72
Q4.
73
Q5.
74
Q6.
75
Q7.
76
Q8.
77
Q9.
78
Q10.

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CUSTOMER-DRIVEN B2B MARKETING

STRATEGIES FOR A SOFTWARE COMPANY

LAHTI UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED

Author(s) Type of publication Published

Figure 1 Thesis structure .................................................................................................. 3

Figure 2 Research methodology ....................................................................................... 4

Figure 3 Marketing process (adapted from Venkatesan 2019) .......................................... 5

Figure 7 Globalization forces (adapted from Nitisha 2018) ................................................ 9

Figure 8 Pricing policy tips (adapted from Balle 2019) .....................................................10

Figure 10 Market penetration process (adapted from Claire 2017)...................................12

Figure 14 Sustainable competitive advantage (adapted from Porter 1985) ......................17

Figure 15 Barriers to market entry (adapted from Aaker 2011) ........................................18

Figure 16 Subscription categories (McKinsey Analysis 2018) ..........................................19

Figure 17 Subscription promotion process (adapted from Campbell 2019) ......................20

Figure 19 Taking pre-subscribers (adapted from Morris 2015) .........................................23

Figure 20 The official launch (adapted from Morris 2015) ................................................23

Figure 21 Subscription marketing metrics (adapted from Talbot 2018) ............................24

Figure 23 Statzon SWOT analysis ...................................................................................29

Figure 24 Competitors’ analysis criteria (adapted from Haaff 2019.) ................................32

Figure 26 Most common NB8 academic faculties ............................................................36

Figure 30 NB8 academic segment data service price range ............................................40

Figure 31 NB8 data service fee hints ...............................................................................41

Figure 32 Setting SMART goal (adapted from Madison 2019) .........................................42

Figure 33 Content curation process (adapted from Hlavac 2019).....................................43

Figure 35 Recommended NB8 penetration process .........................................................51

Figure 36 Recommended market strategies targeting NB8 academic segment ...............54

Table 1 Customer groups (Solomon 2017, 29).................................................................. 8

Table 2 NB8 PEST analysis (WorldBank Group 2019).....................................................31

Table 3 Competitive capability analysis (Aha 2019) .........................................................33

Table 4 Thesis process timeline .......................................................................................34

Table 6 Statzon service KPIs for NB8 academic segment ...............................................49

Table 7 The potential competitive advantages of Statzon ................................................50

Table 8 Data service annual subscription fee in NB8 .......................................................52

AMA Ask me anything

CEO Chief executive officer

CLV Customer Lifetime Value

COO Country of origin

GDP Gross domestic product

DAU Daily active user

GDPR General data protection regulation

KPI Key performance indicators

MAU Monthly active user

NB8 Nordics-Baltics Eight (Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden-Estonia,

OPN Other people’s network

PEST Political, economical, social and technological (analysis)

PQSM Promotion, quality, sales and marketing (model)

R&D Research and development

ROI Return of Investment

SEO Search engine optimization

SME Small and medium-sized enterprise

SPT Segmentation, positioning and targeting (model)

SWOT Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (analysis)

WAU Weekly active user

WOM Word of mouth

1.1 Purpose and Research Methodology

• Statzon service KPIs for the target market

• The potential competitive advantages that Statzon can provide

• Target market penetration process

• Suitable pricing policy for the target segment