03 / Marketing Analytics · Geographic Targeting · Paid Media Strategy

Geographic Market Segmentation & Acquisition Strategy

Using customer distribution, market maturity, and demographic insights to guide geographic advertising investment.

OrganizationOutdoor Lighting Perspectives of Wilmington

Period2025–2026

CollaborationScorpion · paid digital marketing partner

My role: I connected customer concentration analysis with market-specific acquisition priorities and collaborated with Scorpion on geographic segmentation.
Key finding: 66.7% of existing customers were concentrated in five ZIP codes.
Strategic response: Classify markets as Core, Priority Growth, or Developing using demand, demographics, historical performance, and operational efficiency.
Evidence status: Implemented classification with reported improvements in efficiency and lead quality; no quantified incremental lift or controlled causal effect.

Business Challenge

How do we balance advertising investment between established markets and developing areas without relying exclusively on historical customer concentration?

Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Wilmington serves a geographically diverse territory. Existing customers were unevenly distributed, while activity in formerly developing markets pointed to additional acquisition opportunities following the 2025 ownership transition.

I used the existing customer footprint as a starting point, then considered where market characteristics and service suitability could support future growth. A strong customer presence alone does not establish saturation; a smaller presence alone does not establish opportunity.

Customer Concentration Analysis

66.7%

Existing customers in five ZIP codes

Documented historical concentration across the service territory.

The concentration analysis identified the business’s established geographic footprint. I treated that footprint as evidence of where the business had succeeded, alongside forward-looking considerations about customer fit and acquisition potential.

Original ZIP-boundary map from slide 4. Darker amber areas indicate greater relative customer concentration around Wilmington and nearby coastal markets. — Source: slide 4. Original geographic shading and boundaries preserved; customer totals and the numeric volume legend removed. Darker amber indicates greater relative concentration. This is a static map of the existing customer base, not a forecast. View full-size map ↗

The presentation also reports increased success in formerly developing markets since the 2025 ownership transition. That observation supports considering emerging opportunities alongside the historical footprint; it does not establish the size or cause of the change.

Geographic Segmentation Framework

Working with Scorpion, I helped translate the geographic analysis into three market tiers. The framework differentiated investment priorities by market maturity and growth opportunity.

Core Markets

Established territories with a meaningful customer presence.

Maintain acquisition visibility, preserve advertising efficiency, and continue capturing qualified demand.

Priority Growth Markets

High-value territories with near-term expansion opportunities.

Prioritize customer fit and growth potential when evaluating additional acquisition investment.

Developing Markets

Territories with lower penetration where awareness and presence can expand.

Develop customer interest, evaluate emerging demand, and support longer-term acquisition opportunities.

Original ZIP-boundary segmentation map from slide 6 around Wilmington and the surrounding service territory. Green marks Core and amber marks Priority Growth; the source legend also defines Developing in blue. — Source: slide 6. Original map colors, boundaries, and visible classifications retained. No ZIP assignments have been inferred from the image. View full-size map ↗

Core Markets
Priority Growth Markets
Developing Markets

The source defines all three tiers, but Developing polygons are not clearly distinguishable in the supplied raster map. A complete ZIP-to-tier table is not supplied; uncolored areas should not be interpreted as Developing.

Four considerations for classification

Demand: Consider acquisition opportunity within each geographic market.
Demographics: Assess customer fit alongside the existing customer footprint.
Historical marketing performance: Use observed acquisition performance to inform targeting priorities.
Operational efficiency: Consider service delivery alongside advertising opportunity.

Together, these considerations support different priorities across the territory. The framework is a strategic classification, not a published weighted scoring model.

Marketing Strategy & Execution

I used customer concentration and market maturity to frame where additional acquisition investment deserved consideration. In collaboration with Scorpion, the tiers supported more intentional geographic targeting and digital advertising allocation.

For Core Markets, the emphasis was continued visibility and efficient capture of qualified demand. Priority Growth Markets emphasized attractive near-term expansion. Developing Markets called for awareness building and evaluation of emerging demand.

This approach connected historical customer information with demographics, marketing performance, and operational considerations. My contribution centered on analytical interpretation and strategic priorities; digital execution was coordinated with Scorpion.

Observed Outcomes

Documented concentration: 66.7% of existing customers were located in five ZIP codes.
Implemented classification: The territory was segmented into Core, Priority Growth, and Developing markets with Scorpion.
Reported outcomes: The presentation associates more intentional digital allocation with improved advertising efficiency and lead quality. It also reports increased success in formerly developing markets.
Further validation needed: The source does not provide quantified before-and-after changes, a controlled comparison, or evidence isolating the effect of segmentation. The size, durability, and incremental impact of these reported improvements remain unverified.

Strategic Implications

Historical customer concentration shows where a business has succeeded, but strategic market segmentation helps evaluate where future acquisition investment may be most productive.

The framework supports differentiated priorities: continue capturing demand in established markets, assess near-term expansion in priority areas, and develop longer-term opportunities in emerging territories. Its value is a clearer basis for marketing decisions and subsequent performance review.

Evidence: OLP Wilmington × Corporate Brand Marketing, slides 4 and 6 only. Maps are sanitized excerpts of the original embedded images. Customer records, raw ZIP-level counts, and source-deck downloads are not published.