What Is a Horizontal Market?

A horizontal market is a market so diversified that its products and/or services are broad enough to meet the needs of multiple industries. The audience for horizontal markets shares characteristics across industries. Based on the scope of horizontal markets, the marketing efforts that support them must reach this spectrum of buyers and prospective buyers. What Is a Horizontal Market? A horizontal market is a market which meets a given need of a wide variety of industries, rather than a specific one. Examples In technology, horizontal markets consist of customers that share a common need that exists in many or all (vertical) industries. For example, customers that need to purchase computer security services or software exist in such varied industries as finance, healthcare, government, etc. Together, these customers constitute the security horizontal market. Other examples of horizontal markets include computer storage, accounting, desktop graphics, computer-aided design, sales force automation, and human resources. Often specialized distribution channels emerge to serve these unique horizontal markets. Horizontal Marketing : When two companies producing different products jointly market their products. Sometimes horizontal marketing is referred to as symbiotic marketing. Horizontal Market Examples Some examples of horizontal markets are automotive, banking, healthcare, real estate, telecommunications and travel. But since horizontal markets are broad to meet the needs of multiple industries, there are many other examples of horizontal markets. Within each horizontal market can be other horizontal markets. A telecommunications company (telco), for example, may launch a horizontal marketing effort to support the sale of Internet services to homeowners. This is a broad umbrella consisting of all homeowners in a specific region. This category of homeowners represents a horizontal market. Segmenting Horizontal Markets Because horizontal markets are broad, marketers often segment them into subsets. These groups are typically based on demographic factors such as the prospect's income, location

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To use telcos as an example again, they will even further segment their buyers and prospects to address specific needs. To increase sales of home Internet services, they can target a specific subgroup, such as senior citizens, low income users or parents with school-age children. B2B Horizontal Marketing For business-to-business companies, another example of marketing horizontally is to target specific job titles across industries. A recruiting firm may want to reach human resources directors at companies across the country. This marketing effort may not take into consideration the industries these directors represent, but is focused purely on their job title. When a Horizontal Is a Vertical In contrast, a vertical market is a single specific industry where products or services can be marketed using similar methods. However, an industry that reaches a horizontal market can also be a vertical market. This occurs when the industry is on the buy side instead of the sell side. Telcos can represent vertical industries for a company selling products or services directly to them. For a corporate interior design firm, for example, telcos, banks and real estate firms may be vertical industries. Combining Both Strategies Horizontal companies can and do use both vertical and horizontal marketing strategies. Sometimes broad strategies can be effective based on economies of scale. Other times it pays to target specific audience segments and speak directly to them. _____________________________________________________________________

Vertical market
A vertical market is a group of similar businesses and customers which engage in trade based on specific and specialized needs. Often, participants in a vertical market are very limited to a subset of a larger industry (a niche market). An example of this sort of market is the market for point-of-sale terminals, which are often designed specifically for similar customers and are not available for purchase to the general public. Vertical marketing can be witnessed at trade shows. The activities of participants within any given vertical market are typically similar in that they aim at solving the same or similar problems. These markets are typically competitive, due to the overlapping focuses of the products and services that are provided to the customers. The single defining characteristic of the participants in a vertical market is competition within a well-defined segment. Horizontal market participants often attempt to meet enough of the different needs of vertical markets to gain a presence in the vertical market. Their similar products/services tend to be less of a fit but also less expensive than specialized, vertical participant solutions. Comparison with horizontal markets A vertical market is a market which meets the needs of a particular industry: for example, a piece of equipment used only by semiconductor manufacturers. It is also known as a niche market.[1] A horizontal market is a market which meets a given need of a wide variety of industries, rather than a specific one: for example, word processing software.[2] On occasion a horizontal market can be highly specialized at the same time, for instance consider the market for converting mainframe databases developed with the tools of a particular company. The market for such a database conversion service might involve many vertical markets (aerospace, manufacturing, banking, etc) but nevertheless be labelled "niche" if the database technology is technically obsolete and no longer mainstream. [edit] Examples Some common examples of vertical markets: Automotive Banking Consumer Education Energy

Oil and Gas Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Financial (Finance) Food and beverage Government Healthcare Insurance Manufacturing Media Online Real estate Religion Retail Technology Telecommunications Transportation (Travel) Vertical marketing focuses on developing solutions to user problems within specific industries. In contrast, horizontal marketing provides generic offerings. __________________________________________________________________

Short Definitions:
What Does Vertical Market Mean? A focused market that is only able to meet the need of one specific industry. Vertical Market This is only profitable when there are few suppliers of the particular good. Producers in a vertical market run the risk that their sole products may not be able to maintain positive cash flows. What Does Horizontal Market Mean? A market diversified so that the products created are able to meet the needs of more than one industry. Horizontal Market The profitability for companies producing goods in a horizontal market is determined more by internal rather than external factors, as their products are commonly used. An example of a horizontal market is the demand and production of plastic pellets.