REGIONAL MARKET SEGMENTATION OF IT SERVICES: MARKETING ANALYSIS AND INFLUENCE TOOLS

Abstract

The article examines the issue of uneven development of regional IT services markets in Ukraine, driven by insufficient market segmentation, low customer awareness, and limited opportunities for promoting IT services at the local level. The lack of clear segmentation hinders the development of effective marketing strategies, reduces companies’ competitiveness, and slows the progress of the digital economy in regions. An analysis of the Ukrainian IT services market, characterized by significant regional disparities, is conducted, alongside a comparison with leading global markets.It is demonstrated that market segmentation is a crucial tool for addressing these disparities, as it enables consideration of the unique economic, social, and infrastructural characteristics of each region, fostering their balanced development.The study highlights key barriers to the development of the regional IT services market in Ukraine, including limited resources for marketing research, a focus on exports at the expense of the domestic market, a lack of reliable statistics and analytics on local consumption, low digital literacy among small and medium-sized businesses, insufficient funding for IT initiatives, brain drain, and weak integration into global value chains. Concurrently, Ukraine’s significant potential is emphasized, encompassing the development of IT clusters, growing demand for digital solutions, activation of grant programs from international organizations, and the use of artificial intelligence and big data for personalized marketing.A system of criteria for segmenting the regional IT services market in Ukraine is proposed, combining traditional marketing approaches with the specifics of the digital economy and regional disparities. The criteria include geographic, economic, socio-demographic, behavioral, psychographic, and institutional factors, enabling the adaptation of IT services to regional specifics. Based on market analysis, a segmentation matrix is developed, identifying four segments: digital transformation leaders, regions with growth potential, industrial regions with limited IT demand, and digital market laggards. For each segment, target customer profiles (B2B, B2G, B2C) are defined, considering their needs, constraints, and expected services, such as automation, cybersecurity, or cloud solutions. Differentiated marketing strategies are proposed for each target audience.