Customer Segmentation Ensures Targeted, Successful Marketing Efforts

Customer Segmentation Ensures Targeted, Successful Marketing Efforts

"If you’re not talking to someone, you’re talking to no one."

That’s a phrase that comes up in marketing discussions that illustrates the importance of targeting your sales campaign to a specific demographic with whom a particular message will deeply resonate. Of course you can have numerous campaigns going simultaneously, each aimed at different groups to whom your offerings may appeal - it’s just that one blanket marketing message can’t possibly appeal to everyone. It’s important to differentiate your audience into identifiable segments and design and present customized messaging and marketing materials to each to help ensure successful marketing efforts.

Think of a real estate agent’s clientele. They could sell to those in any phase of life: first-time buyers, professionals, new parents, growing families, empty nesters, or caregivers for elderly family members. They can appeal to a variety of lifestyles: urban, suburban, rural. They can sell luxury condos or sprawling beachfront homes. And while it’s a pleasant fantasy to look at posters of elegant penthouses or stately mansions, most people don’t resonate with that particular image of "Home Sweet Home." They’re looking for something that aligns with their actual situation, desired locale and budget - not something so far out of their price range that they can’t envision themselves living there. Each of these demographics have a story that expresses their priorities for their dream home and when they see and hear it articulated in marketing messaging, they will take note.

Deciding Upon Demographics

Unearthing the underlying story of your customer demographics is a bit of a "chicken or the egg" situation. First, it’s important to look at your present clients (the chickens) - who you are already attracting - and take note of who they are and what they turn to you for. You already have some information about them in your systems, like the products or services they’ve purchased and the frequency of those purchases which can provide valuable intel as to the appropriate messaging to keep them coming back for more. These details can also serve as a solid base for determining other demographics you could get in front of.

It’s equally important, however, to identify your ideal clients (the eggs) - who are not yet your clients. In case your existing clients are not quite ideal, that is, willing to pay your highest prices to work closely with you and are able and willing to loyally return in the future, you’ll want to make sure you include messaging that will attract them to you.

If you’re not certain what those traits are that will attract those ideal clients, ask in the form of a questionnaire on social media or in an email.

There’s no "science" to segmenting customers - no magic formula; there are strong practices, though, that make it considerably more likely to gain engagement when you’re sending the "right" emails and distributing materials that are appropriate to the needs and wants of a particular audience.

While every business is unique as to the segments they find useful and the data that informs those segments, some useful data include:

Personal information - age, gender, relationship status, family status, income (useful to target for family products, back to school specials, sales, couple’s offers)

Geography - where they live, whether the country, state, city, part of town (useful for location-based promotions or information)

Personal traits - subjective areas like customers’ personality, beliefs/attitudes, values and interests as well as behaviors like, "they value quality and will pay for it," or "consults reviews before purchase" (useful for crafting marketing messaging that appeals to particular characteristics)

Assembling Your Segments

As you accumulate your data, you’ll begin to see the more common qualities of your customers stand out - these are your basic segments. You’ll be able to fit everyone in one or more categories that are more descriptive of them, rather than the entirety of your contact list. You’ll be able to group people by these characteristics and you’ll come up with segments like these:

• High income family living in rural location that will pay for high quality
• Single man in urban location who consults reviews before purchase
• Married living in the western U.S. enjoys skiing and hiking

Surely you can see, marketing that would be highly engaging to one of these segments might leave the others flat because it simply didn’t scratch an itch they had.

Customer segmenting is a practice that helps you market to customers in a highly targeted way, allowing them to see themselves doing business with you. Such marketing allows them to see how you can provide solutions for problems that plague them; satisfy their needs; or fulfill experiences they long to have. And when your offerings align with what customers want, they become engaged and eager to work with you - and that’s great for business!

How could implementing customer segmentation benefit your marketing efforts and engagement?