Segment your audience to deliver the right content at the right time.
Everyone wants a good return on investment, but sometimes getting it takes a little trial and error to get there, and that’s not money well spent. Segmentation is a great way to not only reduce costs, but increase revenue because your spend is more focused on a smaller audience who are more likely to buy what you’re selling.
Segmentation helps deliver personalized content, at the right time, to the right customers. It also lets your customers know you see them as individual people with unique needs, not just wallets. And not only that, but that you value their experience with your company or brand.
What is segmentation?
Think of segmentation this way: if you ran a department store, you wouldn’t stick a coupon for bananas in the underwear aisle, you wouldn’t stack diapers in the furniture section, and you wouldn’t advertise a BOGO offer for shampoo in electronics. But that’s exactly what you’re doing when you e-blast your entire customer list with information or offers on items they don’t need, want, or care about.
Segmentation is a way refining your audience from the broad category of “consumers” to a smaller group or sub-group of customers based on shared characteristics or criteria. For example, an email to new parents about a baby product coupon, a manufacturer’s recall, and top tips on sleep training is a message they’ll be receptive to because it offers value through the discount, relevant safety information, and shows you care. It’s that right message for the right person at the right time in their life.
How can you segment?
You can segment based on any variety of factors like age, gender, demographics, geographic location, purchase lifecycle, amount of spend, new vs returning customers, offers, or engagement level. You can segment one-time, periodically or continually, but it really comes down to the three Ws: who, when, and what:
- Who are you talking to?
- When is the best time to talk to them?
- What do you want to say or convey?
Once you define your target, you can research your audience(s) and create strategies to test messaging for your market segments.
What are the benefits?
The benefits of segmentation are three-fold: revenue increases, advertising spend decreases, and you keep your customers happy. It’s a win-win-win situation.
Increased revenue
The more you segment, the better understanding you’ll have of your customers’ preferences, which in turn makes your audience more receptive to your messaging. If your customers feel that you “get” them, they’ll be more inclined to take you up on your offers, which translates into more sales and increased revenue.
Cost savings
The more you segment, the less you spend on wasted efforts. Marketing to the wrong audience can cost your company not only in actual dollars spent, but in time and energy. When you spend less time and money developing generic messaging, you’ll have more time to craft messaging that works for your segments, and even discover new ways to better market to that audience.
Customer satisfaction
When customers are happy with the products and service they get from you, they become loyal and engage with your brand. Loyal customers are ones who not only maintain their regular shopping spend but are more likely to spend more on new products or services. They’re also more likely to tell their friends - and that’s free advertising!
So get personal with your customers and start segmenting your marketing efforts today to increase revenue, save on costs, and keep your customers happy - and coming back for more.
