Are you struggling to convert leads into sales? Are you talking to customers who aren’t interested? Do you feel you may be barking up the wrong tree?
You’re not alone!
Marketing is tough and with the constant development of new social media platforms overloading consumers, finding new ways to be heard over the barrage of advertising can be near impossible.
Marketing segmentation is a proven method of growing not only a larger, more specific customer base – but also ensuring you stay relevant within your field.
Let’s take a closer look at what segmentation is and how it works.
What is marketing segmentation?
Understanding your audience is key to business development.
Marketing segmentation is a process of dividing a broad, mass-market into smaller groups of potential customers, based on certain similarities – these include:
- Geographic – grouping customers by a specific area, such as a town, province or country
- Demographic – grouping customers by age, income level, gender, family size, language, race, religion
- Psychographic – grouping customers by cultural clusters, social status, lifestyle, personality
- Behavioural – grouping customers by product usage, ie brand loyalists
By identifying groups with similar insights, businesses can create more specific and therefore more competitive offerings.
For example, a restaurant offering a dine-in food promotion would receive good engagement from local residents, however, would not be of interest to those living in a different province.
Market segmentation would ensure the promotion strategy used would only target the local population.
How to execute a marketing segmentation plan
Set an objective
What are your goals?
Research
Establish how you are going to collect data – this depends on your business type and can include, conducting in-person interviews or focus groups; feedback from existing customers via social media and creating online surveys – Survey Monkey is a great tool to have in your arsenal.
Analyse your results
Identify clear target groups and create your segments. Mailchimp’s Audience function allows you to allocate your consumers tags, segments, and groups depending on your predetermined criteria.
Create a marketing segmentation strategy
Choose your most viable customer segment and focus a specialised campaign that reflects their core characteristics.
For example – Your restaurant has developed a new vegetarian menu that you want to share. To get the best ROI you send an email marketing campaign to your customer base that is segmented into ‘vegetarian’ and ‘local area’.
How does this boost performance?
By using market segmentation effectively, you can identify your true target audience and therefore know where to invest your spend and discover new opportunities. It will also allow you to;
Create a personal experience
Today’s customers are looking for more than just a transaction – they want to relate and feel connected with a brand. By leveraging personal data, you can create personalised recommendations adding value to your most important segments.
Increase competitive edge
By analysing your most loyal customers/segments you can tailor make special offers and promotions to that specific group. They are more likely to engage with these offers adding value to their brand experience.
Improve products and services
We wouldn’t be anywhere without our customers, so why not listen to their ideas? A simple survey on price points, new features, likes and dislikes can give a business direction for improvement making sure you adapt to current trends.
With marketing segmentation you can effectively reach the customers with the right fit for your products – you don’t have to waste your time selling to the masses.
But..it’s a lot to take in… right?
There are a wide range of online tools to help you get started on your marketing segmentation journey, however, if you want to concentrate on what you do best – your business – think about outsourcing the grunt work to a virtual assistant.
Admin Army can help you conduct research and advise marketing strategies so you can position your business at the forefront of your industry. Contact us today for tailor made services.