Regardless of the industry you operate in and what you sell, the one thing you can guarantee is that your customers desire a personalised experience. They want information that matches their needs, and the brand that can deliver on that are the ones who will capture the hearts and wallets of customers. To achieve this, you need an understanding of your target personas and the buyers journey, to ensure you can provide relevant content to help them with their needs.

The place to start is audience segmentation. This involves breaking your audience into groups based on attributes, interests and demographics. Once this is done you can tailor your marketing messages to suit each of these identified segments to provide a more personalised experience.

The value of segmentation to inbound marketing

As more and more buyers make their purchases and do research online; segmentation has become even more crucial. Targeted social media campaigns, personalised landing pages – there are many ways to target specific personas and groups to get cut-through in a crowded marketplace. State-of-the-art marketing software even provides marketers with more detailed data about their target customers to assist with marketing efforts. A customer’s digital footprint is readily available, so brands know what websites their customers are visiting and what content their interested in. This enable brands to personalise the buying experience for their target segments.

By segmenting the market, brands can:

• Personalise their marketing messages.
• Meet the needs of target consumers to drive action.
• Build long-term relationships with customers.
• Nurture leads through the buyers journey.

Segmentation Strategies

There are a variety of approaches you can take to segment your target audience. Traditionally it’s been done by demographics such as age, job title and location. However there is the option to go more granular and segment by certain interests, or buyers journey stage. Here are a few other suggestions to keep in mind:

1. Demographic: this is one of the more common forms of segmentation and is not too complicated. Despite its simplicity it’s very effective when done right.

2. Behavioural: this focuses on segmenting certain behaviours. For example, you could segment based on customers who make regular purchases to refill their warehouse vs those who make sporadic purchases.
3. Buyers journey: this is another very popular form of segmentation. One example is to segment by customers at the initial awareness stage of the buyers journey, as they will more than likely have similar queries and needs. The same approach can be taken for customers at the conversion stage who are after more detailed pieces of content.
4. Prior interactions: this segmentation isn’t as common, however is still highly effective. You need to market differently to your prospects that are engaging with your brand frequently compared to those who aren’t. You can also segment based on where the interactions are taking place e.g. social media vs. email.
5. Device: segmenting by device type is a great way to maximise engagement. If certain customers engage with you frequently by mobile, then you need to accommodate accordingly. Ensure your website is optimised for mobile and call to actions are also appropriate.

Segmentation Tricks

1. There is such a thing as too much segmentation: in an ideal world you’d have a personalised marketing message for each individual customer. However, given the time involved to achieve this, it’s not realistic for most marketers. You need to be careful that you don’t keep segmenting your audience into smaller and smaller groups or you’ll have no time to execute any marketing activity.
2. Always test and optimise: utilise the data at your disposal to better segment your audience. Continue to test different segmentation strategies and see what works and what doesn’t. Analyse each attempt and use your data to make more informed decisions.
3. Have clear objectives: Set your goals up front for your segmentation strategy. Be clear on what you want to improve and ensure your goals align with overall business strategy.
4. Don’t just segment via email: email lists are great for segmentation, but make sure you don’t limit yourself there. Think outside your existing email database and identify other sources at your disposal that can be used to segment your target audience.

Final Thoughts

Consumers are bombarded by information every day from brands trying to capture their eye. The better you can segment your audience and personalise your message, the better chance you have of getting cut-through. Tailor your strategy to meet the needs of your audience and the results will speak for themselves.