How do you know who your customers are and what their interests are? One way to do this is using target market segmentation and target market examples.
Check out our thoughts on customer focus.
More to think about: Should a Business Send Customers to Competitors?
Market segmentation permits a business to better target its customers, as we discussed in an earlier post on market segmentation (Why Customer Segmentation Is a High Yield Activity and Target Market Segmentation Improves Marketing Effectiveness).
As we discussed in those articles, targeting permits better focus on relevance and relationship building to improve customer engagement. There are many ways to define your market as segments, such as behavioral, psychographic, demographic, and geographic … all of which were discussed.
Here is a short video introducing the concept of customer insights.
We recently read a very interesting article: Four New Approaches to Consumer Segmentation by Joel Rubinson.
The thesis of his article: consumer segmentation is at the heart of marketing practice, yet it simply does not work that well because it is rarely very actionable. This article describes how that can change using these four approaches to customer segmentation. Let’s examine his four approaches:
Target market examples … segment moments
We are much more interesting to Ford or General Motors when we are looking to buy a car then right after we make the purchase, correct?
When we are dieting makes us much more interesting to Atkins, Dukan and Weight Watchers than when are not dieting. In this age of digital and social commerce, moments become directly targetable because our current goals give out great out forensic signs as we travel the internet world. We seek out different content, search for different terms, like different things on Facebook, and different products show up on our frequent shopper data.
Related post: Should a Business Send Customers to Competitors?
All highly targetable without needing to water things down with demographics. (For an example of moment segmentation on understanding smartphone use and motivations, click here.)
A segment for ad targeting on brand loyalties
Increasingly, we can merge digital and social data with frequent shopper data for ad targeting. So what you may ask? Simply that a marketer can now target their advertising to “switchable”. Who are they? The consumers who buy your brand occasionally but not most of the time.
Why is this significant? We receive a much higher response to advertising and promotions from switchable than from those who are completely loyal to either you or some competitive brand.
Related: Complaints Are Sources of Remarkable Customer Retention Strategies
Target market examples … segment people as shopper types
Plan purchases or decide in store? Explore to find new meal ideas? Like to sample new products? Can we assume you have an infant at home given diaper and formula purchases? All of these have clear action implications for product placement, store layouts, and specific shopper promotions delivered in customized ways. This is increasingly accomplished via mobile apps.
Segment people based on targetable interests and values
Rather than creating a battery of questions for segmentation and HOPE that we can target segments, why not flip this around? Why not analyze the interests, cultural values, and lifestyle characteristics that are available via Facebook or Google profiles and create segments on factors that reflect those actionable characteristics?
That way, you can take your segmentation and be much more proactive. Furthermore, every ad campaign becomes a test of the specific targets because they should exhibit a greater response.
What do you think? Convinced enough to give these approaches a try? We certainly are.
