There is absolutely no
worse reason to segment than that everyone else is doing so. If you haven’t
understood why segmentation is important for your business, then you probably
are far, far away from the need for segmentation itself.
The simplistic rationale
that all customers are different is not sufficient to warrant digital
segmentation. You rather need to consider a number of thing to figure out for
yourself if 1) your business is ready for segmentation and 2) whether you can
realistically segment your customers and prospects?
They easiest way to do
this is to start with defining your goals. The first thing about goal-setting
is that it is entirely different for your customers and your prospects.
Customers
Your customers already
know about you and probably communicate with you through digital channels. As a
result you probably have a wealth of available information on their
preferences, their behavior, habits etc. Good data sources would be website
analytics, CRM data, POS data etc.
For existing users of your
website, the goal could be to enhance the usability and ease-of-use of the
website or other digital channels. Is the user experience simple enough? Is it
effective at converting leads to customers? Are the calls-to-action compelling
enough?
For existing customers, it
could be enhancing customer experience or retention. This supposes that you are
able to attract a greater share of wallet from your competitors for similar
products or services.
Prospects
These are people who are
likely to benefit from your product or service but as a marketer, you don’t
have any primary sources of data about them. This is where you try and find
about more about through access to external data sources. Some good places to
start include syndicated data, third-party publisher data, market research
data, government data etc.
Prospects who contribute
to the growth of your business typically take the form of leads that you
generate. These are individuals who have expressed an interest or inclination
regarding your product or service and constitute those you know will benefit
from it.
Prospects who contribute
to product or service expansion are those whose needs are currently unmet by
your product or service, but those you know would benefit from a differentiated
one that you can offer in the future.
In another post, we will
take a look at how you can strategically and tactically address your customers
and prospects through digital segmentation.
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