The 3 types of "Do-it" customer segments

In any planning endeavor, be it a vacation planning or a tax planning, three distinct types of customer segments manifest themselves. Do remember that segments are not in the minds of the customers themselves. Every customer chooses to believe that they are unique and that their wants, needs, aspirations and usage habits are unique as well. One reason for this could be the ego inherent in every human action. Another could be the lack of data to help them see themselves as part of a group or bucket.

Be that as it may, segmentation is largely a marketers’ tool to help them evaluate the buying journey and devise mindful interventions. This post looks at the 3 types of Do-it customer segments commonly found online.

1. Do-it-myself segment

These individuals prefer to do their tasks themselves. Whether it is a home improvement project, information gather exercise, trip planning or even tax planning. They have the patience and the ability to scour the Internet for information and the ability to sift through it all to learn how to do this by themselves! Such individuals are self-motivated and driven to seek out relevant information and to act upon it. They may not necessarily be cash-poor but definitely have the time to dedicate themselves to information gathering and sifting through.

2. Do-it-with-me segment

These individuals exhibit some of the characteristics of the Do-it-myself segment, but only up to a point. Post this, they get so overwhelmed by the information and options presented by the research process that they prefer to have a helping hand. While they are great at initiating things, they are not so good at finishing it by themselves. They often require a bit of help and motivation at the second leg of the journey to successfully complete the process. These individuals may be a combination of time-poor and cash-poor.

3. Do-it-for-me segment

These individuals could not be bothered with doing it by themselves. They either consider it beneath them or could not be bothered with it as they prefer spending time on more important things (according to them). They are the ones who typically outsource the entire process and prefer to pay for the service offered rather than spend any time or effort in trying to learn it for themselves. These are typically time-poor but cash rich individuals. They may not be driven individuals when it comes to their online habits and information needs and may merely essay a purely transactional role.

Once you have identified the different segments and understood their unique needs and motivations, it becomes much simpler to address them on digital channels. We wil dive deeper into that with another post.