Blah words to define something so important!
The blah words in question are “Market Segmentation”. The definition of market segmentation that you can find on wikipedia is informative and worth a quick look or two. Obviously, there are reams of information sources to define this for you, but right now, a quick refresher is all you may need.
Why write about something that has been around since…well, marketing? Today, the difference is the availability of so many new forms of electronic communication, connection and performance monitoring. Therefore, as a marketer, one should be taking advantage of deep and deeper market segmentation in every campaign that is executed (I’m assuming here that most of your campaigns are e-campaigns, even though I realize that reality differs from my wish).
Not that there was much of an excuse before either. But, now? If you want to communicate or connect with your prospect, customer, reader, user, or fan realize that they are not all made equal nor do they think alike. This base and audience is made up of a number of individuals who are quite diverse.
On the one hand, they are not one mass. On the other hand, they are diverse individuals that can number in the 100s or 1000s or 10,000s or more. Somewhere between mass and individual is a logical step.
This is where market segmentation comes in. It is the ability to group individuals into logical subsets based on their demographics (age, marital status, household income, location), product likes or dislikes, past purchases, derived needs, feedback history and so on. Or some combination of these. When you have thus homogenized the mass into logical groups, you are able to apply more relevance to any communication. With more relevance, it follows that you get better results – whatever way you define “better”.
A fundamental tenet then of market segmentation is to know something about individuals. Something other than their name and contact information. This is the foundation of market segmentation. It is amazing how many businesses – of various sizes: small, medium and large – have still not arrived at this conclusion or started doing something about it. Those who are contemporary marketers and modern market practitioners may not choose to believe this, but for some of us who are on the ground dealing with people and businesses every day, let me tell you, there are many out there who are still at ground zero with respect to e-marketing.
However, it is also great to see how many businesses are truly making strides in this area by making the right technology investments – in CRM, marketing automation systems, various e-marketing initiatives such as email and online marketing. They are guaranteeing the increased success of their marketing and impacting the future of their business.
Are you one of them? Yes? My hearty congratulations to you and your business!
P.S. While market segmentation is a key factor that should be driving e-marketing, it is also true that segmentation – at least in my opinion – should follow only after you have built “permission” from those you are connecting with. It means that your audience has giving you permission to be reached. More about this in another blog posting at another time. The best source of information on this topic though is Seth Godin. While your at it, why don’t you read what he says about permission marketing?
