Customer segmentation and targeting are very critical in digital marketing it helps to focus your marketing efforts, lets you set more specific and measurable goals, creates different, more suitable content for each segment, crafts more specific calls to action for each segment, and can move prospects through the sales process faster and more efficiently. But if you are not investing in this you are possibly not deriving the best ROI from your digital marketing efforts.

There has been a famous quote by Donald Norman throwing light on customer segmentation,

“Market segmentation is a natural result of the vast differences among people.”

customer segmentation and targeting for ecommerce store

And we are fortunate enough as marketers to know these differences easily through the emails, blogs, website pages, articles and podcasts which are pinned with the names of the visitors and other additional information. Yet, many companies are screaming about the lack of the organic traffic they expect on their digital marketing stuff scattered on hither and thither.

This happens simply because of the inadequately planned customer segmentation strategy. In fact, ideal market segmentation should be based on the bifurcation of the audiences according to the following prime segments be it a Digital or Non-Digital Market Segmentation:

  • Geographic segmentation.
  • Demographic segmentation.
  • Psychographic segmentation.
  • Behavioral segmentation.

When you wish to optimize each piece of contents in respect of the segmentation, you should take care to rightly place each piece of your contents that convey a perfect message to the audience with diverse expectations and requirements from your website.

Here are some intuitive insights on How to do a customer segmentation in respect of your business.

customer segmentation and targeting

Analyze and Observe the customer behavior data:

Today, the marketers are blessed with some of the best analytical tools that come with every minute detail of the visitors on their site. With this data, you can pinpoint the exact buying pattern of each customer. Moreover, you can also dig deep into this area with third party data to make your analysis rich to make your own plan. In other words, with the observation on the customers’ behavior data, you can have a deep understanding of the demographic, psychographic behavior patterns of the customers belonging to different facets of life.

Evaluate the data and prepare the customer segmentation plan:

Having gone through the first phase, you can now create hypothetical plans based on your observation and analysis of the data. You will be in a position to draft a scenario describing which particular plan can roll on well with your audience. However, care is to be taken keeping in mind the fact that every past behavior cannot necessarily be the same. There is always the possibility of the change in the behavior. Therefore, there should be the element of the flexibility in each plan you make.

Test the feasibility of the plan:

Having completed the customers profiling and segmentation, you now need to check the feasibility of the plans you have assumed. You can do it following the steps like,

  • Select a group of visitors for the plans, say Plan A.
  • Make another customers’ segmentation plan, say Plan B.
  • Test both plans A and B randomly.
  • Measure up the results between the two considering the priority of the goals you wish to achieve.

Prepare a comparative study of the plans tested:

This is the phase where you have to compare the alternative plans in respect of the target audience segmentation. Based on the figures you have received, you should make a comparative study of the plans that you have run on a test basis. But be careful that you have to consider only those figures which imply the reach of the customers to the final stage of making a purchase and not merely the clicks on your website or any blog or article page.

Find out the “WHYs” in the test plans:

This is the stage which gives you an idea about which of the plans succeed or crashed. You need to identify the factors responsible for the success or failure of the plans. This stage will give you a path for a futuristic strategy for customer segmentation. The WHYs are the key results area of customer segmentation analysis and you will educate you deeper about the next moves you wish to initiate.

Confirm the plan and implement your own theory:

Based on the WHYs behind every successful plan, this is the time for you to select the most effective ones out of the many plans you have before your eyes. For example, one plan that is relating to the interests of a visitor, which inclined him/her to buy something, you have to mark the plan and implement it. Yes, but keep in the mind the inherent flexibility of the customer’s behavior.

Find out the deviation between the actual and anticipated results:

This is the stage where you are required to map up the deviations between your actual and expected results in terms of the customer segmentation you have planned. This exercise will give you the insight to develop a theory of your own. This deviation will lead you to a road-map of customer segmentation optimization in terms of every search made online be it in respect of a product or a service.

Conclusion:

There can be no permanent or a static strategy so far as customer segmentation techniques are concerned. Everyday, and rather I would go to say, every hour you need to keep an eye on the strategies you have planned and implemented and then to improvise or modify according to the changes taking place around on the virtual market.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Top rated web design and digital marketing agency. We build, connect and influence communities through digital marketing, social media, advertising and media/public relations.
We help Companies keep the personal touch with customers.

819Media, USA

Join the 1,000+ companies that use Help 819Media because customer experience and digital marketing is game changer.