By Joshua Justus
In marketing, there is a process of dividing a large audience into smaller groups, and this is called segmentation.
Everybody talks about how important audiences are in a business, but they keep talking to them and not with them. Segmenting your audience as a business allows you to focus on people who are most important to reach or people who need solutions to the problem you can solve.
If you buy a luxury car, there is a chance you will receive tons of email newsletters from the automobile company. That’s because an audience analysis was conducted to determine the type of people who can afford their vehicles.
Audience analysis — the foundation of effective segmentation helps to get a clear and detailed picture of your audience. It looks at the demography — who they are, geographic — where they are, psychographic — their lifestyle and behavioural — how they act.
Hold on to that thought, and let’s switch the gear a bit. Whenever a customer feels like an advertising message was written for them, they are more likely to listen to what you say and expect more messages from you. Why? Because you have tailored your message to fit their customer persona.
Okay, now, you are probably wondering what a customer persona is all about.
It is simply a detailed profile of your perfect customer, or some call it the “specific target audience.” A customer persona controls your marketing effort, allowing you to speak directly to the needs of each “perfect” customer.
The customer journey has three stages: awareness, consideration and decision. Let us break it down. Buyer A is conscious of what he/she want to purchase, identifying they have an issue to solve. Buyer B knows what they want to buy, and buyer C has already made a choice.
Now, instead of sending all of them the same marketing message, audience segmentation helps you craft your message to reach each of the buyer personas specifically.
And that’s when your content will make sense and convert your audience to clients, depending on their specific needs.
As a business owner or someone starting a business, note that audience segmentation allows you to dive into what your audience cares about and wants from you, so your marketing does not fail.
Imagine trying to solve those childhood puzzles. You can not complete it unless each piece fits into a specific spot. Marketing works the same way — if your message does not align with their needs, it won’t fit, and your efforts might fail.
In a nutshell, audience segmentation goes as far as unlocking insights into what makes your audience unique.
An advantage of segmenting your audience is that it helps your business retain and attract the right customers, and you also have a competitive edge, why? When you keep in touch with your audience, you are aware of what is happening with them and can spot trends you can act upon quickly.
To round things off, you can utilise these audience segmentation tools — surveys, social media analytics, and customer relationship management software.
