Everyone who buys your product or service has their own agenda — they want 'their problem' solved, or 'their need' satisfied.
Now don't panic, this doesn't mean you need a different product or service for every single person in the world :) but it does explain why customer segmentation is so important if you want to sell more to your best customers.
Once you know who your best customers are, you can put them into 'segments' and market to them separately. The theory behind customer segmentation is that not all customers want the same product or service at the same price at the same time.
So once you have looked at who your 'best customers' are, segmenting them into groups, you can identify who spends what and when, and design new products, services and marketing campaigns to get them buying more.
Unless you do have just one product or service that's suited for just one type of customer, you cannot have a one-size-fits-all message in your Marketing.
So how do you research your customer segments?
If you have customer relationship management software (CRM), use the data that gives you to look at past purchases to identify trends. If this data isn’t available, you will need to survey your best customers to find out why they buy from you. You can also look at independent market research on your target markets to get more insight.
When you understand the customer 'segments' that are best for your business, you can plan your marketing around where these types of customers will see and respond to your messages. You can also develop new products (or repackage existing ones) to suit different the different 'best customer' segments you have.
A business coach, for example, has one core service, but customer segmentation might identify one or several 'best customer' audiences they have e.g. design companies, start-ups or health professionals. By changing the look of adverts and where they advertise, the business coach can position themselves as an expert rather than a 'general practitioner', and are likely to get more customers as a result.
And customer segmentation doesn't need to mean you have to multiply the amount of marketing budget you have by the number segments you want to focus on. Email is a very cheap and effective way to target different market segments with different messages. Another low cost way of reaching your segmented target markets is having one-page 'landing page' web sites with specific offers tailored to each segment of your ideal customer base.
...and don't forget your web site
Update your existing web site to reflect the customer segments you want to focus on. If you currently promote the business as offering one product or service that 'fits-all', split your home page into different sections. If you are targeting business buyers, this might be clearly signposting different sizes of businesses (e.g. SME, International). If you are you targeting different types of consumers then have clear destinations for different ages, or price ranges, for example. Signpost your segments on your web site so that visitors know which information is for them.
Start with a key 'best customer' segment you've identified, focus on getting the messages right for this market, then move on to add more and more of your 'best customers' to your Marketing plan. The more you segment and focus, the more likely you'll be getting on everyone's agenda and selling more.
Want to talk more about this?
Leave a Reply