How do you improve your segmentation and targeting approach?

1 Understand your goals

Before you start segmenting and targeting your audience, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. What are your marketing objectives and KPIs? Who are your ideal customers and what are their pain points, needs, and preferences? How do you measure your success and ROI? Having a clear vision of your goals will help you align your segmentation and targeting strategy with your overall marketing plan.

2 Choose your criteria

When segmenting your audience, you should consider criteria that are relevant to your goals, products or services, and market. Common criteria for segmentation and targeting include demographics such as age, gender, income, education, occupation; behavior such as purchase history, usage patterns, loyalty, engagement; psychographics such as attitudes, values, interests, personality, lifestyle; and geography like location, climate, culture, language. You should also think about the data sources and tools you have available to collect and analyze the information.

3 Analyze your segments

Once you have segmented your audience based on your chosen criteria, you should analyze each segment and evaluate its potential. Consider the size of the segment, how fast it is growing, how much revenue and profit you can generate, the strength of the competitors, and how well the segment matches your value proposition and brand identity. Additionally, explore the trends and opportunities, as well as the costs and risks associated with the segment.

4 Select your targets

Based on your analysis, you should select the segments that offer the most value and potential for your business. These are your target segments or markets. You should prioritize the segments that have the highest profitability, growth, fit, and competitive advantage. You should also consider your resources and capabilities, and how well you can serve the needs and expectations of each segment.

5 Customize your messages

The final step in your segmentation and targeting approach is to tailor your marketing messages and offers to each target segment. You should use the insights and data you have gathered to create personalized and relevant content, campaigns, and experiences that appeal to each segment's motivations, preferences, and pain points. You should also test and optimize your messages and offers based on the feedback and results you get from each segment.

6 Monitor and update

Segmentation and targeting are not static processes. They require constant monitoring and updating to reflect the changes in your market, your customers, and your business. You should regularly review your segments and targets, and adjust your criteria, analysis, selection, and customization accordingly. You should also look for new opportunities and challenges, and explore new segments and markets that may emerge or become more attractive over time.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?