As the two-way feedback loop of online communication becomes more and more sophisticated by the day, it becomes increasingly easy to target niche groups and to design specific marketing messages to meet their interests. The key to this enhanced level of engagement is what is known as database segmentation. It sounds complicated, but it isn’t.
The easiest way to think of it is this: Way back in the past, when TV still had polite people on it, you could imagine your customers as packets of biscuits. You could either advertise to the Custard Creams, the Bourbons or the Rich teas; large, traditional swathes of the populace. Now, things have changed and we have embraced segmentation. It is like being able to send a different message to each and every biscuit in a selection pack. You can now choose who you are talking to (and your marketplace can choose who they are listening to) and what you say.
Distinctions can be made on the basis of geography, demographics, lifestyle, age, gender, income – you can thin-slice it any which way you want. It means that your targeting is more accurate, your return will be healthier and you aren’t wasting any effort on the sort of customer who just isn’t interested in you or what you have to offer. It also means that you can make your message relevant and pertinent, not the generalist sort of mass-appeal broadcast that we used to all be exposed to.
Right now, if I go and buy a tent, which I might well do, I think that I might want to receive offers on camping deals. So my tent suppliers can target me – I can always opt out. They know I’m a camper, they sell camping stuff. It’s a nice, uncomplicated relationship that is mutually beneficial, and I don’t get annoyed when they send me messages.
With so much data around - and let’s face it, we aren’t suddenly going to stop gathering it – it is becoming easier and easier to develop long-term relationships with customers who we can actually get to know, even if they live on the other side of the World. And with this sort of intelligence, we can be wiser and smarter in the way we use it to develop both our customers and our businesses.