Segmentation defines the key data points needed to tailor your messaging to make it relevant to your customers. That makes it a prerequisite for a successful email and SMS campaign.
All email and SMS marketing is permission-based marketing. That means that your customers will only keep getting those messages so long as they consider them worth their time and attention.
Sending out communication your customers find irrelevant doesn’t just mean that your messages won’t be opened but that you could end up annoying your customers. Annoyed customers rescind their permission to contact them.
In other words, irrelevant messaging can end up cutting off your access to the powerful communication tools opened up through SMS or email. Don’t let that happen to your business!
Relevance starts with segmentation
Avoid being filtered out as spam by using segmentation to deliver relevant messaging. When you do that, you establish a connection that builds up the kind of long term relationship that underlies enduring customer loyalty and the kind of returns only possible through LTV.
Just as one size doesn’t fit all for clothing, one form of marketing doesn’t appeal equally to all customers. There are differences between customers to be aware of like:
- Age and gender
- Income bracket
- Geographic location
- Household situation, i.e. single, with partner, with children, etc.
- Preferred devices, i.e. PC, tablet, smartphone
- Participation in social
- Taste, style, interests, and motivation
Some of these may be garnered from purchase history. For example someone who searches for sustainable and recycled products likely would appreciate communication that speak to their concern for the planet.
On top of the difference between individuals is the consideration of differences in their relationship with your products or stages of the conversion funnel. Variables on that end include the following:
- Your most valuable customers who spend the most with you
- Customers who buy regularly but are not your biggest spenders
- Customers who only buy when they receive a promotion
- Customers who purchase only specific categories of items
- Shoppers who have signed up for communication but haven’t bought anything yet
- Customers who have only bought once but have since become inactive
- Customers who have put things in their cart but failed to purchase them
All of those categories can make up specific segments of your customers to direct your communication. The problem is that pulling up all the customer activity records manually would take more time and effort than any business can devote to the task.
The solution is automation.
Having Remarkety pull up lists of customers by activity takes the grunt work out of segmentation and makes it possible for you to segment groups with whatever key categories you choose. You can also combine categories to identify, say, your most valuable female customers in a particular age bracket who are gearing up for a new season.
Segmented messages
Being able to segment groups instantly allows you to change up your marketing communication as needed. That’s especially useful for your seasonal and holiday marketing.
Here is sampling of segmentation ideas for marketing messaging that have proven effective:
- Segmenting by history of responses: Subscribers who bought with promo codes let you know what’s likely to get their attention again. This can be fine-tuned to identify what specifically got their attention — whether it was free shipping or dollars off, percentage savings, or free gift offer — to understand which offer they find irresistible.
- Segmenting by activity: Customers who haven’t ordered in whatever time limit you set to target them with a recapture deal. Inactive customer campaigns increase marketing ROI, thanks to the strong likelihood of someone who has bought from you before doing it again.
- Segmenting by spending amount: Rewarding your most valuable customers by extending an exclusive promotion to those who have hit a certain threshold.
- Segmenting based on purchases: Using data on purchases, you can set up automated messaging of recommendations. This applies to those who only buy gifts for the holidays, knowing that’s the kind of thing they come to you for. But it can also be used for upselling by offering them complementary products or those of a similar style. For example, someone who bought bath towels may be interested in the coordinating bathroom accessories.
Ready to see if it can work for you? Try it for free or book a demo
Content that resonates builds rapport and delivers ROI
Marketers who shift to segmentation no longer have to rely on what’s called “spray and pray.”
Instead of just hoping that the general message will appeal to at least some of their customer base, they are able to adopt a data-driven segmentation strategy.
Messages that match your customer’s specific interests grab their attention so that they open their emails. Content that resonates with their values makes them feel connected and increases rapport. Hitting on what motivates them with a clear CTA then increases your conversions and total sales.
One clothing retailer shifted from general messaging to specific one that took into account the customer’s gender, interests, brand preference, and media habits. It was then able to report the following gains:
- 42% increase in clickthrough rates
- 123% increase in conversion rate
- 141% increase in revenue per campaign
In fact, mid-sized businesses are enjoying an average of 246 percent ROI thanks to email marketing
Some can achieve even better results with specific campaigns, as was the case of a coffee company’s reactivation SMS campaign that achieved a staggering 637% return on investment.
To be sure you’re getting the most value out of your marketing segmentation, run A/B tests on your view rate, open rate, click-through rate, and sales to see what needs tweaking. An automated solution is what keeps the information up-to-date to keep up with the ever-changing situation of your customers.
Always Improving
A segmentation strategy is what keeps your messaging relevant. However, like just about everything else in marketing, it has to always be adapted to changing times, customers, and contexts.
With the help of Remarkety, you can easily take advantage of segmentation for your marketing campaigns. While you’ll see results right away, they’ll get even better over time as Remarkety’s machine learning comes into play.
Check out Remarkety’s Segmenation Filter Guide here.
Ready to see if it can work for you? Try it for free or book a demo
