It’s easy to think of marketing as a numbers game: Send lots of messages to lots of people and you’ll reach enough of them to see results. But the most successful marketers think deeply about the quality and relevance of their communications more than the quantity.
Creating relevance with your audience means listening to their needs and wants, and then responding accordingly.
One study found that as many as 78% of United Kingdom consumers are frustrated by irrelevant marketing from brands they subscribe to. Another study in the United States found that companies are losing revenue to their competitors because their messaging isn’t consistently relevant to their customers. In the competitive world of digital marketing, irrelevant messages can be easily ignored, resulting in low engagement, low open rates, and, worst of all, customers opting out of your communications altogether.
So, how can you keep in touch with customers and prospects in a way that resonates? For marketers, segmentation and personalization are two of the most powerful tactics available.
Let’s take a closer look at segmentation and personalization and how they can help you create relevant marketing campaigns and boost customer engagement.
What is marketing segmentation?
Marketing segmentation is grouping people together based on identifiable characteristics. Sometimes your audience may directly provide information like their ZIP code or interests via a signup form. You can also gather data from their interactions with your brand, such as past purchase behavior or emails they’ve engaged with. All this information can be used to group your audience members into different segments.
Keep things simple when getting started with segmentation. Think about a business goal, and then think about how to group your audience to meet that goal.
For example, if you have a fitness studio and want people to sign up for a new class in one of your locations, you could build a segment using cities or ZIP codes to target customers in the area. You could also build a segment consisting of people who have visited a page about the new class on your website. You can combine segments for further (almost endless options) but it’s easy to start with something simple and learn from there.
What is personalized marketing?
Personalized marketing involves tailoring messages to your customers based on what you know about them. Personalization can be specific to the individual recipient and can be as easy as including their name in an email. Personalization can also work hand in hand with audience segmentation. You can send content tailored for a specific audience segment based on shared characteristics or behavior.
The right marketing platform should let you easily create personalized emails without having to duplicate your efforts.
You can tap into tools like dynamic content blocks to build one email that’s personalized for different recipients. Or, you could connect your storefront website to your marketing platform and send personalized product recommendations to each opted-in customer based on their purchase history.
Ultimately, personalized content helps your audience feel that you’ve listened to their needs and care enough to send messages that matter to them. This resonates, builds trust, and sets up long-term relationships that give you the opportunity to keep on presenting your offerings to an engaged audience.
Continue Reading: 4 ways to use segmentation and personalization to boost customer engagement
Relevant marketing is successful marketing
Establishing a bond with your customers through relevant communication has never been more important. Luckily, there are powerful tools to help all types of businesses drive meaningful customer engagement via audience segmentation, content personalization, and automation.
As Michelle Monaco, Senior Marketing Manager at Mailchimp, summarizes: “To build the best relationships with your customers, look to be as relevant as possible with your communications, and let your marketing platform help you. The data shows that meaningful marketing drives results.”
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