It’s mid-way through Q1, and your plans for this year are likely now underway. Regardless of your industry, whether the outlook is positive or more measured, turning these plans into successful outcomes can sometimes feel like an overwhelming task. How do you create focus and the need to deliver more sales volume or market share? And, how do you do that with the available time, personnel and budget to maximize their impact?
As the saying goes, “the devil is in the details,” so setting your growth goals at the highest level will make it more difficult to achieve success among your customers. Additionally, it makes it difficult to Identify where success came from, and to replicate and build on that success (not to mention recognizing what pitfalls to avoid in the future).
How do you create focus and the need to deliver more sales volume or market share? And, how do you do that with the available time, personnel and budget to maximize their impact?”
This is where segmentation becomes incredibly valuable. It can help focus your efforts by breaking down what is important to your business in respect to driving growth.
- What are the different needs of your target segments?
- How able is your business to fulfill these needs?
- What coverage of the market are you able to reach?
- Are you and your competitors overlapping heavily, and are there any unfulfilled and neglected segments of value?
These are all simple questions with often very nuanced answers. Addressing them through segmentation helps you align your business around short-term opportunities and spur future growth, such as development of new products or services.
An effective segmentation will empower your business in several key ways:
- When you know which segments you want to focus on, the clarity ensures that initiatives outside this remit can be removed or postponed.
- By determining whether addressing certain needs, or pursuing certain targets, will move your business forward, you can be more efficient with your resources.
- Focusing on critical segments enables you to get closer to your customers by getting to know them across all parts of the journey to your brand, and even the depth of their relationship with a competitor.
The understanding obtained through segmentation ensures focus on what matters most and what will make a real difference. Most significantly, segmentation is a proven return on investment!
This is where segmentation becomes incredibly valuable. It can help focus your efforts by breaking down what is important to your business in respect to driving growth.”
For businesses with databases of customer information, there is the option of enhancing your growth opportunities via targetable segmentation. When your business has multiple data sources (i.e. real-world metrics, sales data, etc.), combining the elements with segments brings them to life in business KPIs that senior stakeholders can relate to. Framing future decisions against the impact on KPIs further clarifies where the focus should be.
Through segmentation, you are able to build an unparalleled level of prediction. Just as a question is always easy when you know the answer, your decision is always easy when you can predict the success of its implementation. When we integrate offline and online data, we can understand at a very granular level the patterns that lead to deeper and more impactful contact. This will help you anticipate the future behaviour of your segments, allowing you to offer the right product at the right time through the right channels.
So, use segmentation to make more out of the information you have and to understand what will make a difference to your customer relationships. Help your business focus on customer-led strategies that will drive what matters most — stronger retention and acquisition, more effective competitive efforts, and business growth.
Ready to learn more?
