Your customers are unique and, understandably, they want to be treated as individuals. This does however pose a problem to companies. Giving individual treatment to every customer would be extremely demanding on company resources.
The answer to this problem is segmentation. This is the process of identifying different groups of customers with key similarities. These groups can then be addressed in the same way to meet their unique needs. Segmentation is central to all successful marketing.
What does an effective segment look like?
Once a segmentation strategy has been developed, it’s important to sense-check each segment to get a better idea of its potential effectiveness. For this we have a 5 point checklist that every effective segment should meet. If it doesn’t meet all 5, it might mean that the segmentation needs to be revisited.
Assess your segments against the 5 points below:
Distinctive – If you can’t say what makes the segment different, it shouldn’t exist.
Recognisable – If you can’t easily assign a customer or prospect into a segment, it shouldn’t exist.
Durable – If the segment cannot apply at least in the short-to-medium term, it shouldn’t exist.
Sizable – If the segment is so small that it requires too much effort to serve a minor part of the market, it shouldn’t exist.
Actionable – If you can’t either attract and serve the segment or ignore it entirely, it shouldn’t exist.