Segmentation ain't what it used to be, but then again what is? Years ago, you could send out a mass message and let interested customers step forward all on their own. Then, customers started getting more discerning and couldn't be counted on to step up front and center, also known as the death of mass marketing. To counter, marketing geniuses went into military mode -- using a divide and conquer strategy, but calling it demographic segmentation. They divided customers into all sorts of buckets including women, men, teens, mothers, fathers, lovers -- you name it. We consumers were beat for awhile, but then we started homogenizing and women became motor cycle riders as much as men became cooks. You just couldn't trust stereotypes any more. What was a good marketer to do?
Instead of leading the horse (ahem to consumer) to water, marketing folk learned how to gather the flock and find people who wanted to follow a particular brand, message, or affiliation. If this sounds obscure, think blogs, networks and user groups -- places where people naturally gather to learn about something they self-decide they want or need.
Enter the recession, and along with the digital age marketing folk -- in desperate need for low cost way, effective ways of reaching interested parties -- know that segmentation is no longer just a science, but a full blown necessity. Here's a quote I recently came across from the Jan. 1 2009 issue of CFO magazine:
"In a time of limited resources, management has a desperate need to figure out is priorities. Now is the time to segment your customers." Larry Selden, Professor emeritus, Columbia University and co-author of the book Angel Customers, Demon Customers.
Segmentation by any other name is really prioritization -- who to choose to talk to, when, and about what. And, in a time when resources are tight, it's more important than ever to use your resources wisely and not waste time, money or effort on non-viable prospects.
In printing, we are familiar with the concept of waste. In marketing, reaching beyond your market base is also called waste. If ther were ever a time to get tough on waste of all sorts, it's now. In marketing, you attack waste with sharp shooter targeting. It is, after all, a war out there.
~ Rhona Bronson
