You wrote a great blog and enthusiastically posted it on your page? You paid for the ad because you think you have great text in your hands but you remain disappointed: unexpectedly few people have read it and there are almost no comments. What happened??
You have not addressed the right audience, in the right way and at the right time, and thus your great text loses all meaning. Creating a marketing campaign, planning and targeting your audience are processes you need to be aware of if you are into writing or publishing. Various marketing campaigns are known, but each necessarily contains audience segmentation.
What is audience segmentation?
You have one whole in your hands and you if you want to divide it into several parts, literally represent segmentation. Thus, audience segmentation would mean the process of separating your potential customers/readers into specific groups based on common characteristics. People can be grouped into segments based on broad characteristics. Broad characteristics include location or gender. Also, we can group based on some specific, narrower characteristics. Those narrower characteristics would be certain habits or specificities of your audience (ask yourself: what is it that your audience likes to do?).
Although it may sound simple at first, audience segmentation is a very detailed process that requires full attention. However, once you determine the segments of your audience, next time it will be much easier.
How does segmentation work?
The more details and features we can assume and relate to our audience, the more efficient the segmentation will be. Very wide segmentations should be avoided, for example by location, because it won’t have a great result. The goal is to show your final product to the audience that would support your work and based on that you would have the opportunity to make a profit, so take your time and think about the details which would be important about your audience.
Another segmentation option that is very interesting is the assumption of an ideal buyer/audience. When you think and research your audience, you can imagine ideal observers of your work and all their personalities such as: what their job would be, what hobby they would have, what are their favorite spots, etc. In this way, you know exactly who you are addressing, where and when and in what way you will address them. According to Audiense, based on this segmentation, you can create a paid ad that you’re sure will get a good response.
Where do you start?
There are several ways in which audience segmentation can be performed. And we will list these ways:
- Demographic Targeting – this may be the great starting point. Think about gender, age, income and location. How are males different from females, or whether you are aiming for the younger or older group all determine your success. With some basic demographic data, you can achieve a lot.
- Purchase Targeting – People are always after new customers, which is good, but often forget those that have already purchased their services.
- Platform-based targeting – Keep in mind where your audience comes from. Which platforms should you focus on? This may be crucial for your success.
- Interest and Intent – What is it about your product or service that keeps the audience engaged. Also, why are they using it, or why do they want to buy it? Identifying these characteristics can help you immensly.
As much as segmentation may seem unnecessary to you, it is the complete opposite. The best book will go unnoticed if you don’t have information on when and to whom you should show it. The audience is huge and diverse. Not everyone needs your product and it doesn’t suit everyone, so marketers have dedicated themselves to this work in order to shorten and ease the way to “stab” your part.
