3. Take a needs-based approach to segmentation and messaging
With all the data available on customers, marketers often segment customers based on shared characteristics instead of considering customer needs. This approach can lead to a mismatch between what the customer wants and the offers you provide. Instead, consider the following:
- Segment by customer needs: This makes it easier to keep offers relevant and match them to the right customer at the right time.
– B2C companies often segment based on a customer’s seasonal needs, previous purchase behavior and history, app engagement history, and discounts on products fit to their needs.
– B2B companies frequently segment by needs based on the customer’s industry-specific requirements, geography, and historic product usage.
- Create tiers of customers: Some customers may require more bespoke handling based on the size of their contract: the bigger the contract – or the higher the average selling price (ASP) – the greater the need for “white glove” treatment. Companies often create “tiers” of customers and adjust the messaging according to the need.
– High-ASP organizations (especially in B2B and healthcare) tend to deploy one-to-one campaigns toward tiers of priority or high-value accounts.
– Lower-ASP and SaaS businesses tend to deploy one-to-many or one-to-all campaigns toward tiers containing several customers.