How to Identify & Develop New Market Segments

"One-size-fits-all" marketing rarely drives sales. Customer segmentation helps you personalize your marketing for various customers. Two customers with different genders, ages, and backgrounds could find separate promos on your site, increasing conversions by catering to their needs.

To develop a new customer segment, you'll focus on your clients' various attributes. On a basic level, you'll consider their age, race, gender, and location. Going deeper helps you target your customers' subconscious desires and snag clients that would've otherwise left without purchasing.

How to Identify and Develop New Market Segments

Consider these attributes when you start to develop a new customer segment.

Pain Points

Targeting pain points shows customers that your product isn't an optional "want"--it's a need. Each segment has different pain points. For example, if you sell cookware, your segments might have the following problems:

1. Millennials don't have much time to cook or wash dishes.
2. Parents need to cook for several people at once.
3. Homemakers complain that existing cookware brands break too easily.
   

Browse online reviews to find common complaints, then collect as much demographic information as possible. Once you've segmented your audience, you'll adjust your marketing for each group. A cookware manufacturer's plan could look like this:

1. Attract millennials by highlighting a small, washable capsule collection on the front page.
2. Send busy parents an email with exclusive back-to-school discounts.
3. Showcase third-party reviews to show homemakers that your products are tough and sturdy.
   

This approach subconsciously flatters your customers because you're tailoring your content exclusively for them. They'll feel like you read their minds, knowing exactly what they need.

Business Relationship

New and returning customers have different needs. First-time customer needs your help familiarizing themselves with your business, plus an extra "push" to secure their first purchase. Exclusive discounts, such as new client coupons and newsletter sign-up offers, invite them to buy before their deals expire. You'll also show that you appreciate their website visit.

Some businesses neglect their returning customers--they're already buying, so why target that segment? However, even satisfied customers can jump to a competitor for first-time client deals. Send the occasional "customer appreciation" email with a discount for returning clients, or invite them to an exclusive sale.

Abandoned Carts

Abandoned carts might frustrate you at first, but they provide another conversion opportunity. The customer already chose what they want, totaled the price, and added discounts--all they have to do is finalize the sale. You'll need to act quickly before the cart expires and they lose interest in shopping.

If they left the cart recently, you can send a simple reminder. People with several products in their carts appreciate bulk discounts. When people abandon their carts for several days, follow up with an email about their cart's upcoming expiration and an exclusive coupon, incentivizing them to hit the "Complete Purchase" button.

Source

If you ever clicked on an advertisement and found a page that wasn't the company's website, you probably ended up on a landing page. Web designers customize each landing page for the origination point. For example, if you clicked a Google ad titled "Sign up for our free webinar," you'd find a sign-up form instead of the site's regular page.

With landing pages, you customize the first impression for each segment. If you have multiple locations, visitors from different locations get separate landing pages. People who click on ads find pages relevant to the link. Landing pages that advertise a sale might expire when the promotion ends.

Browsing Habits

Visitors don't need to buy anything to provide valuable data. Your bounce rate alone reveals whether you should revamp your website. Likewise, the pages where your visitors linger give you information about your most compelling products. Not every view is significant--sometimes, people just forget they left the tab open--but recurring patterns help you develop a new customer segment.

Configure your chatbot to message customers when they linger on these pages. Many viewers have questions that they weren't going to ask until the bot initiated the conversation. As clients stay on your pages for longer amounts of time, they increase their investment and decide to make a purchase.

Activity

A customer that moved on isn't necessarily a loss. In fact, this segment offers another opportunity to create returning customers. Send inactive clients an email stating that you'd love to reconnect, including a promo code and emphasizing how your products or services benefit them.

Conversely, reward active customers with special discounts and sales. Common techniques include adding coupons to their account, allowing them to stack discounts, and offering free shipping. They'll build a personal relationship with your store as they shop, feeling that you understand their needs.

For more profits, learn how to optimize site for conversions.

Income

Each income segment requires a unique set of advertisements. A client with a six-figure salary prefers high-end merchandise, while a customer in low-income bracket hunts for bargains. Wealthy clients also look for deals, but your marketing should focus on quality materials and services, essential add-ons, and five-star reviews for extensive purchases.

Likewise, you'll attract lower- and middle-class customers by emphasizing your affordability. Your sales and discounts make high-quality purchases available to everyone. To show your appreciation, you email them exclusive coupon codes, offer money-saving tips in your newsletters, and invite them to private Facebook groups where they discuss bargain shopping with others.

Abandoned Subscriptions

This segment signed up for your email newsletter, and you never heard from them again. Fortunately, you still have their email address--but you'll need to act quickly before they unsubscribe.

Instead of the usual newsletter that they might not open, send a custom email that acknowledges the situation. Frame the lack of communication in a humorous light, then highlight new products or services and offer a coupon to show appreciation for the fact that they didn't unsubscribe yet.

Birthday

Surprise your customers with a birthday discount. For more personalization, break each month into a segment, then use different assets for each one. Birthdays in March, April or May could feature spring designs, while November and December birthdays come with holiday illustrations.

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