How to always hit the bullseye of your target market
THE IDEAL CUSTOMER: ME
My customer experience got me thinking about how nutraceutical salespeople seem to ignore me.
I’m in a market segment best labeled “grumpy old men” (GOM).
Not seriously.
I know I’m in this because my wife keeps telling me. Ancient. Irritable. curmudgeon
And I feel ignored by the supplement companies.
How is that?
For one thing, I have subscribed to numerous online alternative health newsletters. What I’ve received is invariably so pervasive that I feel like the companies sending them don’t even know I exist.
This is amazing, as I show two of the main criteria of an ideal client.
First, I have disposable income that I spend on add-ons.
Second, I am very, very concerned about how to reduce age-related health problems.
That’s just a start.
If you are doing a good research, you will know some additional useful tidbits for marketing for myself and my fellow GOMs.
Like everyone else, we have certain typical needs. We want to feel significant. We want you to get to know us and acknowledge our biggest health concerns.
Talking to me and my fellow GOMs will also tell you that we don’t consider ourselves “old”. We despise feeling outdated or alienated from mainstream youth culture.
We are increasingly concerned about longevity.
We are readers and information seekers. This feature alone makes us sensitive to advertising.
Okay, there are a few main features you can use to persuade me to know, like, trust you… and buy from you.
GOMs make up more than 10% of the US population. Adding our female age group into the equation more than doubles the size of the market.
I am more than a customer who feels ignored.
I am also a marketer who has figured out how to hit the market target for my segment. And the strategy I discovered works for all other market segments as well.
My experience marketing a paid subscription newsletter illustrates what I found.
The conversion rate hovers around 30%, with subscription renewals around 75%.
That’s a pretty good conversion and a very low abandon rate.
What I did was first survey my free subscription list to find just one demographic: seniors with the same health issues as me.
I then sent that group to a landing page designed specifically to address their needs.
That is all.
THE EASIEST WAY TO REACH THE GOAL
What I have described is widely known among marketers using email marketing.
This practice is known as list segmentation.
In other words, create a particular segment of a larger subscriber list and then address the particular needs of that segment.
Conceptually it is nothing new. It just taps into the old marketing adage about finding out what people want and then giving it to them.
What I did has three key components that apply to all markets.
1) Define and select a target segment from a larger list.
This is quite simple, since email hosting services have already set up the technical steps for list segmentation.
2) Create persuasive marketing copy that pushes all the hot buttons for that segment. This is crucial to getting people in your target segment to take the action you want them to take, i.e. buy your products.
In a nutshell, this step is all about communication. If Anthony Robbins’ definition is correct (and it is), communication is the results you get.
If people aren’t buying, you’re not communicating.
3) Rinse and repeat for each segment you want to hit.
There is no limit to the number of segments you can define in your list.
I have mentioned only a few. The number seems unlimited.
My best writing mentor, Joshua Boswell, once mentioned that he divided a client list into 72 segments. 72!
My experience is not unique. It’s a common story that applies to all marketing segments in all industries.
Wait, there’s more!
ADDITIONAL PROFIT FOR YOUR ROI
Discovering high-value customers through list segmentation also has a beneficial flip side. Allows you to weed out ‘lazy’ subscribers.
I don’t want to be cynical here. The truth is that he probably built his list based on a piece of bait, a free offer of some sort. That’s a good start. People love free stuff.
However, the vast majority of people who get free information will not buy from you. Most likely, they will even ignore your emails, without unsubscribing. They just stay on your list forever, without buying anything.
While that can be disconcerting and even annoying, it can also be expensive. Email hosting providers charge more as your list grows. Eliminating “perpetual non-buyers” allows you to narrow down your list to actual and likely buyers.
Therefore, the cost savings can be substantial. And spending time and money just on who’s left can skyrocket your ROI.
NEXT STEPS
So far, I’ve just outlined the concept of list segmentation and what you can expect from it. It is clearly a fundamental strategy behind successful email marketing.
Of course, all the high-tech bells and whistles of list segmentation still depend on persuasive copy. Ultimately, that’s what drives every marketing strategy, no matter the platform.
That’s where I come in.