Personalization is key to maximizing return on ad spend (ROAS) and increasing conversion rates. Preaching the impact of personalization is a straightforward task, but implementing the strategies that create that impact are much more challenging to deploy. Audience segments are what power your ad campaigns to maximize their resources. From storytelling, to visuals, the elements that comprise your creatives mean nothing without targeting the right audience.
Unfortunately, not every marketing team or business owner is equipped with the tools necessary to derive the micro-level data to build flawless audience segments. That’s why it’s important to know what data to start with so you can begin your testing efforts as you build further insights.
So today we’re diving into each of the six must-have data points you need to build the foundation for proper audience segmentation.
Demographic personalization determines your ability to segment audiences based on characteristics in their background and status. These kinds of characteristics make for excellent identifiers in your messaging. This is why demographic segmentation makes for a great starting place in any personalization effort.
Factors such as age, education, and income can guide the tone and language of your messaging. Demographic targeting is a great way to grab viewer attention and begin resonating with buyer intent. If your audience can’t tell your offering was made for them, you risk losing relevant interest.
Audience targeting for this data point may include audience factors such as:
– Age
– Gender
– Marital status
– Family size
– Income
– Education
– Race
In a demographics based segment, you have to show your audience that your offer was made directly for customers like them.
Craft headlines and offers that target your audience segmentation directly and in ways that draw in their attention. For example, Men may have different needs around apparel than women, so write clear messaging to that demographic’s specific needs or simply call out the demographic in a headline
– Example: “Affordable Men’s Clothing”
– Example: “Durable big and tall jeans for men.”
Geographic personalization identifies your audience based on their physical location and regional needs. This can include such things as environmental pain points, seasonal concerns, or cultural values.
Geographics help you align your messaging to the regional lifestyles and concerns of your audience. Your audience’s physical surroundings can tell you a lot about their daily needs and what affects their buying habits. Customer values may even be affected by their proximity to rural areas vs. metropolitan.
Audience targeting for this data point may include audience factors such as:
– Region
– Weather
– Environment
– Town
– State
– Country
Start by understanding your audience’s pain points and lifestyle habits. City dwellers live fast-paced lifestyles and are constantly stuck in traffic; show them how convenient and easily your offer fits into their bustling life
Next, ensure you’re speaking the language they recognize. Rural cultures may resonate with certain phrases, idioms, or tones differently than more urban regions. Southern regions may value more family-driven or faith based language while urban residents may enjoy the more independent and free-living speaking.
Finally, don’t neglect to target topical concerns at the right time. The end of winter may mean it’s time to revitalize garden plans, or, for others it may mean fortifying their homes before tornado season. Local election seasons may be more essential to the lifestyle of a town than in other counties. Proving you understand what’s happening in your audience’s environment and how important it is to your audience will earn you plenty of trust with them.
Psychographics are where personalization comes to life. Psychographic personalization refers to the intrinsic traits that define your audience’s value systems, attitudes, and motivators.
This data allows marketers to speak directly to what matters most to their audience. If you can speak to the tones and values that resonate with your audience on a psychological level, you’ll lay a solid ground for building trust with your brand and interest in your offerings.
Audience targeting for this data point may include audience factors such as:
– Religious beliefs
– Interests
– Lifestyle
– Opinions
– Temperaments
Start by focusing your messaging. For example: Avoid biases or hunches—you’ll disconnect from customers if you use generalizations
Try to stick to emotional values. Consider what’s at stake for the customer? How might they feel if they find a solution to their problem? How might they feel if they don’t?
And always ensure you choose a precise voice, tone, and narrative flow. Your tone consists of everything from copy, to images, to UX. Speak positively about your offering but understand that too much fluff can dissuade more calculated buyers who need direct value
Firmographic personalization is used by B2B marketers to address business needs instead of individual needs. Just like demographics, firmographics allow you to clarify who the direct audience is for your offering so you can focus your ad spend on consumers willing to convert.
Every B2B marketing strategy needs firmographics to pinpoint decision-makers and speak to their needs. It provides a direct approach to focusing on your ideal consumer, leaving no room for interpretation.
Audience targeting for this data point may include audience factors such as:
– Professional title
– Company
– Industry
– HQ location
Position your offering around what matters to your audience.
– For example: “Streamline Your Business Goals with a Program that Enables Your Project Managers to Work Smarter, Not Harder”
Next, try to understand the different daily, quarterly, and annual goals of your audience.
– Is your audience preparing for hiring season or holiday shopping for staff or client gifts?
– Are they reworking efficiency goals and budget for the coming year?
And lastly, consider the aspirations of your targeted title or organization.
– Example: Marketers are trying to achieve return on ad spend
– Example: Project managers desire efficiency boosts and transparency
– Example: Startups need creative solutions to compensate for a lack of resources
Behavioral personalization tracks how your audience formulates their purchase decision. This personalization data point is vital to understanding and influencing the factors that catalyze conversion actions.
Effective behavioral segmentation can help you find customers when they’re ready to make a decision, creating a smooth flow from top of funnel to conversion.
Audience targeting for this data point may include audience factors such as:
– Online behavior
– Purchase history
– Product usage
With behavioral segmentation you have to do a combination of things. The most important of those things are working with the buyer’s instinct and catering to the customer’s preferred experience:
– If slow decision-makers feel rushed you’ll create an opportunity to disconnect
– Conversely, if impulsive buyers don’t have an obvious next step they’ll get impatient and look elsewhere
Another key element of behavioral data is the CTA. Keep a clear CTA action available throughout your content for buyers ready to take an action, but create a flow of information for those still building up their intent.
And finally, remember that the experience of how customers convert is as meaningful as the product itself. Use your conversion journey to do the legwork for the shopper. If a shopper likes to review alternative choices before converting, then offer product comparisons on your landing page.
Intent is the final piece to your audience segments and should be a key aspect of every strategy you deploy. Intent personalization identifies the purpose behind a user’s activity online.
Google relies on search intent to determine which search results are most relevant, so ignoring this data can be a costly mistake. If your campaigns don’t adapt to the unique intent of each audience, you’ll disrupt the flow of your marketing funnel. Guide each audience member on their journey from search to purchase opportunity, no matter how familiar they are with your product.
Audience targeting for this data point may include audience factors such as:
– Research
– Branded
– Transactional
Provide a landing page experience that specifically matches your customer’s identified intent. To do this, consider the various kinds of conversion actions.
– A customer still formulating their purchase decision won’t be ready to sign up for a service, but perhaps they’d be interested in an educational webinar or demo
Ensure you prepare the proper journey for varying intents as well. Conversion journeys can encompass anything from ad to landing page or social media presence to product page. Branded intent searchers may be interested in your social media presence before making a purchase.
Prepare each route so that no matter where the intent starts, customers have a clear path to conversion.
Each of these six data sets plays a pivotal role in fine-tuning your audience segmentation for conversion success. Here’s how each should factor into your segments and conversion journeys:
Demographics
– Identify the customer
Geographics
– Understand their surroundings
Firmographics
– Engage their professional aspirations
Psychographics
– Speak to their personal matters and concerns
Behavioral
– Cater to their decision-making process
Intent
– Locate where they are in your funnel
Just start by building your data. If you still find it too difficult to get the deeper insights you need to maximize your personalization efforts, consider a partner.
KNB online hosts a team of experienced CRO experts, proven storytellers, and data brainiacs. We’ll help you identify the key niches of your audience that will help you stand out and resonate much faster. If nothing else, our expertise is a great way for quickly building a foundation of social strategies that you can build on.
If you want to meet to learn about our strategies or discuss a personalized partnership with my team then we’re available to meet. It’s up to you, simply click here and book some time so we can evaluate the best path forward for you.