Stop Guessing! Identify Your High Value Customers

Tried and tired of customer segmentation?

Try reverse segmentation!

Marketers find it difficult to find a common ground in customer segmentation. They either have cool sounding segments based attitudinal and behavioral characteristics or demographic based segments that do have distinct attitude or behavior. Targeted messaging to both of these segments individually is not easy. This is where Reverse Segmentation pitches in.

In the Reverse Segmentation approach, you need to:

• First identify market segments based on behavior and attitudes.

• And then find ways to target them through demographic, firmographic, media or channel usage information.

By combining psychographics and buyer-graphics, you can combine basic customer data or facts with new research on customer characteristics, therefore producing valuable information that could be used in better messaging and segmentation. 

What you gain out of reverse segmentation is a deeper understanding of customer segments (segment loyalty and profitability) and a better understanding of how you can relate and communicate with them.

Segmentation, whether reversed or not, invariably works when key stakeholders are involved, objectives are clearly stated, variables are measurable and segments are identifiable, relevant, sizeable, stable and reachable. How you segment will determine how you connect with customers.

A biggest example of a brand with a niche target market is Apple. Steve Jobs beautifully stated, “it’s not the consumers’ job to know what they want.” Businesses have to provide customers with more than what they need or expect. So do you have a product or service that is comparable to the new iPhone 5?

You need to stop guessing and know the ‘who, what, where, when, why and how’ of your high value customers!