| You can’t be all things to all people. | | | | each industry you sell to have its own unique |
| Never was this statement more true than when | | | | reason for needing your services or products? Do |
| creating an effective online marketing campaign. | | | | you sell to businesses that are different sizes, or |
| We all know the numbers. Millions of people use | | | | in various phases of development (start-up, |
| search engines every day, for just about every | | | | emerging, mature)? Or do you sell to individuals |
| kind of service, product or business imaginable. | | | | who are married, single, parents, or teenagers? |
| What we often forget, however, is that different | | | | Taking the time to segment your consumer |
| people search for the same things, just | | | | allows you to create messages that speak to the |
| differently. While it’s not possible to create a | | | | psyche of each potential buyer. |
| completely unique message for each and every | | | | 2. Understand your customers’ needs. Once |
| person out there, it does make good business | | | | you’ve taken the time to understand the |
| sense to segment your potential clients or | | | | various market segments that need your service |
| customers, and create campaigns that speak to | | | | or product, you can then take it one step further. |
| each segment. | | | | Think about what it is they are looking for when |
| Market segmentation, simply put, is the process | | | | they conduct a search. A parent looking for a |
| of dividing a market into distinct subsets that | | | | used car for their teenager may search for |
| behave in the same way or have similar needs. | | | | “cars with high safety ratings”, while a |
| Once you identify these similar groups of potential | | | | teenager looking for a used car may search for |
| customers, understand their behavior and why | | | | “inexpensive used cars”. If you’re an |
| how they need what you’re offering, you can | | | | auto dealer, you want to make sure to create an |
| then create a specific marketing message that | | | | ad for each of those searches, so the right ad |
| speaks directly to them. | | | | appears in front of the right person and speaks |
| Taking the time to first segment your potential | | | | directly to their query. |
| market greatly improves the efficiency and | | | | Once you’ve done these two things, you will |
| effectiveness of your online advertising. So, | | | | have successfully segmented your market and |
| where do you begin? | | | | created ads that speak to each. And, you’ll |
| 1. Think about your business. Who are your | | | | be amazed at how greatly that can improve your |
| customers? Do you sell to other industries as well | | | | return on investment. |
| as individuals (wholesale, retail, enterprise)? Does | | | | |