One of the biggest challenges of direct mail is getting it into the right hands. The most beautifully designed and branded piece is worth nothing if it ends up in the trash. An effective direct mail campaign needs to reach individuals who will respond.
To ensure your campaign makes a splash, start with segmentation.
What Is Audience Segmentation?
“Segmenting” customers simply means dividing them into sub-groups based on shared characteristics like age, zip code, marital status, values and/or buying behavior. Specifically targeting members of these sub-groups makes it more likely they’ll respond to your campaign.
Let’s say you own a high-end appliance store, and you want to advertise a summer sale. Apartment dwellers and college students won’t be interested. But wealthy homeowners in neighboring zip codes will! Segmentation enables you target these individuals for a more effective campaign.
Benefits of Audience Segmentation in Direct Mail Campaigns
While segmentation does require an upfront investment in data collection and analysis, the benefits are numerous, including:
Enhanced Relevance
Segmentation allows you to personalize messaging that appeals to a recipient’s behavior, values and life stage. It also helps your piece stand out, increasing the likelihood of a positive, timely response.
Increased Engagement
With so much competing for our attention these days, recipients have little patience for direct mail that does not speak to their situation or values. Segmentation helps you target those who can clearly benefit from your product, cause or services and improves their chances of engaging with you directly, whether by phone, e-mail, text, social media or in person.
Better Customer Experience & Relationships
One of the quickest ways to erode your brand is through generic mass mailings with irrelevant content. Show you understand your customers by appealing to their interests, concerns and motivations. This level of personalization provides the cornerstone for a long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationship. For example, if you own a lawn care company and plan a fall cleanup special, sending a mailer to existing customers thanking them for their business and offering to take a major chore off their hands shows you appreciate them and understand their needs.
Improved ROI
Segmentation drastically cuts down on the amount of campaign “waste,” leading to a higher ROI. Sending direct mail to individuals who are more likely to respond reduces the need for multiple mailings and saves you money on printing and postage costs, which add up quickly.
Audience Segmentation Strategies for Personalized Direct Mail
Here are the most common ways to segment your target audience:
Demographic Segmentation
Demographics is the most straightforward and commonly used segmentation method. Categories include:
- Age
- Income
- Religion
- Ethnicity
- Education
- Marital status and family size
Viewing your product, service or cause in relationship to the above categories should make it easy to determine your target audience. If you operate a childcare center, for example, you can exclude seniors and childless individuals from your mailing list.
Geographic Segmentation
This category groups people by physical location, from broad (state or region) to specific (street, neighborhood and zip code). Own a brick and mortar? Use geographic segmentation to target customers within a specific radius of your storefront. Mailing a swim and beachwear catalog? Geographic segmentation will help you reach residents of warm weather climates.
Behavioral Segmentation
Another useful way to segment customers is by how they behave, make decisions and interact with your brand. Which customers use your product or service most often and when? How loyal are they to your brand? Which life events and occasions spur them to act?
Some companies take this data and perform an RFM analysis, which groups customers based on how much and how frequently they buy. Companies can then identify top customers and effectively target them.
Psychographic Segmentation
This method digs deep into the inner lives of consumers to reveal their primary purchase motivations. More specifically, psychographic segmentation examines:
- Lifestyle
- Interests
- Activities
- Attitudes and values
This segmentation is most helpful when combined with a broader category, such as age or gender. For example, if you own a sporting goods store, sending mass mailings to everyone in neighboring zip codes is too broad. Narrowing your list to men and women who are also sports and outdoor enthusiasts will give a higher ROI.
It’s important not to view the above categories in a vacuum. Layer them to create highly targeted subgroups to maximize your marketing dollars and build brand loyalty. Start with demographic segmentation and add on from there, narrowing and refining your list as much as possible.
Leverage Audience Segmentation & Create Powerful Personalized Direct Mail Campaigns with United GMG
Struggling with segmentation? United GMG offers everything you need to design and implement a personalized, well-segmented direct mail campaign that generates results. We offer targeted mailing lists and creative direct mail solutions for any size budget, including many custom options.
Together, we can ensure your direct mail is the first opened, using high-quality printing methods, strategic design and cost-saving mailing services.
