Marketing Segmentation 101

There's more than one way to segment your audience for direct mail campaigns. That's the great thing about marketing segmentation. You can split your audience into smaller groups for more focused marketing efforts, using aspects such as shared behaviors and characteristics. Doing so makes it easier to target your desired customers.

But that's just the start of it. After dividing your target audience into chunks, you can combine DM with digital marketing methods such as email, SMS, and social media. As a result, you can increase your reach and target more people via their preferred communication methods. A deeper understanding of segmentation strategies helps you gain more value from your direct mail campaigns.

5 segmentation methods to use in your direct mail campaign

Segmentation means separating your target audience into smaller groups based on certain criteria. But how should you divide audiences?

1. Demographic segmentation

One segmentation method is to break down your audience based on demographic variables. That means things like age, gender, ethnicity, and marital status. Demographic segmentation helps you target customers based on the specific characteristics of a population.

2. Geographic segmentation

This segmentation technique involves dividing customers into groups based on their location. Segmenting your audience in this way lets you target people in a particular city, state, country, or region, improving the effectiveness of localized direct mail campaigns.

3. Psychographic segmentation

A more advanced form of segmentation is slicing up your target market based on psychological characteristics. For example, customers' interests, lifestyle choices, beliefs, and motivations. That can help you predict the actions someone will take when they receive your direct mail.

4. Behavioral segmentation

You can also segment your consumer base according to specific behaviors. For instance, grouping customers based on how likely they are to purchase something after reading your direct mail.

5. Lifecycle stage segmentation

Finally, you can divide your audience depending on where they are in the customer lifecycle. That helps you identify customers who are close to making a purchase or about to take another action.

You can use a combination of the methods above the next time you plan a direct mail advertising campaign. Doing so lets you deliver more targeted and tailored messaging to the right people.

Best practices for segmentation

Sending everyone on your mailing list the same piece of direct mail is far less effective than segmenting those customers into specific groups. However, for segmentation to be a success, you need to plan ahead:

• Make sure to update the data you use to segment your audience. Customer contact details, demographics, and characteristics can change over time. Consider an address verification platform to ensure you're sending mail to the right people.
• Prioritize high-value segments first. If you think a particular group is more likely to take action after receiving your DM, focus on nurturing them before moving on to other segments.
• Don't assume that everyone in a customer segment thinks and acts the same. People have different needs, wants, and aspirations, and your DM should appeal to as many people in that group as possible.
• Monitor your segmentation efforts regularly. Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) such as response and conversion rates will reveal whether your marketing resonates with a specific group of people.

Add direct mail to your omnichannel marketing mix

Another tip is to integrate digital marketing into your segmentation strategy. Once you've split customers into smaller groups, you can combine direct mail with techniques such as email, SMS, and social media for a more omnichannel marketing approach. Leveraging multiple channels helps reach more people via the communication methods they prefer.

Direct mail and email

Feel like you're bombarding your audience with emails? Offset these marketing messages with direct mail services. Customers might respond to one of these methods more than the other, so combining email and DM can cover all bases.

Direct mail and SMS

Integrating direct mail with SMS marketing is effective for two main reasons. You can "tease" an upcoming piece of DM in a text message and create a buzz around your campaign. Or you can follow up with customers who didn't respond to your piece of direct mail.

Direct mail and social media

Include your social media handles in your direct mail. That way, customers can check out your profiles and learn more about your products or services if they're not ready to convert. Those who take action after receiving your DM can also follow you for promotions and company news.

Direct mail and retargeting

Customers might end up on a landing page after reading your direct mail. If they don't convert, don't worry. Retargeting ads can bring them back to your site.

Of course, you need a reliable marketing automation tool for omnichannel marketing success. The right platform gathers data about different segments for more personalized outreach.

Why marketing segmentation works for direct mail

Whichever segmentation method you use, dividing your audience into smaller groups can work wonders for your direct mail marketing campaigns. Segmentation empowers you to create more nuanced messaging and target people who are interested in your offerings.

Want to boost conversions and ROI from your DM campaigns? Contact us to learn how to integrate our automated direct mail platform into your marketing automation tech stack.