Posts tagged segmentation

Know Your Target Audience, Part 2

June 4, 2012 · Filed under advertising, Business, Digital, Marketing · Tagged , , , ,

It’s been nearly four years since my last post about the email targeting sins I see in my inbox on a daily basis. Yet, I’m still seeing major marketers squander major opportunities. Are you not reading my blog?!?! (sadly, I know the answer to this question).

This time the offender is my beloved Victoria’s Secret. It pains me to do this as I tend to support everything Victoria’s Secret does (decent pun, I’m keeping it). But, this is another great example of messaging that is targeted toward a woman (which I am not) when email allows for segmentation that could avoid a messaging miss. Subject line: “Your Bikini Awaits…” Simply segmenting me as a male would allow for a message that would be targeted to me and increase the likelihood that I would make a purchase. Of course, I’m not purchasing a bikini for myself, but I have to imagine there is a very strong segment of men that purchase Victoria’s Secret products for the lady in their lives.

victorias secret email target audience

Missed opportunity, Victoria’s Secret. But, every moment is another opportunity to turn it all around. Fewer blasts, more individualization. I’m looking forward to be addressed as a man in the future : )

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Know Your Target Audience

November 12, 2008 · Filed under Business, Marketing, New Media, Rants · Tagged , , , , , , ,

Hey dude, want some cute boots?

Hey dude, want some cute boots?

 

I received an e-mail offer from Famous Footwear this morning. Awful. Yes, I did sign up to be on their mailing list so I could get my 20% off at the counter one afternoon – that’s not the issue. Visually, it was on brand – that’s not the issue. It was the subject line and the content of the e-mail: it was about women’s shoes! Now, I’ll concede that probably most of Famous Footwear’s mailing list and clientele are female. But, this is e-mail marketing! You can easily segment your messages based on any number of things, including gender. There should have been a male-centric e-mail and a female-centric version of this e-mail. Tsk tsk!

Data collection and segmentation is becoming easier and easier (not to mention more and more necessary), and needs to be used appropriately. Hitting a customer by gender is just one example of e-mail marketing segmenting. You should be able to tell what kind of shoes I’ve purchased in the past, and customize a message based on that. Don’t you think I would be more inclined to make a purchase if there was an offer about something you know I like? 

As marketers, we have such a buffet of information at our fingertips about our clientele. New media allows us to collect even more data and learn how to better serve our end user – no matter whom that is. So, sit up and think about how you use the data you have. Are you still just sending out the same blind e-mails? Are you offering women’s boots to men? (For the record, my purchasing history includes NO female shoes or boots). You’ve been collecting the data – now analyze it and use it and give your company a great chance to make a transaction. 

As a final aside – I loathe that I opened up that e-mail, because it will be recorded as a successful e-mail, but I had to get that screen capture. See my post from Sunday – you get what you consume. Don’t want strategically crappy e-mails? Stop opening them! Ugh – my bad.

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