Hooking the Right Audience Through Segmentation

We recently launched the Advanced Package for the Communications Cloud to improve the citizen customer experience through A/B testing, pre-built campaigns, and segmentation. This week, we will dive into the specifics of segmentation…

Mass marketing, a form of marketing that targets all consumers with the aim of maximizing reach and engagement, is not always the most effective means of communication. It can be harder to measure, expensive, and does not have the same impact unless you’re communicating a natural disaster or another announcement that will affect your entire audience.

One of the key drivers of customer respect is through permission marketing – communicating to people who want to hear from you. Permission marketing delivers anticipated, personal, and relevant messages to people who want them. And, one of the best tools for permission-based marketing is segmentation.

What is Segmentation?

Segmentation is reducing a large pool of customers into audience subsets based on specific demographic or psychographic similarities, then designing and implementing strategies to target them. Through segmentation, you can serve content based on demographics, behavior, or preferences, thus creating a more relevant message to each audience member. Increasing message relevancy personalizes the customer experience, which can lead to greater engagement. This in turn creates a better one-to-one customer relationship.

With segmentation, you can also more precisely target your message to your audience without spending significantly more precious staff time and resources.

In the public sector, your audience is often wide – comprised of internal stakeholders and public audiences who vary in makeup and preferences. Segmentation is the key to reaching the right audience members with the right message.

How Segmentation Works Within the GovDelivery Communications Cloud

As a public sector communicator, you need to decide what strategy is best for a given service or offering. Luckily, through technology you can automate this process, allowing you to hone your message based on:

• Interests
• Prior communications sent
• Engagement
• Tenure
• Location

Sometimes the best option arises from using multiple segmentation strategies in conjunction. The Advanced Package for the Communications Cloud lets you do all of this. Dynamic Segmentation within the Advanced Package for the Communications Cloud allows you to search based on one or more subscriber attributes: topic subscriptions, send/open/click data, and answers to questions so you can get to the core of customer data. You can also save these audience types so you are not constantly re-inventing the wheel.

Dynamic Segmentation with the Advanced Package for the Communications Cloud takes your digital strategy and customer services offerings to the next level. With opportunities to send segmented communications, you can deliver automated, personalized messages to specific audiences, eliciting higher return and engagement. Here are a couple ways to use segments:

Create Loyalty: Save segments of subscribers based on list tenure for campaigns that reward their loyalty to your organization.

Customize Content: Capture demographic data such as location, languages spoken, or level of education to match content to audience.

Capture Inactive Audience Members: Target segments of subscribers who haven’t heard from you in a specific time period for general messages or a survey.

All of these functions help to connect your organization directly with its audiences, creating a better relationship.

Segmentation Use Cases

Are you still questioning how segmentation could work within your organization? Here are a few use cases to provide a greater depth of detail:

1. A city sends reminders to register people in a trash pick-up program. Segment audiences who haven’t yet clicked & spur them to action.
2. The Department of Transportation is doing work on a particular highway, and affects residents in two cities. Segment communications to audiences within the specified geographic area.
3. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a new report on health issues the Hispanic community is collectively concerned about. Segment communications to audiences who speak Spanish or those who have clicked on other communications related to health issues among Hispanics.

Final Thoughts

Treating your audience with respect is the best way to earn attention and prompt action. While respect is important on a personal level, it’s even more important as an organization. If you want to target and reach customers with efficiency and success, do it through permission-based marketing tactics like Dynamic Segmentation.

Want more information about Dynamic Segmentation and the GovDelivery Advanced Package for the Communications Cloud? Connect with one of our customer success specialists now.