Wednesday, 25 July 2012

Tune Your Database to Create Niche Markets (Part1)

Segmentation is not a new marketing trend; it is a customer-oriented philosophy and is consistent with modern marketing concept. It is an accepted fact that markets are not homogeneous. Consumers differ in their needs and also the manner in which it has to be satisfied. Using the data attained, the consumer market is divided into segments. Data segmentation allows you to communicate with a relevant and targeted message to each segment identified. By segmenting your data, you will be able to identify different levels of your customer database and allow messaging to be tailored and sophisticated to suit your target market.

Are you fretful about…

·         Increasing firm-wide productivity?
·         Increasing revenues from prevailing customers?
·         Getting bang for your marketing buck?
·         Getting better customer satisfaction scores?
·         Developing a consistent understanding of your customer?
·         Understanding customer lifetime worth?
·         Figuring out your most valuable customers?
·         Setting a framework for consistent growth?
·         Focusing on each and every employee’s activity to create customer value?

It is high time you explore your database and make the most of it right now. Let us see how you can do it…


Database – Most valuable marketing asset

To understand the prominence of your database for your marketing, let’s take this example. A husband visits a jewelry store to purchase jewelry for his wife on their wedding anniversary. During this visit, he indicates some of his wife’s general preferences – for example, she prefers white gold, she likes jewelry that integrates opal, and her birthstone. As a sales representative you can also ask him the date of his anniversary. Finally, as a part of the checkout process, you collect his contact information. Once this visit is complete, your database record for this customer includes what he purchased, price of the product, his anniversary date, comments regarding his wife’s general preferences, his contact details, and a date in which you would like to follow-up with the customer.

Why this information?

You can send him an email thanking him for buying from you, and include a discount coupon for future purpose.

·         Request for a feedback
·         You can follow up after a few weeks for occasions like Valentine’s Day
·         Send a personalized email with items his wife would be interested
·         Recommend him special offers based on his previous budgets
·         Keep following and know more about the customer

#1 Tidbit:
Every single customer knocking at your door represents a lifetime of purchases. If you are not making a strenuous effort to stay in touch with the customers once they buy from you and leave the store, you are definitely missing a golden opportunity to market to someone who is already familiar with your offerings.


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