Posts Tagged ‘Marketing Analysis’

Market segmentation as you know it has become more complicated today than ever before. Capturing data in CRM systems, doing primary research, etc. all help, but the ways of segmenting we’ve learned don’t allow you to see your customers in their natural space. Sure, sales, marketing and customer service teams capture a lot of information, but is it insightful? Is it useful in understanding the segment? Or is it just what ‘they heard’ and made a note of?

There is a lot of hype around social media tools like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc., but the fact remains that social media (as a concept) is the first time that organizations have ever been able to see, listen to and get to know their customers in public spaces (again, in a ‘natural’ setting). Social interactions tend to be natural and not forced or coerced, which often leads to deeper insights.

Let’s look at all of the “-graphics” to get a better understanding of segmentation and how segmentation has changed.

Demographics & Firmographics

Ah, demographics and firmographics…the marketers tried and true methods of slicing and dicing their markets. We know them well, don’t we? They were drilled into our heads as marketing majors and have stuck with us through the years as the best practice for market segmentation.

But the days of mass marketing have come to an end and it doesn’t make sense to segment markets only to treat them as if they all live, think and buy the same way.

Keep Reading…

Even More Goodness! Related Posts:

• How Audience Research Can Help You with Your Traditional Marketing Efforts
• Your “Industry Experience Only” Requirement Is Hurting Customers, Employees and Shareholders
• Saturday Morning Reads (Late Edition): Is Social CRM Bringing Companies & Customers Together Yet?
• The Marketing & PR Conundrum: Lying to Customers

I would suspect all marketers have it (PR folks, creative types, writers, designers…count yourselves amongst the cursed). What is it? It’s the inability to shut off analyzing advertising (print or TV), packaging, branding, news releases, campaigns, bill boards, radio spots, PSAs, articles, etc.You know what I mean, right?

No matter what we’re doing—driving, reading, watching TV, on the computer, shopping, at a game, out to dinner—it happens. We see a TV commercial or print ad (or other marketing) and we immediately start analyzing who the target audience is—in demographics—in a spilt second:

• Sex
• Age
• Race
• Income
• Education
• Location

Then, after the demographics, we analyze the creative and copy. And then we immediately make a snap judgment: Yep, they got it. Wow, they totally missed the mark.

Last week alone, Scott Monty (@scottmonty) mentioned a discrepancy on Listerine packaging on Twitter; Jane Chin (@janechin) was analyzing a Lilly ad on Plurk; and Frank Martin (@frankmartin) was dissecting commercials that suck.

It happens all the time, we can’t shut it off. Sometimes it’s just a passing flicker and sometimes what we analyze just really bugs us. And that’s the analysis that gets discussed, Tweeted, Plurked or blogged about.

We know why we do it. We are trained to do it. But, Julien Smith asked a question recently that had me pondering the real reason we analyze every piece of marketing we see or hear. He asked: “Are you a Fixer?” [hat tip: @webconomist]

What do you think? Why do we constantly analyze? Is it because we think we can fix it? Is it experience? Or is it arrogance?

[Photo: Carrick]

Even More Goodness! Related Posts:

• Marketers, It’s Time To Rethink Target Market Segmentation
• Saturday Morning Reads: Celebrating Mom-Centric Marketing
• Your “Industry Experience Only” Requirement Is Hurting Customers, Employees and Shareholders
• Saturday Morning Reads: What’s the Return on Investment (ROI) of Content Marketing?