For years, marketers have used customer segmentation as a tool to make their jobs easier. By “lumping” large groups of customers together, based on what those customers have in common, marketers can send mass messages to those groups of customers, and make use of broad media outlets.
The problem: This is convenient for marketers, but it doesn’t do much for customers. While marketers are focusing on what makes one customer like many other customers, each customer is focused on what makes her different from everyone else.
This out-moded view of customer segmentation was valuable in an advertising-based world, because advertisers could look for media habits that customers in these segments shared. Problem #2: We don’t live in an advertising-based marketplace anymore, and media habits are not a very good proxy for purchase intent.
If you want to connect with your customers, and create strong, sustainable relationships with them, it’s time to turn the traditional model of customer segmentation on its head. It’s time to focus on what makes customers unique, not what makes them interchangeable.
Is this easy? No. Is it necessary? Yes. Why? Because this is the way your customers see themselves.
Exact Target is a company who markets itself as “On-demand email marketing and one-to-one digital communication platform. ” I’ll add to that by saying that I think of Exact Target as a group of really smart, cutting-edge marketing experts.
No matter how great your product is, there’s probably someone who makes a product just as good. Even if your product is truly better, your customers may not be able to see the difference. And … if your product is truly better, at this very moment a competitor is trying to copy it.
The same can be said for services. They are easily copied. And, of course, the same can be said about marketing messages and promotional offers. These are the least differentiating (even though they are thought of as key tools of differentiation) and the most easily copied.
If you’ve spent any time reading this blog, my newsletters, or my books you know that I believe a strong relationship is the most powerful way to differentiate yourself in your customers’ minds. A competitor can copy your products or services, but can’t copy the private relationships you have with customers.
Think what this means about your whole approach to marketing:
Stop trying to differentiate yourself by talking about how unique you, your products or your promotional offers are.
Start trying to differentiate yourself by helping your customers see how unique their personal connection is to you.
Here’s a link to the newsletter I sent out today, focusing on the disproportionate focus companies have on acquiring new customers, at the expense of developing relationships with existing customers.
A few mornings ago, I was taking a relaxing walk with my friend Ezra in the Gan Sacher, a park in Jerusalem.
Birds were everywhere in the park. I had my tiny Flip video camera, and I trained it on the birds as I walked up to them. Of course, as soon as I would get close, the birds’ defensive instincts told them to fly away. As I tried to walk gingerly up to the birds (without much success), it reminded me of the defensive instincts customers employ to survive the barrage of marketing messages that interrupt them everyday.
This silent 90 second film is just a simple thought for today, inspired by birds trying to live their lives without interruption.
“Marketing media.” Did you ever stop and think about what that means? “Media” = “In the middle.”
Every good little ad agency always makes sure that a media plan accompanies each recommendation they present to a client. It is assumed that all marketing communications must have some media in the middle, bridging the way between buyer and seller.
Why?
There’s no good reason. In fact, the most effective marketing doesn’t have mediation. It is when the buyer and seller are in direct contact, sans media.
Certainly, there are times when media are necessary. If you have a lot of customers, you may not be able to talk with them all directly. If you want to reach people you don’t know, you may need to delegate customer communication to some magazine or billboard. But, here’s my question: What do you build first into your plan – rich, personal, unmediated encounters, or mass, impersonal, mediated transactions?
Instead of building your media plan first, try this: Build your un-media plan. Start conceiving of your marketing by focusing on interacting directly with your customers. And then, use relatively-inefficient, less-productive marketing media for what’s left over.
Close your eyes for a minute and think of a few companies you really like doing business with. (You can open them now) Now, try to remember the interactions that influenced your opinions of those companies.
How many were interactions that were created “en masse” for you and other customers, such as ads, web home pages, fine print, FAQ’s, direct mail pieces, etc.?
How many were one-on-one interactions, such as personal advice from a salesperson, a customer service rep fixing a problem for you, a maintenance person trouble-shooting an issue for you, etc.?
Here is the simple truth: Marketing becomes less effective the more people it tries to reach at one time.
No doubt, it’s impossible to talk to customers one at a time, all of the time. It’s even hard to talk to them in small groups all of the time. Hey, even this blog is a form of mass communication. There are times when it is necessary, and even smart, to talk to customers as a group.
But it is also important to recognize that you are always making a compromise as you talk to many customers at one time. The natural tendency in marketing is to gang up communications and reach more customers, concurrently. Don’t look at this tendency as a convenience that makes the marketing job easier. Look at it as a compromise, even if it is a necessary compromise, that limits your ability to communicate.
Remember The Rule of the Few and the Many. It’s a simple rule: When possible, few is always better than many.
If you are a typical American, you will be exposed to something like 5000 marketing messages today. These will cover the spectrum from logos on shirts and ketchup bottles to impassioned pleas for your business.
Throughout the day today, notice how many of these messages actually have an impact on you. Even if they don’t encourage you to buy something, do they at least stick with you after the exposure?
You will probably notice that very few of these messages make a difference for you, let alone even get noticed by you.
Now, think about your customer, who will also be bombarded with 5000 messages today, in addition to an avalanche of emails, text messages, memos and voicemails. What happens if you send message number 5001? Will she be happy to see it? Will she notice it? Will it move her?
You can not shout your way into your customer’s life. A bigger marketing budget and more brute force is rarely the answer. Focus on creating an experience of brand harmony for your customer, where all interactions with you blend to tell one, cumulative story. And focus on relationship-building encounters, instead of impersonal transactions.
What can you do – today – to rise above the noise of your customer’s life? (Hint: It’s not a direct mail campaign)
"When Steve Yastrow writes, I pay close attention" - Tom Peters
"I had to buy two copies. The first one is so dog-eared and underlined I couldn't read it any longer." - Seth Godin
Steve is the author of Brand Harmony and the newly published We:
The Ideal Customer Relationship. Learn more and order direct from our Products
page, or from Amazon.
In addition to writing, I spend most of my work time helping companies unleash their potential by creating better connections with their customers. This happens through my speaking events and through Yastrow & Company consulting engagements, where my team and I help companies figure out who they intend to be in the future, and then engage the entire company in creating that future through strong "We" customer relationships.
Before starting Yastrow & Company in the mid-90s I was vice-president of resort marketing for Hyatt Hotels. My experiences in the hotel business showed me clearly that most marketing doesn’t happen in the marketing department. Customers are paying attention to all interactions with a company, not just the promises made in traditional "marketing communications."
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