Understanding how customers prioritize their needs is a necessary step to establish dialogue and relationships that are not predicated on having the lowest price.
1to1 Needs Segmentation Services Include:
Determining your actionable Needs based customer segments
Needs Identification Internal Analysis, Focus Groups and Benchmark Analysis
Qualitative Determination of Customer Needs & Segments
Quantitative Needs Analysis
Quantitative Needs Clustering & Segmentation Identification
Identification of Key Database Information and Needs to be Captured Through Dialogue
Needs Based Customer Strategies
Needs Based Customer "Low Hanging Fruit" Tactical Programs
Triggering marketing campaigns once a need is expressed
Identification of Extended Unmet Needs for New Product & Service Development
Identification of customer needs is an absolute necessity to build customer relationship and to identify ways to drive customers to opt-in to ongoing dialogue.
Using Demographic, Psychographic and other 3rd Party Data alone will typically not provide you with your best market segmentation strategy. We can show you a better way.
Understanding groups or segments of customers with similar needs exist is an extremely important step to 1to1. Once Shimko1to1 has worked with your team to identify the differentiating needs of customers and constituents we will provide you with your needs based segments. This is particularly impactful for your best customers as now you are in a position to customize the way that you speak with them, and what you offer them, both now and in the future. It will be the catalyst to your future growth, the basis for your content development, web strategy, social strategy and interactive marketing plans, and it will determine the information to be collected in your 1to1 database. Needs based segmentation may require a two-step process of qualitative and then quantitative analysis depending on past work on segmentation and how well your current data can map mutually exclusive segments. Armed with an understanding of your customer's needs and preferences, you have a platform for 1to1 success and a blueprint for your marketing plan.
How we work:
We begin with a thorough review of your current and past approaches to segmentation, competitive benchmarking and results. Our next step is to meet with those within the organization that can best describe the differentiating needs and interests of current customers. How are best customers different from others? How may best customers have different needs from one another?
Over approximately a 12-16 week period, we will provide you with a new segmentation, new database collection strategies, and potential customer differentiation pilot marketing opportunities. You will begin to have a return in your investment almost immediately from this work, and a new approach to segmentation that will resonate throughout your organization.
Common Needs: Needs that are shared by the entire customer base. Common needs are used in mass marketing and advertising efforts to both strengthen the brand position and pique the interest of potential new customers. Mass marketing includes undifferentiated mass email marketing and multi-channel discounting programs.
Shared Needs: Those that customers share across several needs groups or segments. For example, some e-commerce buyers will want overnight shipping and others will not. Knowing this need will help you to define your services, but not how to create meaningful dialogue and 1to1 marketing initiatives
Needs Groups or Segments: By understanding the key differences in customers based on their needs, wants and expectations you can cluster them into differentiated needs based groups or segments. Needs within segments are not shared with other segments and are all inclusive for that segment. Once you can define your handful or more needs based segments you will have a reason for prospects to opt-in to your marketing communications, and not a reason to opt--out. It's the beginning of your constituents receiving your messages and saying "they understand me and talk to me about things which I care about". It will drive your multi-channel marketing messages and offers.
Specific & Actionable Needs: These are the specific needs of individual customers or constituents. In order for a need to be significant it must be actionable. Knowing the meaningful needs of your customers will tell you what specific information must be captured in your marketing database or used in trigger marketing initiatives.
Needs Segmentation Case Studies:
Travel & Hospitality Case Study
Online Gifting
Industry: Travel & Hospitality
A major hospitality organization that we worked with had legitimized the vacation timeshare business, growing quickly to over $1 billion in sales.
Tremendous historical growth was the result of mass marketing, new locations and strong sales techniques during the promotional vacation and required timeshare “tour”.
Referrals were a major source of business.
Current situation:
New location opportunities were declining and massive direct marketing were resulting in fewer tours.
A more targeted and planned approach to revenue growth was needed.
Solution: We conducted a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of consumer’s vacation needs and wants. In the qualitative portion, participants were asked to draw a picture of themselves on vacation and to describe what they were doing. Vacation preferences varied widely from highly active social events to quiet and relaxing getaways. The findings from the qualitative phase were used in a quantitative needs questionnaire. Customer needs segments were identified through clustering of the quantitative results. All multi-channel marketing was changed to "need segment based". Sales was provided 5 differentiating yes/no questions that they would ask a prospect, and then choose from five different types of collateral to discuss the advantage of purchasing a timeshare - from a way to see the world and meet new people, to a quiet annual get-away for the family.
Industry: Online Gifting
Situation
An online gifting company used daily coupons and discounts to generate revenue. They didn't market differently to different customers.
Problem
Relying on RFM marketing techniques of segmenting customers by recency, frequency and monetary spend, the organization was mass marketing email discounts to their best customers to generate new sales. The marketing group did know the needs of their customers and did not use marketing messages to create relationships, identify new offers, and build loyalty.
Transaction database information was augmented with third party demographic and other data, however it could not identify how customer's needs differ
1to1 Action
While reviewing a third party non-needs based effort to identify customer segments through demographic information, a group of customers were identified with business addresses. By digging deeper we also found these customers to be some of their very best customers. Twenty seven percent of this group purchased more than five times per year, while only seven percent of the balance of the identified best customer group purchased five or more times per year. The needs segment was identified as business buyers. This included real estate brokers, car dealers and others that routinely sent gifts to recent customers.
A market research study on the segment was implemented. A questionnaire was developed and questions about specific needs were asked. Among the findings was a large percentage of customers had interests in gift giving etiquette, unique ideas for business gifts, case studies on how gifting positively impacted referrals and business volume. Problems with the website with multiple ordering of the same product for different recipients was identified as well as other operational problems impacting this segment. In this instance, the customer was forced to make individual orders for each recipient instead of being able to just add multiple recipient names and addresses.
Actions:
A Business Buyer segment was identified for separate marketing messaging, merchandising and campaign. Both the website and mobile app's were updated to include a "Business Buying" segment and included the top selling gifts for this segment of customers. New email campaigns were developed that exchanged the usual discounting offer with information on gift giving etiquette and other key areas of interest. The website was updated to accommodate multiple recipient orders. A customer loyalty program was also created for this segment.
The result was an increase in revenue, profit and retention. The product/merchandising area was updated to include identifying new offers for this segment. The entire marketing plan for this identified needs based segment was redesigned to include relevant messaging and products. The database was updated to collect the segment's more granular needs.