Customer data is key to an effective marketing strategy. You need to understand as much as possible about your target audiences: what makes them tick, what they expect from your brand, what resonates with them, and what doesn’t.
Yet many marketers create strategies based on past experience and internal assumptions. If you really want to make an impact for your business, build your strategies based on data from a customer segmentation study.
What is customer segmentation?
Customer segmentation is the identification of unique groups (or customer segments) that exist within your audience. Each segment is made up of people who exhibit similar behaviors, have similar needs, and expect similar things from your brand. When you understand each of your customer segments, you can tailor your strategies to the needs of each segment—resulting in better performance.
A customer segmentation study combines qualitative and quantitative research methods to collect data from your actual customers and stakeholders. The approach to your study will vary based on your business goals, but it should always result in actionable insights about your customer segments.
Achieving business goals with customer segmentation
Whatever your business goals or KPIs, you can achieve them more effectively with a customer segmentation study.
Increase revenue/sales
Your customer segments are unique. They behave in different ways for different reasons. Through research, learn why customers purchase from you—and when they choose your competition. You can also determine what would make them spend more with your brand.
Improve marketing ROI
You have a limited budget and resources but need to maximize your marketing. Identify which customer segments use what channels, when they use them, and why. Then use that insight to refine your messaging and plan more targeted tactics.
Improve customer satisfaction
There is no limit to what you can learn by listening to your customers. Customer research helps you really hear them—empowering you to connect more authentically, build better connections, and improve how they feel and think about your brand.
Create data-driven personalization
Your customers expect a digital experience that is personalized to meet their needs. Instead of guessing what will work, use research to identify the needs and expectations of each segment. Then, make sure your digital strategies answer them.
How customer segmentation studies work
Unlike other customer segmentation studies that focus only on customer needs, Ntara’s customer segmentation approach covers four dimensions of data. This gives you a richer view of customer preference—and the ability to predict each segment’s online behavior.
- Customer needs
Learn what your customers need based on who they are and what they do. Identify where you’re performing, where you’re lacking, and where you might be overdelivering.
- Customer attitudes
Learn how customers feel about your company, products, services, and the market in general. Identify opportunities to improve perception or adjust your focus.
- Customer behavior
Learn when, where, why, and how customers engage with your brand versus the competition. Consider the patterns of your most valuable customers and identify ways to nurture your most vulnerable ones.
- Existing data
We can compare your customer segmentation data to CRM data, anonymized patient data, past survey data, and more, making our output more insightful and actionable.
Our research is mixed method, combining tactics such as interviews, focus groups, large-scale surveys, and web analytics to gather new data about your customers. During analysis, we look at multiple variables to identify your segmentation, and we cross-reference our findings with any existing datasets. From there, we build out actionable, data-driven personas and customer journey maps. These tools are marketing gold and can be used to guide any digital strategy you create moving forward.
Customer segmentation study success stories
Ntara has been doing this type of research for more than 20 years. We’ve helped brands across multiple industries achieve incredible results.
40%
40% reduction in sales cycle time for $1B+ deals
1500%
increased home page engagement
400%
increased online revenue
$206M
ecommerce revenue generated
50,000%
ROI on strategy spend in six months
What you get from a customer segmentation study
At Ntara, we create customized research deliverables, tailored to the details of your customer segments. Your personas will define each segment. Not just made-up stories about their life but how much they spend with your brand, what they need in their daily lives, and what they’re worth to your company.
Your customer journey maps will show how each customer segment engages with your brand—what they want and expect as their relationship with you evolves. Where they go for information, what questions they need answered.
These tools are invaluable for scaling any strategy. They are completely customized to each buying segment and fully based on research findings. They’re your guidebook for digital strategy.
Learn more about personas and customer journey maps in this video.
Buying customer segmentation research
Ntara’s customer segmentation studies range from $45k – $55k depending on complexity. Before we send a quote, we’ll conduct an in-depth discovery call to learn how your business operates, what your goals are, what data you currently have, and what state it’s in.
Ready to talk research?
If you’re ready to discuss a customer segmentation project for your company, let’s talk. Complete the form below to schedule an intro call.
