SMS Marketing 101 – Database Segmentation

Competition for attention in todays SMS marketing world is increasing all the time. To increase the relevancy, deliver more value in Bulk SMS camaigns AND to deliver more sales – now is the perfect time to do some database segmentation.
By segmenting your database and talking to people in a more relevant way you can often see the response rates to your SMS campaigns increase by a factor of three or four times.

8 ideas of “what” to segment your list by;

  1. Propsects that have become clients.
    Once a list member has bought from you, you should move them to a ‘client’ list. They are now more valuable and should be spoken to in a different manner to prospects.
  2. Product lines purchased.
    If you have distinct product lines then it makes sense to speak to customers about the product lines in which they have expressed an interest, or bought from in other words.
  3. Average revenue earned.
    Split customers into ‘average spend’ categories as this will help you to talk to them in a price range they have demonstrated they are happy with, increasing your chance of selling to them again.
  4. Major clients.
    VIP clients should be in a special category. Give them better attention, exclusive offers or information.
  5. Purchase lifecycle.
    Is there a pattern to repeat purchase or an obvious trigger? For example, if you sold service items for cars then it would make sense that the purchase would probably be every year just prior to their next service/MOT and whatever offers you have throughout the rest of the year and probably not of interest to those clients until their next service/MOT date. Not only does this make the likely response rate to campaigns but it saves you money and removes the risk of annoying the customer that they ‘just don’t need’ service items half way through the year.
  6. Demographics.
    Demographics might include age, gender, education levels, occupation, location of residence, marital status, number of children, income or other socio-economic factors, etc.
  7. Sales create sales.
    Create a sequence of communication to existing customers. Your goal being to praise their wise decision to purchase from you in the first place and then to ‘be there’ for them when they’re ready for their next purchase decision.
  8. Geography.
    You product or service might operate very differently in different areas of the country or you may have different promotions in different sales area. You might simply be able to point customers to different stores by knowing their location.