Segmentation Metrics

            As marketers, it is important to know what groups of consumers you are targeting and how best to reach them. The way to measure and analyse this type of information is through segmentation metrics.

What are Segmentation Metrics?

       Segmentation metrics are numbers used for evaluation or assessment of business success within given segments. 

     

In regards to marketing on the web, there are three primary forms of segmentation:

1.    Page-based information

2.    Visit-based information

3.    Visitor-based information

Page-Base Information:

Using page-based information is usually the easiest method of collecting metrics. It is a way of grouping similar pages together into categories and sub-categories to better understand web-site performance. For example, a website may cover several different topics. Using page-based information can inform the marketer or company what pages and topics are performing up to their standards, and which pages are not.

Visit-Based Information:

Visit-based information refers to the data collected concerning things such as how many individuals visited the site, saw specific content, or purchased a certain product. This information can be valuable in many different ways. Most importantly, it allows the marketer to adjust the website navigation to accommodate their specific goals.

Visitor-based Information:

Visitor-based information is widely regarded as the most important form of web-based segmentation metrics. The better a company understands its online users, the more prepared it will be to gain their business and earn customer loyalty. These segments help marketers better understand what types of individuals are visiting their sites and what their needs are. This information is usually broken down into typical demographic segments such as age, gender, occupation, and geographic location.

            There are web services available which can implement performance reports on things such as site traffic, web page performance, and various other segmentation metrics. Below are links to a few examples of these services:

• http://www.google.ca/analytics/

• http://www.alertsite.com/index.html

• http://statcounter.com/

Posted by: Arthur Cobham #000284171

Do you Database? Do it Right!

Do you Database?  Do it Right!

 

 

 

 

Database marketing is precision. Plain and simple.

 
 

“The foundations of virtually all the capabilities that differentiate  direct response marketing from mass media marketing reside in the marketing database.”

 – Page 101 Internet Marketing – Integrating Offline and Online strategies

 

 

 

 

Effective use of your customer database allows for more precise market segmentation, and accurate prediction of customer and prospect behavior.

 

“I have a very comprehensive database with more demographic and lifestyle data on my customers than I will ever need!”

Here's the thing, as marketers, we need to take a holistic approach to our decision making process. The information we use to make decisions must follow suit. Thus, the database we need is not JUST demographic and lifestyle data about our customers.

 

We need EVERYTHING.

This database MUST combine several individual databases into one, functional data warehouse that depicts a total landscape of your business. If not, you are missing a large part of the picture:

Take, for example, Mohawk College.

Mohawk College is a large organization with many departments that use separate databases and, in some cases, even utilize different software packages.

 

Just to name a few...

 

College Staff:

Administration, Support Staff and Faculty

Students:
Current Students, Co-op Students, Gradute Students, Mohawk Students Association, Banner, Co-op/Job Centre, Program Specific, Disability Services, Continuing Education, Locker systems.

Alumni:

Alumni Association database, Graduate Employment Rates

Marketing and Recruitment Prospects:

High Schools, Guidance Counselors,   Community Centres, Continuing education Prospects, Full Time,   Post Graduate Prospects

Other Business Areas:
Program enrollment trends, Residence information and Trends, Meal sales (meal plans etc), Book Sales

External Data Sources

Census data per geographic region
Highschool graduate data

....and this is not even close to the whole picture. This is not a complete listing by any means, but all of these data are useful to each other with regard to effective decision making…and the relentless attention to the needs of your target market.

Think about all of the information contained in these databases. Think of how cumbersome the decision making process would be if we couldn’t make them work together.

How would Mohawk make decisions regarding additional residence space without comparing geographical demographics? How would Mohawk make program and course ordering decisions without cross referencing enrollment? 

Obviously, making all these databases talk to one another is a technical challenge. And as marketers, we are not generally responsible for creating the database, but it is our job to decide what information is valuable for the decision making process, and drive its creation, based on that information.

 

How do you think Mohawk is doing? Do you think we can do better?