What is audience segmentation? According to Wikipedia, audience segmentation is a marketing strategy that involves dividing people into various subgroups based on a variety of factors. But how does this relate to you as an app marketer? Often, new app marketers will develop a generic message, send that message out to their entire audience, and hope for the best results. However, this can backfire immensely as the different factors that divide members of your target audience can cause them to behave and react quite differently to the same exact message.Â
Audience segmentation therefore, allows for the type or personalization that is essential to up-leveling your marketing strategy. Read on to discover a few ways that you can begin to personalize your marketing message without overwhelming yourself whether you’re working alone or partnering with an app marketing agency.
Audience Segmentation by Demographics
Demographics is one of the most common types of audience segmentation. Not only is it rather simple, but it is also vast in its subcategories of opportunity. Age demographics, income demographics, sexuality, and cultural origin are just a few examples of the way that you can break down your target market into smaller specific groups that need their own unique approach.
Age demographic segmentation is a great approach to take. There are so many ways to split up age groups, but a popular one for marketing purposes is by generation. Why is this? Because generational differences can be a huge divide amongst your audience members. The marketing approach that really connects with Generation Z is likely not the approach that will connect strongly with Millennials. Despite being near each other in age, the two groups have very different tastes, behavioral tendencies, preferences for platforms. Knowing the difference between Gen Z and Millennials could have a huge impact on the type of advertising you decide to do and where.
Engaging in demographic research will allow you to be laser-specific in your paid and organic marketing. Studying a certain demographic of people based on their education or location will give you the tools to make segmentation decisions such as running certain copy on Facebook versus Instagram or including different photos in ads running in New York versus Louisiana.Â
Audience Segmentation by Behavior
Behavioral segmentation is different from demographic segmentation in that it focuses on the different ways that your audience responds to your company. In other words, it will help you to divide your audience into groups based on their different journeys as buyers. If you’re having a hard time seeing how this is fully separate from demographics then you’re actually onto something. Human behavior that seems highly individualistic often correlates with demographic factors and can therefore be tracked alongside them. Target market analysis will help you see the ways that different members of your market behave differently.
Some examples of of behavioral segmentation include:
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- Purchasing behavior – the way that customers act throughout the buying process. For the apps category, you are likely to come across customers who are habitual and/or variety-seeking. This means that you will want to focus on building brand loyalty towards your app so that your target audience chooses your app over others.
- Benefits sought – what is of most importance or value to each type of customer. In terms of app marketing, this could look like focusing on different aspects of the app depending on your segmentation. One segment might receive an email highlighting a fitness app’s weight loss programming, while another might receive an email highlighting the app’s nutritional guides.
- Buyer journey stage – where the customer is in the process of purchasing. This could apply to app marketing in the way of marketing to customers to download the app for free versus customers who might make in-app purchases.
- Usage – App usage is an important KPI which can tell you if your app is providing value to its users. But it is also a tool that you can use to segment your users in order to target them differently. Heavy users may receive information about upgrades that they can buy into, while lighter users may receive information about exciting updates that will draw them to your app more frequently.
Audience Segmentation by Engagement
Engagement is somewhat similar to usage but refers more to the audience’s response to your marketing efforts than their usage of the app. The engagement level of a customer can tell you a lot about how they may behave throughout the buying process and it can be a great way to segment your audience as well. For example, higher engagement customers are more likely to opt into your newsletter or mailing list and receive marketing emails targeted towards a segmentation of users already very interested in downloading or purchasing. Lower engagement users, on the other hand, may need a push with special offers or different types of marketing such as in-person events.
Audience Segmentation by Device Type
The type of mobile device that your audience members are using may not seem very significant, but target audience analysis reveals that the type of device users have correlates to multiple other factors such as income and purchasing habits, not to mention the limitations of differing hardware and software.Â
According to MobileApps.com, the average income of iPhone users is higher than that of Android users. Therefore it follows that iPhone users will be more likely to pay for an app or make in-app purchases once they have downloaded an app. Knowing that your iPhone users are likely to spend should certainly influence some personalization towards them in your marketing. And knowing that your Android users are less likely to spend should make you wary of sending them the same sales-oriented marketing, lest they be turned off from your app altogether. This is just one example of how device type segmentation can aid your marketing strategy.
Take Time to Segment Your Target Market
Despite being carefully crafted, your audience is likely too large for you to know every single customer and potential custom by name. However, there are distinct subgroups within your overall target audience and it is in your best interest to research them and categorize them for your app marketing process. This can help with personalization for email marketing, getting specific with organic and paid ad copy, and so much more. The more you do this, the more value your content will bring to your audience, and the more you’ll see downloads and purchases begin to grow.