Who's That Girl?

Or that boy for that matter? I’m talking audience segmentation and whether in today’s world of personalisation are we still using old perimeters to talk to our customers.

As an agency, the first thing the Antelope team undertakes with any client is a product submersion. Finding out what their “bit of golddust” is, their hub of their content.  For many it’s surprising. Far from being about their product or service, it’s often more about the relationship between their brand and their audiences. So for a retail client, it’s about understanding their customers, for a travel client it’s about the experiences they offer and for another client, it’s the stories behind their wares.

But what is also surprising is how many companies, having identified their USP, their nugget of gold, then thinks one size will fit all when it comes telling people about their brand- when writing their content.  We’re not talking about personalised messaging or remarketing from cookies trails here, but about reaching out with content that is driven with stagnant audience groups that haven’t existed for many a year.

Let’s go back to the retail analogy and imagine the client is a shoe shop.  So it immediately classifies those over 45 as a more “mature” customer, those with children as “yummy mummies” and those who live in the country as being wedded to their wellies.  But what about those septuagenarians who like to go out dancing, and what about the customers who hate a heel? Or those customers who aren’t constrained by one gender or another, how will the shoe shop service them? The blurring of lines between customers has never been so much like a Venn diagram than it is today. 

But this in itself leads to a marketing dilemma. When the world is more demanding and more vocal than ever before, how do companies reach and, here’s the crunch, engage, with customers today? 

At Antelope, we believe it’s going back to our roots - it’s about stopping looking at standardised segmentation based on age, region and gender and look at their emotional tie to your product and service.  Do they want to feel glamorous in your shoes? Then give them some Dita Von Teese stilettos. Want a comfy pair for Slouchy Sunday - then bunch your loafers around this thread.

This is where content that understands your target market and tries to engage and reflect their lifestyle can really help a brand engage with a customer. This is why bloggers have turned into product influencers as their copy is about their lifestyle and what fits into it, rather than a brand review or analysis.

The customer is always right and letting that customer lead your content marketing is the only way you will ever get it right with them.

Photo courtesy of Vlado and www.freedigitalphotos.net