Customer segmentation is an essential framework for any effective marketing team. It organizes customer investment strategies, generates customer insight, and directs differentiated marketing, sales, service, and pricing.
While few marketers would dispute the value of a customer segmentation scheme. a remarkably high number still operate without one. Many are stuck with the results of a segmentation that tells a good story, but is not actionable and cannot be used to direct actual marketing programs. Others can describe segments that make intuitive sense, but they are not data-driven.
At Aventine Partners, we understand that our data analysis needs to fuse with our clients' business experience to produce segmentation schemes that are both reliable and useful. We focus on:
- Using a hypothesis-driven approach that begins with the experiences and intuition of business managers
- Identifying early on the specific marketing programs that need to be enabled by the segmentation scheme
- Employing a variety of statistical techniques to test hypotheses and generate new learnings in unlooked-for areas
- Working with management to craft multiple possible segmentation approaches
- Defining segments that can be applied to both customers and prospects
- Developing segment profiles and narratives that make them easier to understand and socialize throughout the business
- Selecting and implementing segments that are appropriate for the client's stage of analytical sophistication.
Most importantly, we don't treat segmentation as a perfect science or black-box process. We work closely with our clients to produce the best of many possible answers for their needs and situation.
