Organizations of all types are using more technology today in day-to-day operations than ever before. Marketing and communication professionals have not sat idly by as they now incorporate sophisticated software to segment and communicate with their audience.
The hyper-targeting that customer communication management (CCM) and other forms of communication software can take advantage of is known as micro-segmentation.
In a nutshell, micro-segmentation is the high-level ultra-targeting tool for businesses and marketing professionals (think location, language, source etc.). Micro-segmentation is essentially the grouping of only a few consumers based on a variety of data, metrics, and behavioral predictions (e.g., product preference, time since last purchase, etc.).
The result from micro-segmentation is a spectrum of hyper-specific target groups that the business can leverage. By defining these highly refined sub-markets or micro-segments, the company can communicate with these segments in an extremely individualized manner. Not only can the copy be personalized and specific, but the communication delivery method can be customized as well.
As a result, when companies combine CCM and micro-segmentation, they can target and deliver hyper-personalized communications to consumers through their most preferred channels, whether that’s email, direct mail, or any one of the many social media platforms in wide use today.
Like a microscope, micro-segmentation helps you see and use detailed customer data.
Implementing Segmentation Tools
Since micro-segmentation allows companies to compose such concentrated market-segments, it makes sense that these tools would go hand-in-hand with CCM software. Luckily, CCM software, like INTOUCH® from Topdown, makes it easy to integrate micro-segment tools.
There are various ways to integrate micro-segmentation tools with CCM software: deciding which method is right for your company begins by understanding the tradeoffs of each method.
One method of integration begins at the individual touchpoints (e.g., web content management systems or digital experience platforms); these points of interaction are capable of identifying micro-segments and thus pass data about real-time customer engagements while they are in progress to the CCM software. The CCM software can either compose a communication suitable for the channel that sent the segmentation data or over an alternate channel. For example, an e-commerce platform could send data about a customer while that customer is browsing the site, and the CCM software could compose and send an SMS message to the customer’s phone with a special offer or coupon code to enter on the site—all in real time.
Another method is to integrate the individual touchpoints with a customer data platform (CDP) to aggregate the data from each touchpoint, and then send individual or batches of communications (a.k.a., campaigns) to targeted groups via the CCM software. For example, requests for a specific piece of information made over multiple channels could be aggregated for fulfillment, and the CCM software would create personalized cover letters for each requestor and enclose the requested information.
It’s also important to note that there are a handful of dedicated segmentation tools like Optimove that can handle both methods.
How CCM Utilizes Market-Segment Data
CCM systems utilize business logic and sophisticated software to automate customer engagement throughout various customer journeys. Creating a library of reusable content from which the CCM can pull, personalize, and deliver communications not only improves efficiency of the customer experience, but also employee satisfaction.
Implementing micro-segmentation tactics elevates CCM to bring it to the next level of efficacy: the data provided by the micro-segmentation tools can drive business logic and variable replacement inside the CCM software.
Thus, the CCM software can be “triggered” by the segmentation tool to create and send a highly focused and personalized communication. The segmentation tool would then: specify the type of communication to send (i.e., which template to use); provide data for resolving placeholders for customer name, product, etc.; and combine the information that would drive the business logic in the template, for example, the customer’s state of residence could be used to identify which version of a given piece of content should be pulled into the communication.
Elevate Customer Communication with Topdown
Topdown has worked with a number of companies across industries to increase customer engagement and create personalized experiences. Get in touch with Topdown to explore ways our CCM software can extract additional value from your existing customer engagement technologies to improve your customer experience.
Image: Unsplash (no longer available on the site)
