Businesses can make use of SMS marketing to make their marketing strategy more effective. SMS marketing is apt for achieving high engagement goals. But to make the best of this strategy one must be aware of SMS targeting. A message is information if it reaches the right person, however, it is merely a short note that wastes the reader’s time. Hence SMS targeting is the key to SMS marketing’s best results. Businesses should carefully select who receives which text message. They should not spam all their customers with the same SMS. This way they might lose their potential consumers. 

This article is a complete guide on how to segment your audience to achieve the best out of an SMS marketing campaign. 

What is customer segmentation?

It means the segregation of one’s audience according to their preferences. This means dividing one’s customers according to their location, active timing, common traits, characteristics, etc. The reason behind the segmentation of customers is that one can effectively make use of SMS Gateway.

“Right. Messages to the right people at the right time”. Businesses will send only relevant content to the relevant consumers in a day. This makes the consumer feel as if you are conversing with them. Common segmentation is based on the age, Marital status, gender, location, and buying patterns of a customer. 

Types of Mobile segmentation

There are various types of Mobile segmentation. Some of them include:-

• Behavioral segmentation- It is based on consumers’ actions and behavior such as features they use, session frequency, spending or consumption habits, average order value, or browsing history. 
• Demographic segmentation- It depends on the audience’s age, Marital status, occupation, age, gender, income, or similar factors. 
• Geographic segmentation- It means dividing your audience based on their city, state, or country. Local businesses may segment their audience based on their towns and cities. 
• Psychographic segmentation- It depends on customers’ values, interests, personality traits, and personal attitudes.
• Technographic segmentation- consumer preferences regarding gadgets such as mobile phones, tablets, etc are technographic segmentation.

How to discover your target audience?

Just as we read about types of segmentation there are various categories one must consider to understand the process of segmentation.

• Behavior- To segment based on behavior one must understand the purchasing patterns and loyalty trends of the consumers. For example, those consumers who always buy detergents of a particular brand can be notified of the value offers of that brand. Since the product lies in their interest they may be interested in purchasing it. 
• Demographics- these include the gender, age, Marital status occupation of the consumers. This must be considered when the segmentation of the consumers. All the quantitative classification comes under demographic segmentation. 
• Geography- local businesses must know the geographical location of their customers, any updates regarding new events in their area, or the availability of new products in their nearby stores. 
• Psychographics- Here we categorize customers based on their psychological attitudes. It includes classification based on goals, preferences, and attitudes. 
• Socio-economic basis- this might be included in demographics or can be taken as a separate parameter. This comes up with the brand identity i.e. whether it is a luxury brand or a more affordable brand. One such example could be that a high-class brand sends its coupons to a middle-income group of consumers. It might not be helpful for them. However, a discount coupon for an affordable brand might serve the purpose. 

Segmentation based on consumer attributes.

Attribution data ties closely to using behavioral variables to segment your subscriber. 

Attribution data means those touch points that lead towards ideal outcomes, such as sales. 

One might use the attribution data to determine which actions customers take and which amongst them can boast sales. 

Businesses can then segment their audience accordingly based on whether they have taken those specific actions or not. 

Privacy regulation 

Consumer protection laws and rules protect consumer privacy including regarding SMS marketing. TCPS and CAN-SPAM Act are relevant laws for consumers of local businesses. United States.

The most important takeaways from these laws are that:-

• Such as text must be sent between 8 am and 9 pm 
• Customers must be able to opt-out. 
• You must identify your business at the start of the SMS.

SMS segmenting best practices

There are certain practices that businesses must follow to make the best of SMS marketing segmentation.

Turn the frequent customer into brand advocates

The best way to gain customers is via word of mouth. Thus to gain more consumers one must not do anything but keep a record of frequent buyers. Also, businesses must understand the purchasing patterns of their customers.

Who all do high-value purchasing? These active users can become the Mobile marketers of one’s brand. 

Then the second step is to target these customers with Bulk SMS campaign that makes the consumers feel more valued. One command method of doing this is running a referral program/campaign. 

Re-engage dormant users

A dormant user is a user who was previously active but now is inactive. Businesses must utilize this section of the consumers who have not interacted for a set period. The period length is up to the business’s definition. 

A text message is more likely to remind the consumers of your brand and also draw their attention. The messages must remind these customers of the segment or things that they are missing out on. Tell them about recent updates and news.

Build user habits

Brands should add links to their websites, apps, or brands. Remember that actions become habits over time. The aim is to make the consumers think continuously for your brand and interact as much as possible. 

Brands can do this by sharing tips for getting the utmost benefit for the brand. Sending relevant text can still be a boaster.