#we’vealwaysdoneitthisway
Within marketing, segmentation is the process of dividing potential customers into groups, also referred to as ‘segments’. Based on varying characteristics, these segments consist of consumers who are predicted to respond to specific marketing strategies in a particular way.
Much marketing research analyses different demographic attributes, from shared traits and similar interests to needs and geographical location, to name just a few. Additional factors; including age, sex, gender, religion, and educational level, also play their own important role within the research process.
Whilst, traditionally, segmentation has been used as it was thought to better target specific consumer groups for advertising purposes; given the rapidly changing nature of previously more ‘static’ demographics, does this mean we also need to take a fresh approach also, to the categorisation of targeted marketing used, through which we chose to segment our data?
Whilst consistency and continuity are key in marketing campaigns, a lack of originality and a desire to adapt to ever-changing societal trends could leave many historically successful campaigns at risk of being dismissed and disregarded by future generations.
A lack of acknowledgement sadly disregards not only important demographic shifts, but also potentially exciting new ways to connect with the consumers within these populations.
No matter how impressive or wide reaching, a marketing campaign cannot survive and thrive on its budget alone if it fails to recognise changes within our demographics, and risks appearing ignorant at the core.
Several key questions emerge from this:
How can marketers ensure that they continue to fairly, yet considerately engage with their target demographics?
With so many different classifications for identity now within society, does this make it harder for marketers to reach their desired audience?
Conversely, is it this pragmatic labelling, which is cutting short the potential of future, more inclusive, and progressive, marketing campaigns?
Many campaigns and strategies, whilst categorised and defined for reporting upon statistical success, lend themselves to almost being stunted, simply by remaining products of their time, from the perspective of their unrefined, and subsequently tired market research, and subsequent categorisation.
Yes, a good marketing campaign may consist of an extensive budget and access to a large audience, but if is the target audience, and the main message relayed, is never adapted, and is left idle, it leaves room for laggards to manifest. This leaves campaigns at risk of appearing ignorant and rigid, vulnerable to harmfully out-dated ideologies.
With the sharp rise in our reliance on social media, not only for news and communication, but for E-commerce, driving convenient consumerism, it seems more important now than ever to re-address our strategies, to manifest different results from those previously achieved.
At the risk of offending, and rocking the proverbial marketing boat, it might now be time to start considering different ways to not only research and target, but more so to redefine how we view the categorisation of individuals within society, in order to become more realistically representative, of the human population.
2020 could be the year, to better re-connect technology with humanity, within society.
pushingbuttonsmarketing 