I was rapping with a colleague of mine recently (colleague is defined as a close friend, who also wears a suit) about what seemed like a simple question: How do you market to middle-aged women?
You can, of course, already see the folly of the underlying assumption: as if two men, especially consultants, understand women well enough to even attempt to answer the question. Nevertheless, we are stubborn and decided to put that point aside. Which quickly brought us to a different conclusion, and to one of my favourite new expressions: “It's not like that, it's like this.” (Another is “golden child,” meaning “fantastic,” or “yes.” You can use it, I don't mind.)
One hypothesis, which even two gormless and slack-jawed guys could make, is that middle-aged women are not all the same. At all. A divorced 45-year-old female empty nester may consume very differently from a 40-year-old stay-at-home mom. And we haven't even started talking about behavioural drivers yet.
What if the divorcee is into an edgy, rocker lifestyle and the mom prefers theatre? What if the divorcee cares about safety and security and the mom prioritizes freedom and few restrictions.
If you are running a business and executing your marketing against segments (and if you are not, marketing guru Clell Tickle will call and yell at you), behaviours should play a central role in your segmentation strategy.
Let's have a look at traditional segmentation: demographics
Demographic studies (based on objective criteria – age, sex, income) will necessarily produce averages (because all data are numeric – e.g. age 43 – or binary, e.g. female). The averages will be correct, but they do not necessarily represent segments which actually exist. Rather they represent mathematical constructs. Yes, this does have a point. The point is: all of the statistics will be correct, and they may also be useless.
I know, I know. The math geeks are yelling “but you can account for that through advanced statistical analysis.” Put down the calculator and step away from the vehicle. Okay, so it's true. But it still doesn't help you understand how people buy, because to our earlier point, even if ‘40-year-old mom' accurately represents the segment as a descriptor, it isn't very informing of your important marketing decisions.
So, let's talk about a better way of bucketing: behavioural/psychographic/attitudinal segmentation
There are three key behaviour drivers to understand.
Decision process
You would be amazed at how complex the purchase process is for everything from office supplies to apple pies. The goal is to map out each of the distinct steps in the purchase process, as carried out by different groups of people. For example, one group purchasing stemware might first ask friends which store in town carries the best product, then research brands on the store's website, then confirm their assumptions with a sales representative in store before purchasing – while a second group might survey stores in the mall looking for bargains, only to be educated on a better brand by a sales representative in store before purchase. Yet they both buy the same stemware set. The first group you might call “investigators” and the second “browsers.”
If you find two distinct processes, it may be your first clue that you have two distinct customer segments. And processes will tell you where you can influence the purchase (for example blogs, if that is part of the process).
Decision criteria
