Customer Segmentation is a common jargon in marketing. It is said that every company should first segment its customers, choose the target segment and then aim to satisfy their needs. With Internet gaining ground and becoming the ‘the’ way of doing business, it becomes imperative for companies and internet marketers to understand the consumer behavior. Prior to any marketing efforts on internet, one should know the answers to the following question.
Do I know know how to segment the customers on the basis of their internet usage pattern?
Or
Are “All users are equal for me” ?
If you don’t have this primary information, there are good chances that your efforts do not produce the desired results, no matter how effective they were for others or how hard you try.How should you go about this task ?The answer is being provided by a study conducted by Mckinsey and Media Metrix which identifies internet consumer segmentation for the first time on their usage patterns.According to the study, the different categories are:
1) Simplifiers “End-to-End” Convenience seeking people. They spend on an average 7 hours per month but have the longest tenure online(49% have been online for over 5 years). Therefore if an internet marketer wants to have sustained sales from this segment, they must provide end-to-end convenience such as ease of access, availability of information etc.
2) Surfers Logs in with a specific purpose in mind- buying gifts for example. According to the study, they constitute 8% of the active user population but account for 32% of the online time.To attract and keep Surfers, a site needs cutting-edge design and features, constant updates, a strong online brand, and an assortment of products and services.
3) Connectors As the name implies,they use the internet to connect with people through different means like email, chat etc. Although Connectors account for 36% of the active user population, 40% of them have been online less than two years, and just 42% have made purchases online (versus an average of 61%). Connectors may count on offline brands they trust to lead them to appealing content and hence Companies with strong offline presences will have the advantage in reaching these beginners.
4) Bargainers These people are driven by quest for deals. 52% of eBay visitors is constituted by this category. To extract sales from this segment, the site must not only appeal to them on rational level but also on emotional level, satisfying their need for competitive pricing, the excitement of the “search,” and the desire for community.
5) Routiners They primarily go to internet for information. As the name implies these folks are routine visitors who are suckers for news. These people visit fewer domains but spend almost twice the time per page than others do. Routiners want superior content and the sense they are getting “something special.”
6) Sportsters Uses internet mainly for sports and entertainment related information. They spend on an average of 7.1 hours( versus 9.8 average). The challenge for companies is to turn this use into revenue, usually by moving visitors from “free” content to a paid subscription.As it is clear from the study that each consumer has different needs and usage pattern thereby giving rise to a different behavior. And therefore the knowledge of these behaviors provide an advantage to online marketers to target their customers in a much better optimized manner.
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