My Blog

When did you last look at your database - the list of contacts and prospective clients you have? (You do have a database, don't you?! If not, click here to download a free help sheet that tells you the basics you need to record on a database.)

When you look at your database, do you just see a long list of contacts, with nothing to distinguish them from each other? If so, it's time you looked at ways of segmenting them, so that you can send them targeted messages.

Targeted Training

One of our clients provides training courses in a range of topics. We went through her database and split it into a number of different groups, according to the type of training they buy from her. Instead of sending a newsletter to her entire mailing list, we wrote a targeted message for one particular group that makes up a third of her list. We bumped up her usual 60% open rate to a 100% open rate.

In addition to that, she received a record number of bookings for the specific training courses we promoted in that newsletter.

Location, location

For client number two, we looked at the geographic location of all his contacts because he was launching a new service in a particular area of the country. We sent a mail shot to just a fifth of his database - it went only to the people whose businesses were close enough to the launch event.

The result? A much higher open rate than mail shots which have been sent to the entire database and bookings being made online within hours of the event details being received!

Start Segmenting

So, before you do any more marketing, take a closer look at your database - in whatever form it exists - and start to segment your contacts. Think about how you can divide your contacts according to what they need, where they are, what type or size of business they run and anything else you can think of. Then look at how to target each group with a really specific message and watch the results!