Segmenting Your Online Markets

An eConsultancy report on conversion rate optimization found that companies who see higher CRO rates typically use 90 percent more ways to segment visitors. Instead of merely segmenting by behavior, for instance, these companies also use geographic, demographic, social media, transactional, engagement, preferences, and media interaction data as well. This helps us figure out who to target, how to engage customers, how to encourage customers to purchase more or more frequently, how to nurture leads, how people interact with the site, and much more. Segmentation is a crucial component of CRO – but how do you start?

First, trot over to Google Analytics. You can opt to use segmentation software or services, but Google offers advanced tools that can help you get a clearer picture of your traffic. Another great feature is that you can analyze data retroactively, so you can get an even more broad, deep idea of what is going on. Enter your website profile (if you have more than one website, the segments will apply to each, so you don’t have to do them each separately) and go to Advanced Segments.

There is a list of default segments on the left side of the screen. On the right is a list of custom settings, as well as the option to “+ New Custom Segment.”  Say you want to track all visitors from Camden and Enfield. You name that segment (something clever like “Camden and Enfield”) and then:

Include > Region (find or type this into this field) > Containing “Exactly Match” > Camden and Enfield.

You can further hone in on your segment.  Under “Add AND statement” you can choose dimensions such as source, keywords, referral path, revenue, etc. You may choose to further narrow in on traffic from Camden and Enfield that result in revenue of a certain amount.  You can choose up to 20 “AND statements.”

You can preview your segment to see a graph of the traffic that meets those parameters. You can also look at those numbers in relation to the overall traffic.  From here, you can begin analyzing your traffic. Do customers from this group tend to stay on the site longer? Do customers from this group abandon items in their cart? Do people of this age or demographic fall off on page X? You can ask any number of questions in order to pinpoint changes that can make your site more effective.