Today’s customers expect – no, they demand relevancy. If what you’re trying to communicate doesn’t connect with their issues in a split second, you’ve lost them. Knowing who your customers are and what they need is a requirement to compete in today’s competitive online world. Anticipating what they want and providing value at the right time, place and format is what is needed to win.

What distinguishes online marketing from various forms of database mar­keting is the incredible wealth of data and the velocity at which everything moves. Consequently, businesses that are able to successfully measure, segment and digest thousands or even millions of customer transactions in a fast and efficient way will realize a significant competitive advantage. The proper use of customer information and segments will benefit customers too. Customers should perceive the information and offers they receive from you as a benefit (if it's relevant) of having a relationship with your company.

How do you touch a customer’s life through segmentation and a data­base? There are many ways, some of them so simple that we may overlook them. For example, when I visit Blockbuster.com, they greet me by name and more importantly provide me with recommendations based on my previous selections and the scores I have given to movies. Personal­ization is nice, but recommendations are valuable. Blockbuster is able to make these recommendations because of the data they have collected about me over time and through tracking my behavior.

Not too long ago, I was shopping for light fixtures online. I even put an item or two in my shopping cart, but decided to leave the site before placing the order. When I revisited the site a few days later I was offered a discount on lighting fixtures and I was provided additional information on a new line of lighting fixtures that the store was now carrying. This was an unexpected benefit and made my shopping experience easier.

Finally, the other day I received an email from an online women’s clothing store. It was a brief email from the department manager, reminding me of my wife’s upcoming birthday and it contained an offer to gift-wrap and send a dress by one of her favorite designers, in her favorite color and size in time for her birthday. I snatched up the offer. This business is providing a valuable service for their customers and I bet it’s a very profitable one too. It made me glad to be in their database. And it was all made possible through customer intelligence and smart segmentation. When done well, segmentation and database marketing will make your customers feel content about having a relationship with you.

What would happen if we could find the promotion, copy, call-to-action, or price that was relative and appropriate for every single customer or visitor? WOW – Now that would be a significant breakthrough!

We may not be too far off. In reality, a combination of behavioral, psychographics and demographic targeting may accomplish this.  The key is effective segmentation. The right message, to the right person, at the right time, at the right place – true one-to-one marketing!

Reprinted with permission from Omniture.