The root of any successful brand is understanding your customers. To successfully understand your customers, you must be able to accurately identify and target your desired audience. You can target your audience in many ways, and one of the best ways to organize your efforts is by using collected data to inform your target audience segments. These “segments” are essentially the grouping of your overall audience pool into smaller “sub-segments” of customers with similar characteristics which are more specific and often include demographics or behaviors.  

In the 2022 markets, the common consumer is multi-dimensional and does not fit “cleanly” into one general audience segment. Because of this, many companies are turning towards data collection to aid their efforts to accurately target their audiences. 

Identifying Your Software Tech Target Audience 

Your target audience is essentially the customer pool that you want to buy your products, or more precisely, the audience that you center your products and brand around. To narrow down your target audience, you want to ask yourself: 

  • What software need does my tech firm fulfill for customers? 
  • Who is likely to be interested in my products? 
  • What makes my technology better for consumers than the competition? 

When answering these questions, the more specific you can answer the more accurate your determined target audience will be. When looking closely at your ideal consumers that make up your target audience, it is important to consider segments such as: 

  • Age 
  • Gender  
  • Sexuality  
  • Education status 
  • Physical location 
  • Religious affiliation  
  • Relationship status

These are the most basic audience segments that many brands begin with, and nowadays marketing teams must keep in mind that many of these general audience segments have endless variations that overlap and create “offshoot” segments within themselves, which ultimately makes modern target audiences multilayered and more complex. These complex target audience segments require diligent care to correctly identify, and when done so correctly the results can contribute to brand awareness and generate sales – ultimately driving company success. 

The Basics of Audience Segmentation  

Audience segments begin as general – with age or physical location, etc. – and then within those broader segments there are even more refined “sub-segments” that are more complex and involve multiple customer characteristics. For example, your brand could target 18–30-year-old women, and then within that segment of age and gender there are many sub-segments such as: 

  • 18-30-year-old women who go to the gym  
  • 18-30-year-old women who most frequently use social media 
  • 18-30-year-old women that own a dog  
  • 18-30-year-old women that travel regularly  

While all of these different 18–30-year-old women all share the same general segment of their age and gender, they all have differing sub-segments which make them easier and more distinct for brands to effectively target. Likewise, it is important to note that some of these sub-segments could overlap – i.e., 18–30-year-old women who own a dog AND travel frequently. With an audience segment this specific, your products would have to appeal to a need that dog owners experience while traveling – other products that do not fall into this demographic from your brand would then need to be marketed and segmented uniquely, such as with a product for women who own dogs but work from home. While the general segment of your target audience for this product remains the same – women who own dogs – this time the subject has differing needs as someone who works from home, and therefore is in a different sub-segment of your overall company’s target audience. 

How Data Collection Can Inform Audience Segmentation 

When it comes to identifying the unique audience segments for your target audience, the key is to use solid research and collected data to inform your decision. Today, collecting data on audiences has never been easier. With social media becoming increasingly more popular with every new trend that arises, it is easier to connect with and engage customers than ever before. As of 2022, there are an estimated 3.96 billion social media users – and the online behavior of each of these users is constantly being recorded and analyzed to be translated into usable data.  

With social media, companies are able to launch paid or organic marketing and branding campaigns and then immediately begin seeing how consumer interactions with the content translate into data that can be used to inform branding/product alterations or changes. With social media being readily available at the consumer’s whim, data is constantly being collected. From what type of content you follow and interact with and even what other websites you visit on your browser, there is seemingly infinite data to be collected about consumers, their habits, and their needs. 

Data collection can be used to segment your audience with ease, as it essentially already narrows down your segments for you, to an extent. You can take all data you have available about your consumers or those who interact with your content and products and closely examine what different characteristics have combined to make them a member of your target audience. Through social media, you can see your customers’: 

  • Behaviors – including emotions  
  • Interests 
  • Hobbies 
  • Employment  
  • Spending Habits  
  • Preferences  

From here, you can organize your general segments into more specific sub-segments. Being able to identify and understand your customers on a more personal, detailed level via social media allows you to structure your marketing efforts to be more successful when run, as they are polished to appeal to your specific identified audience segments. You must also take into consideration the customers’ overall digital behavior – online shopping habits, communication preferences, news material interests, and so forth – as well as the consumers’ offline behavior, both of which influence your audience segments substantially. 

Although social media may be the easiest way to gather data that will allow you to successfully segment your target audience, when it comes to the 2022 consumer, it is important to use multiple methods of data collection to gain the most accurate understanding of your customers. Data can be collected via internal methods or can be purchased or obtained via a third party, which is where the selling and transmitting of customer data comes into the picture. The use and transfer of this data is done with the consumers’ permission, as it is stated in the policies and permissions provided by companies who collect, analyze, and transfer data. Having consumer data from a variety of sources allows you to understand your consumer and their behaviors, interests, and needs in a more universal way. You can gain a more complete understanding of your customers’ identities, and from there you can effectively pinpoint your target audience segments in a way that encourages traffic and generates sales. 

Data Collection in Software Technology  

Data collection and transmitting is especially easy for software technology firms, because they are the brains and power behind the platforms and systems to facilitate data collection, analysis, and transfer. Whether your tech company specializes in web browsers, antivirus, databases, word processors, or one of the many different software applications, there is data to be gathered and interpreted. You can collect data about your users that can be used to inform software updates and future products and can also gather data that can be sold and traded with other software technology companies and related industries. The beauty of data collection for software technology brands is the ease of integration into their products and services. As with social media, software tech brands can build automatic data collecting functions into their products, streamlining the process and removing the need for a “middle man” when it comes to data collection and audience segmentation. 

How Audience Segmentation Can Yield Data  

Audience segmentation can yield data itself as well. For starters, with each marketing and branding effort, data on its success – and what made the campaign successful – can be collected and analyzed to inform future updates to your strategies. For example, say you run a paid advertising campaign on the websites of 3 different companies from 3 different industries. From that campaign, you have collected who interacted with your ad, from which site, and how many times your ad was viewed but NOT interacted with. This data is produced by a more general segmentation of your target audience, and it can be used to inform future efforts so that your company can narrow down your target audience segments to be as direct as possible – generating the most success. 

Every time consumers interact with your material – webpages, social media content, and more – you are generating new data to analyze when it comes to your audience and their identity. Not only can this data be used to gain insight into your target audience, but it can also be used to innovate your products and services to offer nothing but the best to your consumers.  

How to Benefit the Most from Audience Segmentation   

When it comes to audience segmentation for any brand, it is crucial that you take time during the data collection and analysis processes to identify specifics when it comes to your ideal and current consumers. You should consider what type of consumer currently buys your products, as well as what type of consumer you want to draw in with your products. The secret to saving time in the long run is to take the time to carefully research and collect consumer data to get the most complete and clear understanding of your audience. By doing so, you are going to hit the mark the first time, thus avoiding having to return to refresh your strategy frequently and allowing you to focus on making sales and forming long-term consumer relationships. 

 Audience segments are constantly evolving to grow along with your consumers and their changing needs and interests. As a result, you must periodically revisit your designated audience segments to update them and keep them relevant. Gaining insight into how your target audience has changed over time can be quite simple, as you have already identified the general segments of your target audience, and instead are updating how their habits, emotions, and needs have changed. One of the best methods to gain an understanding of how your audience currently feels about your company and what their current needs are is by conducting customer surveys. With the ability to easily send customers online surveys that immediately forward their results back to management, you can ask questions that apply specifically to your software, and your consumers can give the amount of feedback they feel is necessary. With customer surveys you should consider prompts such as: 

  • What brought the customer to your company?  
  • What software need was the customer hoping to fulfill – and did you meet that need? 
  • What was the deciding factor in choosing your software? 
  • Does the customer feel confident in recommending your software to others?  

Because consumer surveys are typically sent to those who have already done business with your company, they are excellent for understanding how to maintain customer partnerships, but also give a lot of insight into how successfully you have identified and utilized your unique audience segments. The secret to gaining the most benefits from audience segmentation is to do your research diligently and establish a stable strategy for refining and maintaining accurate and distinct segments of your target audience over time. 

Audience Segmentation at its Core 

All in all, the secret to a strong software technology brand is a clear and cohesive understanding of your target audience, and all the characteristics, behaviors, habits, and needs that make up their identity. Every consumer is unique, and because of this your target audience will consist of many audience “segments” that categorize your overall audience pool into smaller groups of customers with similar, more specific characteristics, to effectively identify and target your products and services towards them successfully.  

Using data collection to inform your audience segments can help your brand market its products and services accurately, reaching the correct audience in a meaningful and memorable way that generates business. Identifying your distinct audience can be tricky, and hiring the help of an experienced marketing firm can help you navigate the process a lot more seamlessly. The right agency can help you collect and analyze useful data to pinpoint your company’s precise audience segments and see the maximum benefits from your efforts.  

About Millennium Agency 

Millennium Agency is a nationally recognized, top woman-led boutique creative branding, storytelling/messaging and digital marketing strategy firm with a passion for accelerating your business growth. By uniting creative branding and data analytics, our expert teams combine your vision with our marketing expertise and methodology to deliver exceptional results. With offices in Boston and New Hampshire, and a worldwide presence, the professionals at Millennium Agency would like to learn more about your business.  Visit www.mill.agency or book time here. 

 

Behind every successful company is a team that understands one very important skill: how to use available data to grow their business. As more and more entrepreneurs and businesses enter the world with each passing day, it is more important than ever to keep up with the competition by understanding how to analyze data and implement it into an effective marketing strategy for your business. One of the biggest mistakes you can make when trying to get your business off the ground, especially in the tech/manufacturing industry, is trying to guess what your audience is looking for based on what you think they want, instead of knowing what your audience wants based on what the data tells you about their interests. There are endless data points at your disposal in order to effectively target your audience, but at the top of the pile are marketing metrics. Further below, you will find six marketing metrics you can use to start improving your business through effective digital marketing campaigns. 

But first, what are marketing metrics? 

What Are Marketing Metrics

Marketing metrics are the lifeblood of a company. Also known as a Marketing Key Performance Indicator (KPI), a marketing metric refers to the measurable value that shows how effective a particular campaign is performing across all marketing channels.

Think of it this way: you cannot possibly provide an optimal experience for every online consumer at every point of contact. What you can do, however, is gain insight into the overall online consumer experience by using marketing metrics to increase efforts in areas that will benefit your business the most and adjusting or decreasing resources spent in areas that are not producing enough. Marketers can use metrics to show the value they are providing. As a business owner, you can have greater peace of mind allocating a bigger budget to your marketing team when the metrics can demonstrate the value of their efforts. The potential applications of marketing metrics to help a given business grow are exponential, and how far they will take your business is up to you.

With all the available data at your disposal, it can be overwhelming trying to figure out where to start. Identifying the most useful metrics that will have the greatest positive impact on your marketing campaigns can be difficult because not all businesses are the same. Nonetheless, there are a handful of universally beneficial marketing metrics that will be useful for you to become familiar with.

6 Marketing Metrics to Help Grow Your Business 

Utilize these six marketing metrics to help grow your business:

Impression Share: This metric is used to determine how much visibility a brand is receiving on a given channel as a percentage of the total number of impressions it can acquire. Impressions are the number of times your content is displayed to someone, regardless of whether that someone clicked on it or not. Thus, if you run an ad that receives 40 impressions out of 100 total potential impressions, your impression share for that ad would be 40%.

There are a number of ways to improve your impression share:

  • Increase your campaign budget: Your budget is a major factor when it comes to impression shares. That is because your budget controls how regularly your ad is displayed. The more often your ad is shown, the greater the percentage of total impressions it can reach.
  • Increase your bid: Whenever there is ad space available, Google Ads runs an auction. By placing a bid for your ad, you are placing it in the running for that auction. The platform will allow you to bid for your ads based on what makes the most sense for your business (clicks, impressions, conversions, etc.). This way, you will only pay when someone performs the action your campaign is targeting. Raising your bid can improve the likelihood that your ad will show for that available ad space.
  • Improve ad quality: Sometimes the issue with a low impression share has nothing to do with the amount of money you are spending or who your target audience is, but the quality of the ad itself. The key to a high-quality ad is giving users what they’re looking for and delivering on your promises. 

Bounce Rate: When someone visits a single page of your website and leaves immediately without any further action, this is called a “bounce.” Bounce rates are detrimental to your conversion rate and can indicate a poor user experience and decrease sales. When a new lead makes their way to your site, you want them to stick around. The longer they stay, the more likely they are to look around, browse other pages, and ultimately buy or sign up for something. If your consumers do “bounce,” it indicates that they did not find anything interesting or useful, and this may be a sign that you need to change things about your site to become more relevant to your consumers.

To improve your bounce rate, try these helpful tips:

  • Define the bounce rate: This may seem obvious, but you want to make sure whatever tool you are using to track the bounce rate on your landing pages is set to a short duration like 10 to 30 seconds. If you accidentally set the duration higher, or it is set higher by default, your high bounce rate may include users who are actually engaged in your content and find it useful.
  • Provide relevant content consistently: Creating quality content consistently is key. When you provide users with useful content that informs and engages them, they will stick around for a while and see what else they can find on your site. When you do this consistently, consumers will be more inclined to interact with future content.
  • Use calls to action (CTAs): Incorporate CTAs to get users to read more of your content. One way to do this is by providing links to related articles. If you provide high enough quality content, users are more likely to want to click links to related materials, thus boosting your site traffic.

Click-through Rate (CTR): Not to be confused with conversion rate, CTR refers to how many times a particular ad is clicked on as a percentage of the number of impressions. So, if out of 100 impressions, 4 people clicked on your ad, the CTR for that ad would be 4%. CTRs for ads are typically low so 4% or higher is a good sign that it is relevant and engaging.

The important thing to do with CTRs is understand that getting someone to click is just getting their foot in the door; the next step is providing an experience that matches with the ad or link that got them there. If your ad promises a free manufacturing software service and the first thing that pops up on your site when someone clicks through to your site is a subscription form that asks for their credit card info, you are not aligning the ad with the experience and you are likely to see an increase in your bounce rate as a result.

To boost your click-through rate:

  • Analyze your keyword choices: One of the biggest influences on your click-through rate is your keyword choices. Producing quality content and identifying your target audience will not have much effect on boosting your brand if you do not even show up on search engine results pages (SERPs). This really boils down to relevance. The best way to stay relevant is to ensure that the keywords you choose to target with your ads are on par with what the ad is promoting and think about the experience the user clicking through to your site will have.
  • Define your audience more specifically: The tighter the parameters you set for the audience your ad is targeting, the more qualified your users will be. This will in turn boost your click-through rate and save you money on ad spending.
  • Choose the best times of day: Running ads 24/7 is neither cost-effective nor will it help your CTR. Analyze your CTR per hour to find when your audience is online and dial down your campaign during times of low activity.

Average Time on Page: A sometimes overlooked data point is the average time a person spends on a page. You might think that the more time a visitor spends on a given page, the better, but this is not the case. While a short amount of time spent is not a good indicator, too much time spent on a page can mean that the content is too complex or that the user is idle. There is a sweet spot of about 2-3 minutes that suggests the user is engaged and finds the information on that page to be informative and interesting.

To improve the average time a person spends on your web page:

  • Provide high quality content (again!): It may seem repetitive, but it is true. Providing content that is informative, engaging and relevant to your brand on a consistent basis is one of the best ways to keep your customers scrolling.
  • Make it scannable and easy to read: Today, most people want their information in a quick and easy to digest format. Opt for copy that is easy to scan like summaries, tables of contents, bullet points and lists in place of lengthy descriptions and flowery language. Including a CTA will also capture your reader’s attention.

Cost Per Lead (CPL): CPL refers to the amount you spend to acquire a new lead through a campaign. It is calculated by dividing how much you spent on a marketing channel by the number of leads you acquired from it. For example, if you spent $1,000 on Facebook Ads in a given period of time and you acquired 10 leads, your CPL would be $100. CPL can be used to determine how to grow your customer base. After all, before people become customers, they often must become leads first.

Ideally, you want to spend as little and acquire as many leads as possible. Knowing your CPL will equip you with the information you need to maximize your budget and target the lowest-cost marketing channels to drive up your customer base and convert more leads and sales. 

To improve your CPL, try:

  • Adding or removing keywords: You want to find an ideal keyword set for your ads to target that will bring in the highest number of relevant users as possible. To do so, you will want to monitor your keyword statistics closely, remove the ones that are not performing well, and add keywords that are similar to the ones that are doing well. A good way to make this easier is to use one keyword per ad so you can turn off the poor-performing ones right away and to keep a list of the negative keywords to exclude from future campaigns.
  • Use long-tail keywords: Long-tail keywords are more specific keyword phrases that return fewer but more relevant results than their more generic counterparts. For example, if you search “rice” in Google, you will get over a billion results, but if you search “low-calorie brown rice brands” you will get about 60 million results. If you were marketing a low-calorie brown rice brand, targeting the latter in your ads might yield fewer results than people who just searched “rice,” but they will be much more qualified and relevant and therefore more likely to become customers.

Conversion Rate: A high click-through rate does not necessarily mean those clicks result in sales. For that marketing metric, you want to look at the conversion rate, the percentage of clicks that result in actual sales.

Conversion rate can be improved by: 

  • Making your processes hassle-free: One of the reasons users do not convert into customers is because a process is too much of a hassle to complete. An example of this is if you have lengthy forms for them to fill out. If someone goes to sign up for your newsletter, they are likely to get part of the way through it and just give up if its super long. That is a potential lead/sale you worked hard to achieve that just slipped away for something as simple as a sign-up form being too long. Eliminate hassle from your users’ experiences and the results will follow. 
  • A strong, positive online presence: Your online presence and reputation are major factors when it comes to your conversion rate. In fact, 89% of customers will not take action until they read reviews. It is important to include positive reviews and testimonials on your site to boost your credibility, gain the trust of your users, and keep them from having to go to a third-party site to see what people are saying about their experiences doing business with you. 

Bottom Line 

Marketing metrics are more than just arbitrary stats and figures. They are powerful indicators of where your business stands and where it is heading. Use the six metrics listed in this article to start gaining insight into the critical points in your sales/marketing pipeline that may be holding you back from growing your business to its full potential. 

For more tried-and-true marketing solutions in the technology and manufacturing sector, come check out our blog. Need branding, messaging, or strategy solutions for your business? Schedule a call or send us a message today! 

About Millennium Agency 

Millennium Agency is a nationally recognized, top woman-led boutique creative branding, storytelling/messaging and digital marketing strategy firm with a passion for accelerating your business growth. By uniting creative branding and data analytics, our expert teams combine your vision with our marketing expertise and methodology to deliver exceptional results. With offices in Boston and New Hampshire, and a worldwide presence, the professionals at Millennium Agency would like to learn more about your business.  Visit www.mill.agency or book time here.

With the start of the third year of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the market is ever evolving with new consumer demands arising every day. It is more important than ever for tech firms to rethink their technology brand strategy in order to stay ahead of the competition.

Technology Brand Strategy

When it comes to your technology brand strategy, there are a few key elements that make the process: research, creativity, and perception.

Market research and data is traditionally used to inform key branding and marketing decisions. Since there are more virtual interactions than face to face interactions these days, technology marketers should carefully research their online presence. Marketers must keep track of how their brands are perceived online in real time instead of using traditional focus groups that take weeks to get results. There are built-in advanced marketing research tools for companies to track customer sentiment and buzz volume in real time on social media. These tools can then be used to personalize marketing to different customer groups.

When it comes to creativity, it is known that the more creative your branding is, the more you will stand out. Your creative elements should be well coordinated and should contain messaging and visuals that carry a cohesive appearance and voice throughout. You can use your market research to inform your creative elements to make sure that they properly target your audience. Your brand messaging should have a signature touch to it that makes you immediately recognizable to consumers and should give your customers a feel for who your company is and what it stands for.

Tech Audiences are Evolving

When branding for a technology company, keep your audience in mind. Depending on what type of service you provide, you will have very specific market demands to cater towards in order to stay on top of changing trends and conditions. When it comes to the tech industry, current customers desire the most advanced technology, without stretching their comfort zone. Given the desire for any amount of “normalcy” that can be obtained, the American market that has been previously apprehensive to swift technological advancements is becoming more open to embracing new technology as the rush to adapt to life with COVID continues.

In addition to not wanting to leave their comfort zone, many customers of tech firms are concerned with the availability of products and support from their chosen tech brands. According to Accenture Interactive’s latest Fjord Trends report, the COVID pandemic has caused customers to require tech companies that offer 24/7 quality support that they rely on when it comes to troubleshooting products with new technology. Additionally, with global shortages and supply chain delays, customers are looking for a tech brand that is prepared for shortages with enough stock to support their needs throughout the full lifecycle of their products. Centering your brand in a way which highlights specifically how you combat “hurdles,” shows your customers that you are on top of your game.

Along with the need for more advanced technology that is backed by 24/7 customer support, customers expect to receive immediate service and results with the touch of a button – and you must make sure that your brand is able to compete. The rush to more advanced technology sparked by COVID has caused the tech industry to advance rapidly, and companies must make sure that their technology brand strategy is able to keep up. Highlighting the “perks” of doing business with your company when it comes to timelines and turnaround times helps your brand stand out to those looking for immediate, quality products.

Highlight Your Differences

Having a clear and cohesive understanding of your customers and their needs makes your rebrand strategy easier. Once they are convinced your brand offers the right type of service that they are looking for, they then turn to your products. Customers are more likely to purchase technology when they can give input and customize its uses or features on their own. Tech customers need to be able to trust their technology providers, and trust that they can get satisfactory support with ease. As a technology company, you should make sure that customers are engaged in all aspects of their service, especially the product selection and owning process. Developing your technology brand strategy in a way which focuses on the personalization and customization opportunities you offer will give your customers the impression that you are the most advanced, more unique tech company on the market.

The demand for software technology companies to scale is only increasing with time, and to stay ahead of the competition, it is vital to keep your technology brand strategy up to date. Your brand strategy should aim to keep the uncertainty of today’s world in mind and focus on the overall needs of your customers. If you are unsure where to start, the brand strategy experts at Millennium Agency can help you begin devising your company’s technology brand strategy today.

About Millennium Agency      

Millennium Agency is a national, award-winning boutique branding, messaging and strategy marketing firm for the software technology and manufacturing sectors. A top-led women-owned business, we take your brand and vision seriously and build a strategy that drives brand success. Our expert team unites creative branding, storytelling and data analytics to accelerate your business growth. With offices in Boston and New Hampshire, and a worldwide presence, the professionals at Millennium Agency would like to learn more about your business.