Agencies spend millions and millions of bucks segmenting demographics. They slice the market thick and thin. Niches and subgroups are uncovered and explored.
But at the end of the day, every single company can divide its prospects exactly the same way. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling cars or carrots. Ready to take a look at what they are? Here goes.
There are 5 basic segments every business can target.
- Got ’em. These are your current customers. They know you. They like what you’re selling. You can increase profits by getting them to buy your stuff more often, or to buy your stuff in greater quantities, or to buy a higher quality of your stuff and, if they are not already, to buy product line extensions. They are the simplest group for you to reach because you already got ’em. Get it?
- Should get ’em. These are the folks who use or need a product like yours. They are similar in makeup to your current customers. They may not be aware of your product or may be buying from a competitor. Simple awareness advertising or some type of trial promotion is all that’s required.
- Could get ’em. These prospects are only worth pursuing if they are a good value. Ask yourself, are they cheap to target? Are they likely to respond to your message? If the answer is yes, then spending a small portion of your budget on these folks is warranted.
- Might get ’em. You will not convert these prospects in large numbers. They are well outside your core demographic. There may be a special occasion or reason to talk to these folks. You might also consider them when looking at your media waste. Chasing these consumers will get the brand manager fired.
- Forget ’em. Yep, it’s true. Consumers exist who will not buy your product. Woo them at your peril. They don’t need you. They don’t want you. Some of ’em might actually hate you. Ignore them.
As easy as this system is to understand, it is hard to follow. It is many a client’s natural inclination to pursue every possible customer. As an adman, it’s my responsibility to knock that crazy notion right out of your head.
Identify these segments for your product any way you like, demographically, psychographically or just by using plain ole English. Try it. It works. You will discover your most fertile target. Amazingly, every product or service has exactly the same segments.
What influences purchase decisions? Your head, your heart and your habits.
Now that we’ve established that, let’s talk about what influences your potential buyers. There are only three influencers of a purchase decision: Your head, your heart and your habits.
We can get habits out of the way pretty quickly. Advertising almost never affects habits. They are formed in almost unconscious ways.
If your mother bought a certain brand of soap, it’s likely you will continue to buy that brand when you move away from mom. You do it automatically.
Advertising can help break habits, but it cannot create habits.
That leaves your head, or rational thinking, and your heart, or emotions. The key is to understand how to use the head and heart.
Certain products are purchased based on rational decision making, thinking. Refrigerators are a good example. You look at the size, the price, the amount of energy it uses, freezer space and features like an in-door ice and water dispenser. Feelings play almost no role in purchasing a refrigerator.
Other products are purchased based on emotional appeal, feeling. Perfumes or jewelry fall into this category. You buy these products based on how they make you feel. Self-image plays a large role in the decision. Rationality is low priority in deciding this purchase.
Most products are a mix of reason and feeling.
Computers, clothes, beer, personal care products all have varying degrees of head and heart. The head/heart diagram shows advertisers how to craft a selling message to reach the appropriate influencer of purchase decision. Draw the diagram, and it will become clear.
Once you have set up the diagram, products will fall easily onto this chart. Chewing gum will reside in the lower left- hand corner, as it is a low head, low heart product. Cars belong in the upper right-hand corner, as they must be sold using both the head and the heart.
Our old friend the refrigerator belongs in the upper left-hand corner. It is a high head, low heart product. You should now be able to draw your own chart and place any product on it. Where would you put a soft drink? Where would you put a diet soft drink?
Can you move positions on the diagram? You betcha. Here’s how.
This chart is a way to check if you are selling your product using the correct influencer of purchase. Here’s the real payoff. If you can move any product on this chart toward the upper right corner, consumers will pay more for it. And advertising can do that!
Example: if you can add an emotional element to the refrigerator, you move it closer to the upper right-hand corner and you can charge more for it. So let’s make the fridge part of the Martha Stewart collection. We’ll add a patterned or textured surface and add a little circle with Martha’s name near the handle. The result is a more valuable fridge.
But you don’t even have to change the product; you can just introduce emotion into the advertising message.
This will move the perception of your product toward the beckoning upper right-hand corner.
Apple computer does a very good job of this. Most decision points for buying a computer are rational. How much does it cost? How fast is it? How much RAM does it have? On our chart, computers would be well up the think line, almost to the top. On the feel line, computers fall near the middle or lower.
Apple advertising injects emotion into their product. There is no better example than the “Get a Mac” campaign. By using Justin Long as the personification of a Mac, they made their computer, which is nothing more than circuit boards in a box, charming, fun, irreverent and cool.
An often-unnoticed element of these commercials is the use of music. Music carries emotion without saying a word. The same image will be interpreted differently depending on the soundtrack, more on that later. In Apple’s case, the light, uplifting, music box score brings a pleasantness and affirmation to the Apple spots.
Together, Justin’s natural charisma, the clever dialogue and the simple music create a feeling that purchasing a Mac reflects positively on one’s self-image. It’s a large step toward the upper right-hand corner of the chart and Apple reaps the rewards of that movement.
Apple has moved on from this campaign. I still consider it some of the best work they have done. Please note that in these ads Apple still addresses the primary product benefits of a computer. Much of the dialogue is devoted to the high head benefits of speed, processing and user friendliness. They did not abandon the primary benefits of their product in an attempt to move it to the golden upper right corner.
Once you understand the head/heart diagram, it will work for you. This, in combination with understanding how to segment your audience, is the ticket to success when it comes to influencing purchasing decisions.
Got ’em. Should get ’em. Could get ’em. Might get ’em. Forget ’em.
Now go get ’em.
About the Author: Dave Marinaccio is an international bestselling author, successful marketing business entrepreneur, and SVP, CCO of Laughlin Marinaccio & Owens in Arlington, VA. He is author of All I Really Need To Know I Learned From Watching Star Trek and Admen, Mad Men, and The Real World of Advertising.