Making sense of audience segmentation
Susanna Barnett explores the issue of audience segmentation and how tailored approaches are appropriate to different companies and sectors.
Sending multiple missives from head office to employees doesn't mean they will be read. Employees can feel overwhelmed and the message can get lost or thrown away. Many companies have found that targeting messages to specific groups - audience segmentation - is a far more effective means to reach employees companywide.
"You can't be all things to all people," says Rebecca Richmond, group director of research and content at Melcrum. "Audience segmentation is useful to everyone. I don't think any organization has one lump of employees anymore."
Companies that don't put effort into getting audience segmentation right will suffer, adds Sam Marshall, director of UK-based ClearBox Consulting. "They get to the point where the employees accept they're going to get a lot of spam from their company, and they just delete it," he says. "Of course, the price you pay is that important things get deleted as well."
Slicing the pie
Historically, companies have based audience segmentation on demographics, but today they are thinking from a more multi-functional perspective.
"Segmentation isn't what it used to be," says Kit Stinson, vice president of executive communications at global telecommunication company Avaya. "The 'who you are' approach to demographics that used to drive segmentation isn't the way employees think of themselves anymore," she says.
The world has become a melting pot, making it harder to apply traditional segmentation strategies, agrees Richmond. While there is no consistent way of segmenting employees, she recommends that companies consider two points.
Five steps to successful segmentation
1. Meet with your marketing department to research your company's demographics. Some of the data will already have been researched.
2. Simplify - find common patterns of need among multiple segments so you have a handful of groups you are addressing rather than hundreds.
3. Find out how your employees want to gather information. Check in with them every so often to see if that has changed.
4. When using social media, keep in mind that you are a facilitator of information, not a corporate voice.
5.
Know your corporate culture. If your company works best with basic segmentation, stick to it.
First, internal communicators should meet with their marketing department to gain insight into their company's employees and to see what data, if any, exists.
"To me, it's about marketing and marketing research," Richmond says. "You need to try to understand the world inside your business."
Secondly, companies should look for common patterns of need across multiple segments that may be different in every other way, but have one or two overlaps when it comes to a channel, message or trusted source for corporate information.
"If you find those overlaps and place your bets on those things, you're going to most effectively hit the broad majority of people in a way that will resonate more strongly with them," says Richmond. "That's where I've seen organizations think about segmentation in a smart and effective way without overwhelming themselves and their resources."
One area that has gained momentum is life stage segmentation. "You really look at what it is that makes people go to work in the morning," Richmond says.
People want, and need, different information at different times in their careers. A new graduate has different expectations than someone nearing retirement, for example. Bruce Tulgan, founder of the Rainmaker Thinking consultancy, says companies should check with their human resource department to help slice the workforce. Once the segments have been determined, he recommends considering both the content and the channel.
Ultimately, one has to consider what messages must remain the same regardless of what segment they are targeted at. "You don't want anyone confused about this," Tulgan says. "Decide what those messages are. Other than that, you would be much more effective if you customize your messages and your means of delivery based on who you want to achieve what purpose at any time."
Technology is expanding the channels, Marshall says. Someday smartphones will be so ubiquitous, even factory workers will be able to access intranet messages with them. Currently social media allows employees to create their own tailored experiences. "People can be a lot more self-selecting while trying to work out what they want to see," he says.
How companies segment their audience, and the channels they use to reach each group, vary as widely as the sectors themselves. For some companies, that may mean categorizing employees by job function or length of service. Others are exploring interactive channels and some have realized that, despite the new technologies available, sometimes basic demographic segmentation works best.
Key Points
Audience segmentation, where messages are targeted towards specific groups, is more effective for disseminating communication than simply sending multiple messages to all employees.
Traditionally, companies were basing their segmentation on demographics, but that approach may not work for some organizations.
Communicators should conduct research into employees and explore preferred channels and common needs - whether they are linked to job function, organizational structure, demographics, etc. Always keep in mind the culture of the organization.
Tailoring your communication
Marshall speaks from experience. When he served as intranet manager for consumer products giant Unilever, the company targeted its approximate 250,000 employees based on five dimensions - the employee's physical location; line of business; job function or profession; brand worked on; and the local project team or department. All reports or news announcements and other communication were sent to a content marketplace where community managers were responsible for matching the content with their audience.
Members can read the rest of the article here.
This article was originally published in Strategic Communication Management.
Have your say
How do you segment your audience at your company? Have your employees segmented themselves when it comes to social media? Share your thoughts below...
Recommended resources:
Your at-a-glance guide to audience segmentation
The dos and don'ts of segmentation
TOP TIPS: Five steps for conducting an intranet segmentation study
ONLINE LIBRARY 
Access all Setting Your Strategy and Plan articles