Audience segmentation has been a cornerstone of marketing for decades. It's a simple principle to understand--and even a little segmentation goes a long way toward personalization goals. It's all about dividing large audiences into smaller subsets of homogenous groups based on known or suspected attributes and interests, then tailoring marketing messages based on the similarities.

Digital marketing makes it possible to hone the subsets of audiences into smaller and smaller groups, with the ultimate goal of precise 1-to-1 personalization at the individual level. With each interaction, additional data insights are gathered, equipping savvy marketers to continuously refine their messages until they've reached many audiences of one.

There are countless ways to divide large audiences into smaller ones. Let's check out three of the most widely used.

What is Demographic Segmentation?
Demographic Segmentation is the most basic form of audience segmentation. It is used to narrow audiences based on variables such as gender, location, age or income. For example, suppose BMW is releasing a new high-end motorcycle. They'll most likely want to target middle-aged men, with higher than average income, who live in warmer climates.

What is Psychographic Segmentation?
Psychographic Segmentation targets consumers based on factors such as their lifestyle, personality, activities, and interests. In the BMW example from above, it would pay big dividends to further refine the audience of wealthy middle-aged men in warm climates to those who ride motorcycles, are prone to impulsive purchases, and enjoy a good adventure.

What is Behavioral Segmentation?
Behavioral Segmentation is based on how a consumer makes a purchase. Marketers strive to understand what influences their decision making, such as buying on date-based occasions, seeking certain benefits, or because they are loyal to the a brand. To market their new motorcycles, BMW could continue to streamline their audience by targeting previous BMW buyers who bought their bike within 60 days of the model's introduction.

How to Get Started with Audience Segmentation?
Audience Segmentation doesn't have to be complicated. It's an evolutionary process, not a one-time event.

Data is the most valuable resource to achieving segmentation. Marketing Cloud's Audience Builder has helped thousands of marketers manage their contacts, build a single view of each individual, and integrate data from any source. It's a powerful tool to create and target segments for acquisition, onboarding, engagement, advocacy, and more.

With Audience Builder, you can:

• Manage, consolidate, organize, and link data to your contacts from any source - including e-commerce, ERP, CRM, point of sale, and others. (LEARN HOW)
• Use an intuitive drag-and-drop interface to segment your customers in sophisticated ways. Understand them better, and send more targeted messages. (LEARN HOW)
• Integrate data from Sales Cloud and Service Cloud with just a few clicks. Synchronize contacts, leads, accounts, cases, or any custom object. Use CRM data to trigger journeys. (LEARN HOW)

Interested in seeing Audience Builder in action? Request a demo today!