June 2008

Narrowcasting: Give Customers What They Want

If your website isn’t delivering an experience that is relevant and customized to your audiences' needs, they’ll quickly move on. Fortunately, we have six steps to help you keep them right where you want them.

By Selena Welz

When I was a child, I shared a bedroom with my brother, who’s about two years older than I am. It worked fine when we were little, but eventually our interests diverged. I wanted yellow curtains; he wanted forest green ones. I wanted to read and go to sleep early; he wanted to stay up late watching TV. It became clear that we needed our own space. Sharing one room just wasn’t working anymore. In the same vein, perhaps it's time to give your audience segments their own rooms, too.

Today’s Web users have more freedom than ever to choose what content they’ll consume, and the one-room, broadcast approach will not serve everyone's needs. If your website isn’t delivering an experience that is relevant and customized to your audiences' needs, they’ll quickly move on.

Most companies have more than one audience segment that they’re trying to reach and they spend lots of time and money identifying and researching these various segments. But that's just the first step. Here are some tips to keep in mind when differentiating your messaging for your audience segments:

1. Limit your scope
   Let’s start with a basic reality check: You just won’t be able to talk to your entire audience all at once. Even if you've identified all your business's audience segments and sub-segments and their differences, trying to reach all of these segments isn’t practical or cost effective. Pare your selections down to a few main audiences and commit to these as your priorities.
   
   
2. Be specific
   Delivering relevance is all about specificity, and that extends in both directions. You need to know your own audience segments and be able to describe them in detail, but you also need to be specific with your messaging. Explain exactly what you have to offer. Avoid using vague marketing jargon like "value-add" or "powerful." Instead, explain exactly what value is being added or why something is powerful.
   
   
3. Use familiar language
   By the time you get around to differentiating your content for each segment, you should know your audiences well enough to have a grasp of which words are most meaningful to them. Your audiences will respond more positively to language that is familiar. In addition, you need to use appropriate keywords to ensure your audience can find you. The majority of Web users today land on sites tangentially, through search. Make sure your keywords and meta tags are just as relevant as your overall messaging.
   
   
4. Keep track of voice and tone
   Voice and tone are vital to communicating a company’s brand identity. Used consistently, voice and tone bring a brand to life, and can serve to differentiate your product, as well as your audience segments.  Voice and tone work in concert, but can be identified separately:
   
   
   • Voice communicates your company and site personality; it’s who visitors “hear” when they read site copy.
   • Tone communicates a company’s attitude toward the audience and subject matter.
   Your brand voice should be consistent across your entire website, but tone can help to match your content segments to your audience segments. For example, a relaxed tone may be appropriate for your 25-35 urban professional audience, while a more formal tone may resonate with 65+ retirees.
   
   
5. Create content channels
   Using smaller communication platforms that are customized to each audience segment is the best way to keep your messages relevant and meaningful. Identifying the best platform will depend on your particular audience needs. Here are a few options for creating content channels:
   
   
   • Audience-specific "sitelets"—If you have only a handful of easily distinguishable audience segments, dedicate sections of your website to each one. Make sure that each section is self-contained and includes everything that the audience may need, without having to wander outside of that section. Differentiate each section with color palates, keywords, or tone.
   • Email newsletter templates—Email newsletters are a great way to deliver relevant content directly to users. Are you delivering the same content to your entire mailing list? Or are there ways to segment your list? Does it make sense to create a different newsletter for each audience segment? This may only require a small tweak, like a different introduction.
   • Premium content—Designating a subscription-only portion of your site can help your more committed, long-term customers differentiate themselves, while also feeling like they’re getting something extra for their commitment to your brand.
   • Tiered content—Offer subscription services or products at many levels. Packaging products or services into progressively larger bundles offers a lower commitment level that may encourage first-time visitors or customers, while allowing repeat visitors and customers to gradually increase their commitment level. Organizing your offerings in this way also segments customers by interest level or budget.

Don’t let careful research like focus groups and reader surveys go to waste by failing to connect with your audience. Follow the guidelines above and keep your content narrow, specific, and customized to each of your audience segments.

About the author:

Selena Welz is associate managing editor at Tendo Communications and still wants yellow curtains for her room. Email her.