Central Blurb

Why Segmentation And Targeting of Website Traffic Results in Increase Online Sales

The methods generally used to increases site sales are
Special Pricing Offers
Bonuses and incentives
Increased visitor traffic
Use of landing page optimization
Using segmentation targeting

The majority of site marketers know about techniques for getting more visitor traffic or promoting special offers. Somewhat fewer site owners and marketers know about landing page optimization techniques and very few will know about segmentation targeting.

The number of sales or opt-ins from a web page is defined simply by

Page Sales / Opt-ins = page conversion x page visitors

In the above definition what counts are visitors to the sales page not to the web site. If 5,000 visitors a month visit a site with an un-optimized site design only 20% or 1,000 of them might ever see the sales page.

To improve sales therefore requires either more visitors to the page, or an increase conversion rate, or both.

Trying to increase visitors to a web page through constantly striving for better search rankings or by using increasingly costly pay per click, can lead eventually to diminishing returns for your money and efforts.

Using landing page optimization techniques we can increase online sales without the need for more visitors.

However, it is not practical or economic to use landing page optimization on all websites since the process requires a certain level of traffic to be completed in an acceptable time frame.

A lesser known but highly effective technique for improving sales is segmentation targeting. Like landing page optimization, segmentation targeting makes use of existing traffic to improve conversion rate.

Where segmentation targeting differs, is that it relies upon first segmenting incoming visitor traffic into groups and then targeting each group with customized offers tailored to the needs and wants of that group. It is by presenting customized targeted offers to specifically segmented groups of visitors we are able to increase conversion rate and turn more visitors into buyers or opt-ins.

The segmentation process begins when a visitor arrives at a landing page and is presented with one or two simple choices that are designed to help them have a more tailored presentation of the offer.

The visitor could be asked if they are male or female or asked to indicate an age group, assuming these factors were important in segmenting visitors into target groups by gender and age. What groups visitors are segmented into in practice depends on what the offer actually is.

Once visitors have indicated their preferences they are presented with a series of options that tailor their experience of the offer according to their choices. This part of the process often employs a fun quiz or a knowledge test which through visitor interaction with the site also improves visitor interest and retention.

A different interactive quiz is presented to each segmented group and results in visitors in that group being given the most suitable product offer available.

Segmentation Targeting a Win-Win Process
The visitor wins by being given an offer based on their choices and the site owner wins by presenting an offer that’s more likely to make a sale to that visitor. By interacting with the site visitor the segmentation targeting process gives rise to increase conversion rate.

For more information visit segmentation and targeting to see if you could increase conversion rate on your site. Alternatively use our online landing page optimization evaluator to see if your site could benefit from landing page optimization.

About the Author:
Tony Simpson provides advice and a wide range of web site optimization services designed to make your website work for you.