Targeting, segmenting, personalizing……whatever you want to call it, I am a huge fan and believe that much of online marketing success depends on the ability to do this well.  Following are 10 tips on how to look at the visitors to your website and how to target them with messages that will resonate wiht them.

Returning Visitors

Returning visitors already know the basics about your site. Help them learn more, have a richer experience, and convert faster by targeting a different experience after their first visits. For example, you might replace instructional or introductory language with more relevant content on a second visit based on what you want them to do next.

Frequent Converters

For frequent converters, give them targeted rewards – these visitors are the most valuable, and it pays to engage them more effectively.

Or, encourage infrequent purchasers to convert again by identifying them and then providing a more compelling offer.

Registered Users

Most sites devote a lot of real estate to user registration. If a visitor has already signed up, fill that valuable space with different content. A magazine site, for example, should remove the subscription sign-up content if an existing subscriber is visiting the site. If someone is already receiving your newsletter, use that sign-up space to promote something else.

User-Generated Content Providers

For visitors who contribute to reviews or discussions on your site, make it even easier and more rewarding to participate more. Highlight other opportunities to join your site’s community with layout changes or calls to action.

Weekenders

People behave differently depending on when they visit your site, so target campaigns based on day of week or time of day. If you have offers, promotions, or content that expire at certain times, targeting content based on time of day or day of week will give you an easy relevance win. Inform visitors of upcoming shipping cutoffs, show different content to lunchtime visitors, and try day of week offers to help drive conversion metrics.

Category Loyalists

Give your visitors what they are telling you they want. For the portion of your traffic that repeatedly visits the same category, make the favorite category even more prominent. Try changing navigation to put a visitor’s top category first in the list. Or deliver targeted calls to action and offers associated with the favorite category.

Searchers

Show returning visitors content related to their last site search. Or, make search functionality even more prominent for people who search frequently during their visits to your site.

Deciders

If someone provided job title as part of site registration or a request for information, focus your messaging based on that information. Create segments for different levels of responsibility to increase engagement and to identify decision makers or business owners. Speak to decision makers differently than decision influencers for greater relevance.

Locals

Even on the Internet, a visitor’s geographic location can make them likely to respond to different messages. Would you tell them something different if they were within a few miles of you?

Yahoos and Googlers

People who come from search engines may behave differently. They have used a keyword that you can use to align your solutions to their needs. For that matter, any traffic source may bring users with similar preferences. Use this knowledge to be more relevant to them.

 Ralf
LiveRez