Well they say that the best way to learn a lesson is with the experience of others. There are many case studies that show the importance of having a good segmentation when launching a campaign on social networks. A large part of the failures in these campaigns is due to the lack of importance or to the incorrect reading that a brand or company makes at the time of segmentation.

Luckily, we have compiled the most common mistakes that companies make when segmenting their market, and we have summarized it for you in the following steps:

1-Lack of information about your market

Information is, to a large extent, the most important ingredient when it comes to cooking up a successful social media campaign. But it is not enough to have it, you have to understand it. If you are thinking of carrying out an upcoming campaign, it is essential to find the largest number of variables in your market, both demographic and psychographic and behavioral. With this, you will be very clear about the audience you want to reach with that campaign.

Example: Questions to ask according to the variable

• Demographic variables: What gender am I aimed at? How old are you? What is your socioeconomic level? Where do you live? Where do they work? What level of education do they have? Do you practice any specific religion? How big is your family? What is your role in the family?
• Psychographic variables: What is your lifestyle like? How is your personality? What are your interests? What are your tastes? What values ​​predominate in your person? What concerns do you have?
• Behavioral variables: What is the frequency of use? Do you have brand loyalty? Are they new users? Do they currently use the product or service? What benefits are they looking for?

2-Not segmenting according to your main objective

When running a campaign, you must have a main objective. This should be taken as a guide to select an audience which is sought to be addressed. Both the objective and the segmentation must be aligned and congruent to have a greater degree of effectiveness.

Example: If your main objective is to increase the frequency of consumption in your premises, you should segment according to the public that you want to visit your business more often; remember that it works much better if you only focus on a specific market segmentation.

3-Not using the right channels

Knowing the behavior of your public and the means they use to purchase are data that you should know: what platforms they use, their confidence when buying, what means they use to search for information about products or services, among others.

Example: If your strategy is aimed at generation Z (people born between 1995-2015) you should know the following:

• This generation shows a greater dependence on their mobile devices. This is why much of your campaign should be targeted at mobile devices.
• This generation loves videos and consumes all kinds of content regardless of the duration. That is why you should implement in your campaign a large amount of audiovisual content that is attractive to them (video ads on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube).
• They are more active than the rest of Internet users in relation to the use of social platforms, highlighting the use of instant messaging. This is why if you want to have a means of contact, do not hesitate to choose WhatsApp.

4-Not understanding the interests of your market

Many of the pages such as Facebook, Instagram and Google Ads have the segmentation tool based on interests. This tool can be very powerful; If you clearly understand the interests of your market, your campaign will be very accurate in getting results.

Example: On the Facebook platform there is a detailed segmentation section that allows you to segment according to the interests of your market. The more interests you select, the better targeted your campaign will be.

5-Refine the size of your market

This is a common mistake that most people make, and that is that everyone wants to eat the whole cake, but in the end, they end up with indigestion. Seek to create specific strategies for your client or audience; look for their interests, see their behaviors and needs; this way you will be much more effective and your energy and budget will be well used.

Example: Let’s imagine that this is your segmentation:

• Men and Women from 20 to 50 years of socioeconomic level AB, C+, C-
• You must understand that a 20-year-old man does not have the same behaviors, interests, or communication channels as a 50-year-old woman. Although both are your market, you must choose between one or the other.
• It works the same with socioeconomic levels. A 30-year-old man of socioeconomic level AB does not have the same behaviors, interests, or the same communication channels as one of the same age but of socioeconomic level C-.

When planning or executing a social media marketing campaign, it is well known that constant changes must be made; It is only the trial and error method that will improve your ability to segment markets.