Precision marketing is exactly what the name implies. By now, every retailer knows that blanket campaigns aimed at more-or-less everybody attract nobody in particular. Generalities aren’t relevant. They don’t make the kind of personalized, emotional connection you need to attract and keep the shoppers you want. 

On the other hand, the more precisely you can target your marketing efforts, the more successful you will be. That requires a process of segmentation – identifying the key groups in your desired audience so you can direct your marketing more precisely toward each of them. Past generations of retailers didn’t have the ability to gather and analyze sales and customer behavioral data, but today, you can delve deeply into your customers’ hearts and minds.

That enables you to market to prospects and current customers with meaningful deals and messages. (It enables you to choose the most desirable range of merchandise, too.)

Putting Precision into Practice

In one study, fully half of consumers said they leave brands because of irrelevant content. You can’t afford that kind of attrition. Instead, there are proven steps you can follow to create a winning customer engagement program. 

Using POS and marketing technology to capture customer demographic and purchasing data is a must. Grocers use loyalty cards that track purchasing, then provide customer-specific discount coupons. Online retailers gather information as new customers sign-up. (Any store with a website can do the same thing, directing shoppers online to register for your “exclusive offers” email list. Make it easy with an in-store tablet or kiosk.)

You can market to broad segments such as age groups, whether baby-boomers or millennials.

You can also precisely target a very specific audience. In 2011, Whole Foods partnered with Saffron Road Foods to market religiously-appropriate foods to American Muslims during the month-long holiday Ramadan. Muslim customers were thrilled that a major grocery retailer noticed and filled their needs. Can you imagine the loyalty that created?

You can do even better by adding another rather obvious technique: ask them about their preferences. Think short email or text surveys. Or, in smaller, more intimate stores, sales associates can elicit valuable information simply by chatting with customers and noting their responses.

Regularly – or randomly – reward repeat customers with something special, from free merchandise to the first look at new or exclusive merchandise. Or make it a game, with rewards points that enable customers to win something.

Create a tiered loyalty program that offers progressively greater rewards as customers spend more. With this, and all loyalty programs, it is critical to make the reward thresholds attainable. If customers think it’s too hard, they won’t bother. Smaller, more frequent goodies will do more to keep them shopping with you than amazing-but-rare offers.

Precision marketing can bring more new shoppers into your store. That’s undeniably important. But, perhaps more importantly, it can help you do a better job of retaining and upselling existing customers. Retained, loyal customers spend 67% more than new ones. That’s lifetime value that will make your bottom line sing. Precisely.