Creating geographic segmentation of your customer base

Marketing Tech
January 29, 2023

Geographic segmentation is the process of dividing a market into different geographic units based on geography, climate, culture or other geographic characteristics. It helps companies tailor their marketing efforts to specific geographic locations and understand the unique needs of customers in different regions.

In modern business, geographic segmentation is often integrated with advanced technologies such as Big Data analytics and machine learning, which enables companies to analyze vast amounts of data and gain a deeper understanding of customer behavior and preferences. Additionally, advances in location-based technologies such as GPS and geolocation services have made it easier for companies to segment markets based on geography and target specific customer segments with personalized messaging.

What is Geographic Segmentation?

When it comes to customer segmentation, there are several issues that can arise. Companies may create segments that do not align with their objectives, and in some cases might be based off of untrustworthy data or instinct without concrete evidence. Additionally, businesses can overlook important factors such as channels of engagement, the time frame in which a customer interacts with products, and the context within which interactions occur. Lastly, it is pertinent to keep track of a segment's performance over time. All these factors should be taken into account when developing segmentation strategies.

Geographic segmentation is a marketing strategy that involves dividing a market into different geographic units such as countries, regions, cities, or neighborhoods based on geography, climate, culture or other geographic characteristics. The goal of geographic segmentation is to understand the differences among customers in different regions, and tailor marketing efforts to specific geographic locations in order to better meet their needs and increase effectiveness of marketing efforts.

Examples of geographic segmentation

Different businesses will have different approaches to geographic segmentation based on their products or services – for example, a company that sells snow tires may want to focus their marketing efforts in regions that experience regular snowfall. Similarly, a business that relies on tourism may choose to target potential customers in areas with a high density of population.

The best approach for your business will depend on your products or services, your target market, and your resources. By carefully considering all of these factors, you can develop a geographic segmentation strategy that will help you reach your desired customers.

  1. Regional Segmentation: Divides a market into different regions, such as North, South, East, and West.
  2. Metropolitan vs Rural Segmentation: Determines market segments based on urban and rural populations.
  3. Climate-Based Segmentation: Segments a market based on climate zones, such as hot, temperate, or cold regions.
  4. Density-Based Segmentation: Segments a market based on population density, such as urban, suburban, or rural areas.
  5. National Segmentation: Divides a market into different countries.
  6. City-Based Segmentation: Segments a market based on different cities.
  7. Neighborhood Segmentation: Segments a market based on different neighborhoods within a city.

How discover geolocalized keywords for customer segmentations

Based on your potential audience interest, you can discover localization of keywords using different way.

Use a VPN to localize Autocomplete Google Search

We can localize in different parts of the country and see what people are searching for looking through a VPN. This way is the most realistic way to discover hidden opportunities and analyze local research better, and it works fine when you need to find a list of keywords country by country. It's not much help if you need more granular research in the same country but different city or locations.

Once you have gathered this data, you can then begin to segment your customer base by region, city, or even neighborhood. Doing so will allow you to better tailor your marketing and sales efforts to the specific needs of each geographic area.

The best reference to sort it is https://answerthepublic.com/

Use a professional tool: 10 most performing tool for keyword discovery

  • AHREFS: https://ahrefs.com/
  • SEM Rush: https://www.semrush.com/
  • Seraranking: https://seranking.com/

Advantages of Using Geographic Segmentation

Different consumers in different regions have different needs, wants, and cultural characteristics that can be specifically targeted. Let’s look at some.

  1. Tailored Marketing: Geographic segmentation enables companies to tailor their marketing efforts to specific geographic locations, increasing the effectiveness of their marketing efforts.
  2. Better Understanding of Customer Needs: Companies can better understand the unique needs of customers in different geographic locations and develop marketing strategies accordingly.
  3. Improved Customer Experience: By understanding the unique needs and preferences of customers in different geographic locations, companies can improve the customer experience.
  4. Increased Relevance: Geographic segmentation helps companies reach their target audience with more relevant and personalized messaging.
  5. Cost-Effective Marketing: By focusing marketing efforts in specific geographic locations, companies can maximize the impact of their marketing spend and reduce marketing costs.
  6. Improved Local Market Knowledge: By segmenting markets by geography, companies can gain a deeper understanding of local market conditions and trends.

How practically can you use geographic segmentation in the ads? 

The advantages of geographic segmentation include increased relevance, improved customer experience, increased marketing efficiency, improved product development, and a competitive advantage.

In a few steps you can take advantage following these steps:

  1. Identify your target audience: Determine the geographic locations you want to target and segment your audience based on geographic characteristics, such as region, metropolitan vs. rural areas, climate zones, or city.
  2. Set up your ad campaign: Within Facebook Ads Manager, create a new ad campaign and select "Geographic Location" as the targeting option.
  3. Define your target audience: Use Facebook's targeting options to define your target audience based on geographic location, such as a specific city, state, or country.
  4. Set your budget and schedule: Set your budget and schedule for your ad campaign and determine how much you want to spend per day or over the course of your campaign.
  5. Create your ad: Use Facebook's ad creation tools to create an ad that speaks to your target audience in the selected geographic location.
  6. Launch your ad: Launch your ad campaign and monitor its performance using Facebook's analytics tools. Use this data to make adjustments to your targeting and messaging as needed.
  7. Optimize for results: Continuously monitor the performance of your ad and make adjustments as needed to ensure that you are reaching the right audience and achieving your desired outcomes.