To consistently outpace the competition, health brands must refocus their attention on their customers. More specifically, their high-value customers. But, the truth is, most companies cannot answer the question: “How many new ‘good’ customers did I get last month?” When you do not invest in customer targeting and segmentation, you lose the valuable insights to know where your customers are coming from, and, more importantly, what long-term value they bring to your brand. 

One-time customers are very different than repeat customers, and should not be marketed to as such.

By understanding what differentiates your customer groups, you are better able to tailor your messages for the respective audiences. The more you can attract high-value, long-term customers, the more profits you can drive to stay miles ahead of your competition.

Is it worth segmenting your customers?

Yes, especially if you want an often untapped way to drive more sales and increase your purchases’ overall cart value. That’s because top customer segments can be 2-5X more profitable than the average customer. And, they are more likely to refer your brand to their friends, post reviews, and stay engaged with the content you send out via email or through social media. In other words, high-value customers instantly become your most devoted brand ambassadors.

In addition, when you can hone in on the marketing messages and platforms that generate the highest numbers of these loyal customers, you can get extraordinary returns on your investment. The key to doing this is all rooted in studying your past customers, analyzing what they buy, how they were reached, and what demographics shape their segment. With this in-depth understanding, you can tailor your marketing to speak directly to them and grow a massive (and highly profitable) following.

Where many health brands fall short is getting distracted with sales. 

Though knowing how much sales a marketing campaign was able to generate is important in justifying ad spend. The critical metric you must be tracking is new customers. Measuring how many new customers you can attract is what really drives the longevity of your brand. The more long-term customers added to your lists, the more sales you will inevitably drive. And the more brand loyalty you’ll be able to create. 

To get you started, here’s the basic scorecard we use to help grow our clients’ customer bases.

8 Point Checklist for Customer Value & Segmentation

Customer Segmentation (X%) (High-value customers buy more)

• I have goals to acquire more direct new customers, in addition to sales.
• I have run a segmentation or analysis of my customer file.
• We have personas developed for each segment to better inform marketing.
• I know how many new customers my marketing drove yesterday/last month.
• I have dedicated budgets for different marketing goals (new customers, sales, etc.)
• The person (me or my team) responsible for marketing is held accountable for driving sales only.
• The person responsible for marketing is also accountable for driving high LTV customers, not just sales.

If you are not already doing the segmentation techniques in the scorecard above, then now is the time to start. Drilling down to understand what your customers buy, but who they are, and their purchasing patterns is a critical part of optimizing your marketing campaigns. Take the time to segment your customers and you’ll easily tap into a pool of high-value, extremely loyal customers who are happy to buy your health products again and again.