Micro-targeting is a technique that marketers use to make sure that the ads they place and the emails they send are as relevant to an individual recipient’s interests as possible. When done correctly it can dramatically increase your email conversions.
B2C Micro-Targeting
B2C Micro-Targeting could also be considered “old school” because it relies on opt-ins, list building, etc.
A basic example of this is the way touring bands segment their lists. When you opted into your favorite band’s list, they likely asked you where you live. They do this for two reasons:
- To make sure they don’t spam you with messages that aren’t relevant to your interests, like live events happening hundreds of miles away.
- To ensure that you do receive messages that are relevant to your interests like meet and greet events at a venue in your neighborhood.
Micro-Targeting in B2B
B2B Micro-Targeting works differently and relies heavily on account-based marketing (ABM). Instead of thinking of this style of marketing as “casting a net” it is better to think of it as focused pitching. You want to be able to prove to your prospect that you are reaching out to them, specifically, because you think that what you have to offer fills a need that they have.
For example, you wouldn’t contact the lead fashion buyer for Macy’s to try to convince the company to switch over to a different (aka your) point of sale system, would you? Of course not. You would figure out who is in charge of stores, technology or operations and pitch your system to them. But how do you make sure that your email gets read?
Advanced Contact Research
It is often said that the best compliment you can pay someone, or a business prospect in this case, is to know something about them. If you want to set yourself apart from the rest of the cold emailers, a good place to start is to demonstrate that you understand the company’s mission and your prospect’s role within that. From there, you are going to want to dig deeper. Learn as much as you can about each person on your list. Learn about their professional history, where they’ve worked, how they got to where they are now, what they think about their industry, etc. Have they written any blogs? Has a story been published about them or have they been quoted somewhere?
Dig deeper—you can research personal details that to use to make your message really hit home. Perhaps this person has a public twitter account on which they talk about being Dan Levy’s biggest fan. Including a quote from or an allusion to Schitt’s Creek (make sure it is relevant to the point you’re trying to make) can go a long way. You get the idea.
You might be surprised about what you can learn by checking out a person’s public profiles. You don’t have to limit yourself to what they’ve done professionally (though that is definitely a big part of micro-targeting). Anything that is available publicly is fair game.
Maybe pre-pandemic your target was a member of an intramural bubble soccer league with someone else you already know—make sure to mention that in your message!
Perhaps they gave a speech at a conference and something they said really hit home for you on a personal level. Tell them about that!
That Sounds Time Consuming!
It does, doesn’t it? This is where outsourcing can be a huge help. Outsourcing your contact research is definitely the best way to go here. Look for ABM lead gen services that specialize in micro-targeting. When you are researching the different ABM lead generation service options, make sure that you understand everything about their demand generation techniques. Does a company limit themselves to social media or are they masters of Google-fu?
The best lead generation companies will not only be able to explain to you exactly how they gather their information, but they will also insist that you grok their process before you sign your contract.
We are all drowning in marketing messages. Be honest: at this point you’re probably just deleting everything that looks like it was sent from a marketer, sort of the way most of us just toss those weekly mail things straight into the recycling bin.
When something looks like it is to you, specifically, though? You’re going to open that up and see what it’s about, right? And if the sender makes the connection a personal one—even if you have never met them before—you are going to be interested in what they have to say. That is why micro-targeting works so well and why you should do