Segmentation is an essential aspect of marketing. By dividing your customers into different groups, you can focus on each group’s needs and create customized messages for them. This blog post discusses segmentation solutions in Salesforce Marketing Cloud without SQL – a great option if you’re not very skilled at writing queries or have little time or resources to spend learning how to write SQL.
DESelect provides simple yet effective segmentation solutions to produce segments by combining datasets and applying filters. Marketing automation professionals and marketers across the Salesforce Marketing Cloud consider it the best segmentation solution with no SQL code.
Table of Contents
Let’s take a closer look at these solutions
1. Data filters
Data filters let you target your audience based on specific criteria, such as their location or the actions they’ve taken. You can build a list of all customers within clear geographic boundaries and send them targeted campaigns about relevant items to where they live. For instance, if you have a clothing line that caters to people in Boston during the winter months, you can send them special offers on snow boots and ski vacations.
Pros :
- They’re readily available and easy to use
- You don’t have to create new fields
- Your customer list remains intact
- You can use them anytime, whether you’re creating a campaign or segmenting an existing list
Cons :
- The columns of data extension are the only sections used as filter criteria
- There is no way to make sophisticated filters
2. 3rd party apps
Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a platform with many integrations. One of the most powerful features is the ability to pull in third-party data sets, populate them into your existing segments and use those segmented audiences for targeting campaigns on social media platforms. Marketing Cloud currently has integrations with over 20 third-party apps, including Google Analytics 360, Adobe Audience Manager, and Nielsen Catalina Solutions.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud Partner allows marketers to connect with third-party apps easily.
Pros:
- Expand your reach by leveraging third-party data sets
- Focus on building segments from pre-defined categories within Marketing Cloud and then populate them with third-party data
- Ability to use segments created with third-party data for social media targeting campaigns
Cons:
● You’ll have to lean on a third-party application
3. Audience builder
Audience Builder is an excellent solution for those who want to create highly targeted personas. This tool comes in handy when you have a large audience and filter out people who do not meet your criteria. This tool is also helpful for marketers who are looking to create more personalized experiences with their customers. It allows you to segment your audience into groups of people with similar interests, needs, or behaviors.
Pros
- Simple and intuitive visual interface
- Only needs a basic understanding of technical concepts
- Customers can be filtered in several ways
Cons
- The plethora of choices might often be perplexing
- To effectively set it up, you’ll need the help of an outside specialist
- Training is required
The bottom line
Segmentation is the one thing that every marketing department needs, regardless of size. Segments can be grouped based on a shared characteristic or behavior and are often used to target messages to consumers with similar interests.
In today’s increasingly complex digital landscape, it’s essential marketers have tools at their disposal that allow them to quickly build out influential segments explicitly designed for each unique business need.
