Audience Segmentation Techniques

If I'm in charge of revenue at a large nonprofit, I can't ignore these realities 👇 -Donors giving below $100 are down ~9% (and have been trending down) -Donors giving below $500 are down 4% (and have been trending down) -Slower income growth & less disposable income for most -Middle-class households under economic pressure -The rapid decline of religion (that has giving as a core tenet) -Decline in institutional trust -Not only is charitable giving largely stagnant as a % of the GDP, but we also haven't been able to grow share of wallet -Donors giving $5k-$50k are up 1% -Donors giving $50k+ are up ~3% And if I look around at what other nonprofits are doing, I might see 👇 -Marketing getting louder -Frequency cranked to 11 -Tired tactics with little differentiation And if strategy is about how an organization applies strength against the most promising opportunity or the most critical challenge, I need to address the problem head on. Three ideas... 1) Instead of getting louder, get closer to donors. -Jeffersonian dinners -"Jobs To Be Done" interviews -Measuring donor satisfaction -Rating the donor experience -Cross train across the org on how to listen to donors -More thoughtful prioritization and segmentation -Do things that don't scale; you will likely not "scale" anyways (but you'll very likely grow!) 2) Focus more energy on the people who *can* give more. That doesn't mean you should ignore the $100 donor. Two things can be true at the same time: most of your limited human hours are best spent on people who can give >$10,000, AND, you can treat the $100 donor like they're an important part of the team (because they are). -Create tiered caseloads (A, B, C, D donors) -Develop a donor engagement plan for each tier -Treat mid-major donors like true partners: frequent report backs, project proposals, town halls, feedback loops, in-the-moment updates -Focus your work in the 'mass' file to identify the best prospects for a mid-major treatment, and work to move as many OTGs to recurring (monthly) or re-occuring revenue (quarterly, yearly, etc.) 3) Promote giving from assets across the donor file—and make it easy to do so Russell James taught me this. When people give from their assets, the gift is likely to be larger. And they are more likely to give again. Giving from assets (like stocks and shares, tax-savings accounts, retirement accounts, DAFs, gifts of life insurance, etc.) is often the smartest way for donors to give—no matter the size of gift. But many donors simply don't know it's an option. -- We're partnering with growth-minded nonprofits to implement all of these ideas, and more. If you think it's time you create a solid midlevel giving strategy (not just a standard appeal with an open ask), give me a shout.

Stop lumping your customers into broad categories like age and income. You're missing out on the secret sauce—occasion-based segmentation. Your thrifty weekday customer is the same guy ordering an extravagant pizza and Cola combo on Saturday night. People don't change; the occasion does. Tailor your marketing strategy to occasions, not stereotypes. Imagine a restaurant pushing cheap rice bowls Monday to Friday and going full-throttle with pricey pizza ads on weekends. We did this with Swiggy - two of the brands in my portfolio were Homely (an affordable homestyle meal brand) and The Bowl Company (a premium meal brand). We realised our consumers were pretty much the same people - young professionals who ordered Homely during the weekdays to eat home-style food that was ‘safe’ for the stomach,  and The Bowl Company on weekends for splurging and partying. Switch to occasion-based segmentation, and you won't just see higher sales—you'll understand the fluidity of consumer behaviour like never before. It's not just smart marketing; it's respecting the complexity of your customer. #marketing #marketresearch #business

“𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴?” I get asked this question by almost every investor I meet. Traditionally, snack brands were built by anchoring themselves to a category: - 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐲 = biscuits - 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐬 = chips But the answer for me is grounded in the “𝐉𝐨𝐛𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐞” framework, coined by Professor Clay Forum at Harvard Business School. The essence of this framework is simple: 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐬—𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐚 𝐣𝐨𝐛. When a working professional thinks about snacking at 4 PM, what is the job they’re hiring a snack for? - Energy to power through a meeting? - Comfort to de-stress? - Satiation to curb hunger before dinner? The answer changes based on the time of day and occasion, but one thing remains constant: Our customers 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲. That’s why we don’t see ourselves as just a cookie or chips brand. Our mission at Open Secret is to 𝐔𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. The old “category-based” approach to brand-building worked in a world where offline distribution was king, and blocking shelf space was the goal. But today, consumers discover and search online. They want snacks that meet their specific job at every moment—without harmful ingredients or compromising on taste. By offering variety across multiple categories, we’re not just building a snacking brand—we’re building a 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳-𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 that can deliver on any snack-time need. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤—𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐣𝐨𝐛𝐬, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬? 𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬! 👇

At 9 PM in a Bangalore 1BHK, a 28-year-old enters the kitchen. One Britannia biscuit pack. One 50g Haldiram namkeen. One Amul Masti dahi cup. One Lindt single-piece chocolate. He eats while scrolling Instagram. Twenty years ago in his parents’ home, the same kitchen/fridge held an 800g biscuit pack, a 200g namkeen tin, a 1kg dahi pouch, and a 100g chocolate bar, cut and shared between five people at the dining table. The brands are the same. The unit sizes are not. The Indian FMCG industry has been quietly redesigned around this man, and most marketers haven’t noticed. This isn’t a loneliness story. It is an arithmetic one. The Indian household shrunk from 5.3 members in 2001 to 4.44 in 2021. Urban metros average 4.6, with 56 percent of urban households now at four members or fewer. One-person households were 4 percent of India in 2015 and will reach 5.5 percent by 2030. One-couple households are at 8 percent today and will cross 10 percent in five years. The family of five that Indian FMCG was built around does not live in metros anymore. The new Indian household is a couple, a single professional, or a divorced parent. And the products on their shelf had to change to match. The change is already deep. Single-person orders on Swiggy and Zomato have grown so dramatically that both platforms removed minimum order requirements years ago. Solo consumption now accounts for 35 percent of all chocolate-eating occasions in India, a category that was almost entirely shared a decade ago. Swiggy’s Snacc app, launched January 2025, is a 15-minute delivery service built specifically for one-item single-snack orders. Although they shut this year due to bad unit economics but demand was undebatable. The sachet packaging market is growing 5.7 to 7.7 percent CAGR through 2035. Britannia, HUL, and PepsiCo are quietly investing in single-serve packaging because they read the room earlier than the rest of FMCG. What this means for a brand in 2026 is uncomfortable. The product is not the unit. The pack size is the unit. A biscuit at 100g sells one way. The same biscuit at 25g sells to a fundamentally different customer who is single, urban, snacking alone, and ordering in. Haldiram’s recent jump from rank 19 to rank 10 on Kantar’s most-chosen FMCG brands is not a coincidence. It rode the small pack. The brand still shipping 1kg family packs is solving last decade’s problem. The brand shipping a 50g namkeen, a single dahi cup, a 25g chocolate, a one-person ready meal is solving 2026’s. Pack size has become the product.

Why Food & Beverages is a Unique Category Most consumer categories have well-defined customer segments—mass, premium, luxury, etc. etc.. You don’t normally see the same person owning both a Maruti and a Mercedes. Or flying both business class and economy. Or using both Lifebuoy and Dove. So segmenting and targeting customers is the ground zero of brand marketers, essentially the Kotler school. But in food? The same person has a ₹10 chai at a roadside tapri in the afternoon… …and goes for an expensive fine-dine meal with family on Saturday night. The same customer orders a buy-one-get-one pizza for a team meeting and goes to a fancy restaurant to eat Pan-Asian. At Rebel, we learnt this over time. Insight 1: In F&B, customers are not segments—use cases are. It may be a tad oversimplified (life is a 2X2), but fundamentally, if you have two axes: One representing serving size and another Value to Indulgence, then you get four quadrants. Single Serve | Value → your weekday lunch, quick evening snack. Group Serve | Value → team pizzas, samosas with chai. Group Serve | Indulgence → big biryani buckets, fancy cake on a birthday. Single Serve | Indulgence → that New York cheesecake or Nasi Goreng on a solo business trip. Each quadrant needs a different food experience. But here’s the kicker: the same customer moves between all four. All of us do it every week. Insight 2: People don’t trust one brand to do many things well in food. And hence,  McDonald’s = burgers Domino’s = pizza Starbucks = coffee Daryaganj = North Indian Paradise = Biryani (There is no famous “multi-cuisine” restaurant brand. Ever wondered why?) But not many know that: the same company (Yum Brands) runs Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC. McDonald's used to own Chipotle for many years These two insights together led us to Rebel’s model: One operating system. Multiple focused brands. Each known for one thing. Each built for a specific food use case. All serving the same customer. This post isn’t about us, though. It’s about the opportunity for every food entrepreneur: In this category, your customer base is not the constraint—your imagination is. You can paint on a much larger canvas, almost infinite, without multiplying costs. Think about it. (P.S. If you have time to kill, I’d written more on the insights that drove the Rebel model a few years ago. https://lnkd.in/g8jRaXhc )

Segmentation doesn't require 50 personas. You might need exactly 3. Most nonprofits either ignore or overcomplicate this. The 3-segment model: 🎯 Segment 1: New & early donors (0–2 gifts, any amount) → Focus: Storytelling, community, building the habit of giving → Cadence: Monthly newsletter, year-end appeal 🎯 Segment 2: Loyal donors (3+ consecutive years, or recurring givers) → Focus: Impact, recognition, deepening commitment → Cadence: Quarterly call, event invitations, upgrade ask every 3 years 🎯 Segment 3: Leadership donors (loyal + high cumulative giving, or major gift capacity) → Focus: Strategic conversations, co-creation, legacy → Cadence: Relationship manager, personalized stewardship plan Three conversations. Three messaging strategies. Done. Everything else is noise. Are you segmenting? And if so, how many segments are you actually managing?

Selling to U.S. Retailers? Understanding Store Segmentation Is Critical 🇺🇸🛒 For international manufacturers entering the U.S. market, here’s what often comes as a surprise 👉🏼your American retail partners don’t operate the same way across all their stores. Store segmentation means the same retailer will stock different products, brands, and SKUs depending on location—and this fundamentally changes your U.S. approach. 🔑 The U.S. Retail Reality 📊 American retailers segment stores based on demographics, geography, income levels, and local preferences. 🛍️ A Target in affluent suburban Connecticut carries different products than one in rural Texas. 🛒 A Safeway in a Hispanic LA neighborhood has a completely different assortment than one in Asian areas of San Francisco. This isn’t the exception—it’s standard for major U.S. retailers. ✅ What This Means for Manufacturers ⚠️ Your product won’t automatically go to all locations, even if a retailer agrees to carry it. Retailers make SKU-level decisions based on store segments: • Premium products may only go to affluent-area stores 💎 • Certain flavors assigned to specific demographic segments 🌶️ • Package sizes vary by urban/suburban/rural locations 📦 • Pricing strategies differ across store segments 💰 Real-World Implications 🌍 Volume expectations: Getting a “yes” from Walmart doesn’t mean nationwide distribution. Your initial placement might be limited to specific store segments for testing. Product development: Consider creating different SKU assortments for different U.S. segments rather than one universal product line. Marketing support: Retailers expect manufacturers to understand their segmentation strategy and provide targeted marketing materials for different store types. Supply chain complexity: You’ll need distribution capabilities that can handle varied order patterns across segments, not uniform shipments to all locations. How to Adapt Your Strategy 🧭 🔍 Understand how your target retailers segment their stores and which segments align best with your products. 👩🏻🎨Design your product portfolio with segmentation in mind. Offer retailers options they can deploy strategically across their store base. 📍Success in the U.S. often means customizing products for regional tastes, whether that’s flavors, package sizes, or formulations. 🤝Work closely with category managers who understand segmentation and can champion your products for the right store segments. The Opportunity 🚀 While store segmentation adds complexity, it creates opportunity. Manufacturers who embrace this reality can position products strategically and build sustainable growth across America’s diverse markets. The U.S. market isn’t one opportunity—it’s many. Store segmentation is how retailers navigate complexity, and understanding it is how you win. 🏆 #Manufacturing #USMarketEntry #CPG #RetailStrategy #InternationalBusiness #StoreSegmentation #SupplyChain HRS Global LLC

"The more donors we email, the more donations we'll receive." It sounds logical. It's why so many nonprofit email programs never grow past average. The math feels obvious: 15,000 people on your list, one campaign, maximum impact. But your list isn't a crowd. It's a community, and everyone in it is standing somewhere completely different: → Some just signed a petition. They're still figuring out if they believe in you. → Some are mid-consideration, deciding between three causes they care about. → Some have their credit card open right now, waiting to be moved. → Some gave last year and are quietly watching to see if you remember them. → Some haven't opened an email in months and are one irrelevant message away from unsubscribing forever. Send them all the same appeal, and you're not fundraising. You're broadcasting. And you're slowly training your donors to ignore you. It gets worse. Ignored emails get marked as spam. Spam damages your sender reputation. One "logical" blast can destroy your deliverability for months — meaning even your most loyal donors stop seeing your mission in their inbox. More emails do not automatically mean more donations. More relevant emails do. Your lapsed donor from 2022 does not need the same message as the volunteer who just attended your gala last week. Your monthly sustainer does not need the same appeal as someone who's never given a single dollar. Relevance isn't a nice-to-have in nonprofit email marketing. It's the difference between a donor who gives for decades and one who quietly disappears. P.S. Not sure where to start with segmentation? Begin simple: split your list into donors who gave in the last 12 months and those who haven't. Send each group a different message this month and watch what happens to your open rates and click-throughs. The data will tell you everything.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗼𝗳? Customer segmentation by size, industry, and geography. Why? Because when you stop treating all customers the same, you start growing 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿, more 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆, and with fewer 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀. This analysis is the unlock for: 📈 Smarter growth strategies 💰 Healthier margins 🤝 Happier customers 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲, 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘆? ✅ 1. Sales & service effectiveness • A $250M CPG distributor in the Midwest doesn’t need or want the same approach as a $7bn manufacturer in Germany. • Segmentation helps you sell and support the right way - for the right customer. ✅ 2. Better strategic & operational decisions • Want to know which customers are high-effort but low-margin? Which industries are expanding the fastest? Which region has the stickiest customers? • Segmentation brings that clarity. ✅ 3. Improved customer experience • Customers don’t expect to be treated equally - they expect to be treated relevantly. • When all your teams understand the nuances of the customer they're serving, retention and satisfaction go up. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹: 1️⃣ Group customers by: • Size (revenue or headcount) - a useful proxy for complexity • Industry (manufacturing & industrials, tech, services, life sciences & healthcare, CPG, etc.) • Geography (region, market, country) 2️⃣ For each segment, analyze: • Profitability • Support/service effort • Sales cycle and retention • Volumes, expansion or upsell potential 3️⃣ Find your high-leverage segments 4️⃣ Align GTM, finance, ops, and support around them 5️⃣ Refresh regularly - your base will evolve 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲 • Customer segmentation isn’t just a data exercise. It’s a strategic advantage hiding in plain sight. • When you know who your best customers really are - you build better, sell smarter, and scale faster. #CustomerStrategy #Operations #Finance #Growth #Segmentation #BusinessStrategy #fpanda