What are the emerging trends in audience segmentation for digital publishing?

1 Data-driven segmentation

One of the key trends in audience segmentation is the use of data-driven methods to identify and classify your readers. Data-driven segmentation relies on collecting, analyzing, and applying data from various sources, such as web analytics, social media, email marketing, surveys, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Data-driven segmentation can help you discover patterns, trends, and insights about your audience, such as their demographics, psychographics, interests, preferences, behavior, and loyalty. You can use data-driven segmentation to create more relevant and personalized content, offers, and recommendations for your readers, and to optimize your performance and revenue.

2 Dynamic segmentation

Another trend in audience segmentation is the use of dynamic segmentation, which means that your segments are not fixed or static, but rather change and adapt according to the context and the data. Dynamic segmentation allows you to segment your audience in real-time, based on their current actions, interactions, and feedback. For example, you can segment your readers by their engagement level, such as how often they visit your site, how long they stay, how many pages they view, and how much they share or comment. You can also segment your readers by their intent, such as whether they are looking for information, entertainment, education, or inspiration. Dynamic segmentation can help you deliver more timely and relevant content, messages, and experiences to your readers, and to increase your retention and conversion rates.

3 Behavioral segmentation

A third trend in audience segmentation is the use of behavioral segmentation, which means that you segment your audience based on their actions and responses to your content, marketing, and monetization efforts. Behavioral segmentation can help you understand how your readers behave on your site, what triggers their interest, what motivates their decisions, and what influences their satisfaction and loyalty. For example, you can segment your readers by their content consumption, such as what topics, formats, and channels they prefer, how much they consume, and when they consume. You can also segment your readers by their content creation, such as whether they contribute content, such as reviews, ratings, comments, or feedback. Behavioral segmentation can help you create more engaging and valuable content, marketing, and monetization strategies for your readers, and to measure and improve your outcomes and impact.

5 Multidimensional segmentation

A fifth trend in audience segmentation is the use of multidimensional segmentation, which means that you segment your audience by combining multiple criteria and dimensions, rather than relying on a single or simple one. Multidimensional segmentation can help you create a more holistic and nuanced view of your audience, and to capture their diversity and complexity. For example, you can use multidimensional segmentation to segment your audience by their personas, which are fictional representations of your ideal readers, based on their demographics, psychographics, behavior, and goals. You can also use multidimensional segmentation to segment your audience by their journeys, which are the paths and stages that your readers go through from awareness to loyalty. Multidimensional segmentation can help you create more customized and comprehensive content, marketing, and monetization plans for your readers, and to align them with your objectives and vision.