Pop quiz time!

Which is a more effective strategy: Writing general content that will appeal to your entire audience as a whole, or writing segmented content for different audience niches?

The answer is kind of a trick question because in some ways the answer is “both.” But ultimately, if you have to choose one or even just prioritize one, segmented content for different audience niches is the way to go.

This is actually a direct contrast to what most brands are doing, as they try to cast a wide of a net as possible to attract as many users as they can. It’s part of the reason they might start to get decent traffic, but they fail to see the kind of conversions they were hoping for.

In this post, we’re going to take a close look at why you should be writing segmented blog posts for your content marketing efforts and how exactly you can do so.

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What is segmented content? 

When you’re taking a segmented content marketing approach, you’re creating an abundance of different resources that are each aimed at specific audience segments that you want to target.

All businesses have audience segments, even if they’re subtle. B2B brands might have audiences that work in different industries, for example, and SaaS tools might divide up their audiences partially based on the size of the client’s business. For example, CRM software has a wide target audience, while coworking software includes only coworking owners and managers. Real estate agents will have some customers looking to buy, and some looking to sell; some clients will want their first home and others will want to be flipping homes for investments. Using tools like Crystal Knows, you’ll be able to maximize the impact by using a personality data platform to properly segment. With personality data and insights about prospects, you can establish stronger connections and effectively create content that will resonate and generate sales.

Here’s an example. AdEspresso is an SaaS tool that makes it easier for brands to optimize and split test their PPC campaigns. They appeal to all types of advertisers. And yet they have some content that’s written for specific types of businesses, like this post about ad examples for realtors:

That will not appeal to the majority of their audience… but it will strongly appeal to a certain segment, making it a solid choice for a segmented content strategy, and it’s helped them to create a strong business blog as a result.

Why you need segmented content for your different audiences

There are a few important reasons why all brands should be creating at least some segmented content.

First: This content is going to be directly relevant to specific niches of your target audience. Even if the content appeals to only 10% of your audience, it’s going to be standout, high-value content to that particular niche.

This means that 10% of your audience will be much more likely to take action and convert because the content is targeted to their knowledge, questions, pain points, motivations, and needs.  

Niche content takes longer to create in some ways because you need to create so much more of it. A restaurant owner isn’t going to care about Real Estate Ad examples… so you might need to create a similar post targeted towards them if you want to get results. For instance, you could focus on valuable topics like optimizing restaurant menu templates or efficient menu planning strategies.

That being said, you’re getting to rank for more long-tail keywords that people are likely to use when trying to find specific solutions. This also means more content ideas to create, which frankly is always a plus since it’s too easy to start running out of ideas. Additionally, you can work with influencers to spread your content efficiently. Follow this guide to find influencers and brand ambassadors who will help reach out to different segments.

Here’s an example: Homie’s blog has some similar ideas that are “rewritten” across different niches. They have housing market updates for different locations, for example, that are published regularly for individual regions or cities.

These are insanely targeted posts created for specific audience segments (in this case, segmented by buyers vs. sellers and/or geographic location)  that will be more valuable to the target audience than generic “housing market in the US” updates, which means that buyers, sellers, and real estate agents alike will likely keep coming back to this blog for more information.

How to strategize & Create segmented content for your blog

Knowing you want to include some content for different audience segments is a great start. Let’s go step by step through the process of how you can determine what topics to create.

1. Break down your audience niches

Before you can even start creating segmented content, it’s essential to know which audience segments you want to target.

Create a list of audience segments that you have as customers or that you want to attract as customers.

A real estate agent, for example, might have the following target segments:

• First time buyers
• Clients looking to buy and sell simultaneously
• Clients who want to purchase new build homes
• High-end luxury home clients
• Clients moving to the area for the first time
• Orlando home buyers
• Orlando home sellers

Some of these audiences overlap. There will be plenty of people, for example, who fall under the Orlando home buyers segment and the first-time buyer’s segment. These create their own small niche, but the content you create for one may appeal to both as long as you add relevant information accordingly.

You might, for example, have a post about the housing market in Orlando with a small H2 or H3 section about tips or resources for first-time homebuyers to give them an edge when shopping. This section could also emphasize the importance of building your credit and highlight its significance in securing a mortgage loan for your dream home.

2. Consider all stages of the digital sales funnel

It’s important to keep in mind that audience segments aren’t just broken down by demographics or even buyer personas; users at different stages of the digital sales funnel need their own segmented content. You can use sales automation tools to reach them during their exact micro moments.

Let’s say I’m creating a strategy for a photographer. I’ll consider creating content for each stage of the buyer’s journey.

To attract new customers, I might write a post titled “10 Questions to Ask Before Booking Your Photographer.”

To capture existing leads that haven’t converted, I might write a post about why hiring a professional event photographer is crucial for capturing memorable moments at your special occasions.

And to re-engage past clients, I could write a post about why it’s essential to update your event photos regularly to preserve precious memories and showcase your evolving experiences.

By approaching customers in different stages of the buyer’s journey as belonging to unique segments, it will be easier to create valuable blog posts that they’ll connect with.  

3. Think about what questions & Needs audience segments have

Your unique audience segments are going to have questions or needs that others don’t.

With Facebook Ads, for example, businesses in a few select industries have to play by slightly different rules when it comes to ad creation.

Healthcare or wellness businesses, for example, have strict limits on what they can and can’t advertise that wouldn’t impact most other brands in other industries.

If I’m writing a post for a company that offers SaaS ad software, I could write a post specific to the healthcare and wellness industries about those restrictions. They aren’t covered in most other general blog posts, and this would help me connect to that audience effectively.

My go-to strategy is to break down a list of questions that each segment might have and needs that they want to be resolved.

4. Generate a topic list

At this stage of the process, you pretty much have your preliminary topic list in front of you thanks to the step above. There is a long list of questions and needs that users have, and now you just need to create a formal list of topics and keywords that will appeal to as many as possible.

Getting help from smart online spreadsheet tools while creating this list can save you time, so you can easily organize your list while collaborating with your team in real-time.

Take some time to consider which questions or needs would make the best blog posts. Sometimes, you can combine one or two questions into a single post and under a single keyword depending on search intent.

Once you have your list, space out the content so that you’re regularly reaching all audience segments on a frequent basis so when people visit your blog it feels diverse.

5. Interlink to other appropriate segmented content

As you’re creating and publishing your segmented content, one last step you’ll want to keep in mind is to always link to the correct internal links and resources. This increases the value of your post overall.

Here at Wordable, for example, we have some distinct audience segments. One is agencies, and another is freelance writers and content marketers.

If I’m writing a post meant for agencies talking about how to find clients, I won’t want to link to a resource that was created specifically for freelancers about building their business. It won’t be relevant, and those internal links are better served by linking to either agency-specific posts or general information that all audiences would find helpful.  

You can also create segmented email lists if you’re promoting your content through newsletters so the right people see the right blog posts. For this process, you may take advantage of email marketing software that allows you to deliver material to your target audience while also helping you maintain consistency.

In addition, most email software has audience segmentation features for this purpose.

Final thoughts

Creating segmented content should be a vital part of your content marketing efforts because it’s the most effective way to meaningfully connect with each niche in your target audience. This is what will help you stand out and build trust, and you can use the more general-approach content to connect the dots.

Remember to switch up your rotation so you’re appealing to different audiences on a regular basis instead of trying to create all the core content for a single audience at a time. This shows people that you’re able to provide relevant resources for their specific needs whenever they visit your blog, which is crucial to keeping your audience engaged.

Looking for more ways to improve your content marketing? Check out our blog for more resources and tips.

Ana Gotter

Ana is a strategic content marketer specializing in business, finance, and marketing writing, though she's worked across a range of industries. She works in Orlando with her three dogs.