Working with Segmentation

Segmentation is a crucial instrument in the end-to-end campaign process to build target groups.

The target groups can then be used in campaigns and in other business scenarios, such as commerce marketing.

The end-to-end campaign process in SAP Marketing Cloud is as follows:

1. Data flows into the data management piece of SAP Marketing Cloud (also known as Dynamic Customer Profiling) from external source systems.
2. In segmentation, you slice and dice the customer base and create target groups.
3. Target groups can then be used in the Campaigns app to target customers using multiple channels.
4. After a campaign has been executed, success data will flow back into the system, and this data can again be used in segmentation. For example, the data can be used to target only customers that have opened and read the email from a different campaign.

The image below describes the process flow for segmentation:

The key capabilities of segmentation in SAP Marketing Cloud are as follows:

• Create Target Groups: Segment your customer data and create target groups for effective marketing campaigns.
• Identify Audiences: Filter high volumes of customer data to identify audiences.
• Analyze Data: Analyze data regarding complex business requirements.
• Real-Time 360 Degree View: Real-time 360 degree view to choose the right customer segment.
• High-Performance Segmentation: High-performance customer segmentation on big data.
• Slice and Dice: Unmatched flexibility in slicing and dicing customer data.
• Data Mining and Predictive Analytics: Optimize your target groups by leveraging data mining and predictive analytics.
• Flexible Use of Data Source: Flexible use of data source including unstructured data from social media, geospatial data as well as SAP and non-SAP data.

Now let’s learn about important terms in segmentation:

• Data Source (SAP HANA View): The data source is an SAP HANA view populating segmentation attributes in segmentation objects.
• Segmentation Object: Segmentation objects define the object, which is counted in segmentation, and used in follow-up processes, like target groups and campaigns.
• Segmentation Profile: A segmentation profile is always connected to one segmentation object. Using segmentation profiles, you can limit segmentation objects (for example, to a specific marketing area or country).
• Building Block: With the help of building blocks, you can do template-based segmentation if you have similar requirements for different segmentation models.
• Segmentation Model: You create segmentation models in the segmentation builder. This is the most important tool for business users doing segmentation.
• Segment: The result of segmentation is called a segment.
• Target Group: Target groups are based on one segment. Target groups can be used in campaigns.

Data source, segmentation object, and segmentation profile are part of the software collection that can be transported to the production system. It is not possible to change or create these entities in the production system.

All other entities, like segmentation models and segments, are so-called application data which cannot be transported from a quality to a production system and have to be created in both systems.

The application data entities are more relevant for business users, and the software collection entities are more relevant for technical users, as they require customization.

You can use the Segmentation Models app for segmenting high volumes of customer data to identify audiences for marketing campaigns or analyzing the data regarding complex business questions. Interactive visualization supports the segmentation and analysis tasks. Typically, marketing experts use the application while working on B2C direct marketing scenarios, where analyzing large volumes of data is a daily challenge.

Now let’s learn how to segment customer data to identify audiences for marketing campaigns.

A segmentation building block is a segmentation structure with a set of often-used segmentation filters. You can reuse building blocks in Segmentation to save time.

There are two types of segmentation building blocks:

• Private segmentation building blocks
• Public segmentation building blocks

All building blocks are initially created as private building blocks. If you want to share your building block with your colleagues, you can change the visibility to public by publishing your building block.