Tutorial: Using R for Customer Segmentation


Jim Porzak, Responsys Inc., San Francisco, USA.

Abstract

In today's noisy world, successful marketers communicate with prospects and customers using relevant messages synchronized to the individual's changing needs.
Segmentation along a number of "orthogonal" dimensions allows construction of messages, selection of offers, and the targeting of recipients which approach one-to-one customization.

Some important dimensions for individuals are:

This tutorial will work through applying R clustering packages to the customer segmentation problem using actual (but sanitized) data from our practice.

Sample date, R code, and slides will be provided to students.

We will show examples using the packages/methods:

Goal

Upon completion, students will be able to apply these methods to their own customer segmentation problems or other clustering projects.

Skill level

No marketing background is assumed. Basic R skills. This tutorial is a sequel to my useR! 2006 tutorial (which will is available for review here) and will assume R skills as covered in Part II - EDA and Basic Statistics.