Content Marketing,  Marketing Strategy

Know Your Customer! Profiling is a Must

September 9, 2010 /

I’m a big believer in customer profiling.  This is an important step in the Marketing Planning process, to help you and your business come to terms with exactly WHO your clients and potential clients are, so you can make the most of your marketing and advertising budget reaching them.

But first it’s important to understand – WHAT IS CUSTOMER PROFILING?

If you visit the online Business Dictionary, you will find their definition for a Customer Profile –

Customer description that includes demographic, geographic, and psychographic characteristics, buying pattern, creditworthiness, purchase history, etc

But when you make it relevant for your business, it really is: a detailed description of the type of customer who will most likely purchase your products or service. Once you bring all these characteristics together, you will probably find these people form groups.

The best way to determine the Customer Profile matching your business, is to ask A LOT of questions:

  • Does your ideal customer live in one certain geographic location?
  • What are their values?
  • What do they spend their money on?
  • What would be the main reason why they would purchase your products/ service?
  • What is their age bracket?
  • How much do they earn?
If you don’t know these answers off the top of your head, then it’s time to do some research.  Thoroughly understanding your customer is the best way to determine how to reach them, and how to motivate them to buy.

You can perform research by conducting surveys either online or in areas where you find your customers.

There are also other ways to learn about the current thoughts and attitudes of potential customers, once you have narrowed down the basics:

  • Be where your customers are – visit events, seminars, tradeshows, expos and workshops.  All these places are an opportunity to meet and interact with your potential customer, and learn more about them.
  • Read what your customers write – on the internet, in blogs, in feedback, in social networks, in groups in social networks.  What do they like at the moment?  And most importantly, what do they need at the moment?  What are they looking for?  Maybe, you can help.
  • Watch the competition – the internet and social media make this one easier than ever before.  If you competitors seem to be hitting the spot and doing really well, maybe subscribing to their newsletter or RSS feed could help you stay in the know.  There may also be opportunity for collaboration, so you could even use this to help each other out in the future.

When it comes to Customer Profiling, it might sound crazy, but I recommend either drawing a picture of your ideal customer, or cutting a picture out of a magazine of someone who looks like your ideal customer.  Any little thing, especially if you are a new business or a start-up, that helps you understand exactly who you are targeting, can be a great benefit.

Have you tried Customer Profiling?  What types or groups of people are you targeting?

It is imperative you understand exactly who you a targeting with your businesses products or services, so you can put together a strategy in your Marketing Plan that will help meet their needs.

All feedback and suggestions are welcome… feel free to comment below.

Marketing Manager, Content Strategist and Writer driving Engagement and ROI. On weekends I'm a Property Investor, Traveler & Coffee Snob

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7 Comments

  • Tech Maish

    September 28, 2010 at 7:47 pm

    Thanks Fiona, Yes KYC is very important for a business. If a business don’t know about there customers nature, purchasing power, interest, willingness to buy a certain product then how can they serve there customers in better way.
    So of course KYC is the main thing to keep in account.

    • Fiona

      September 28, 2010 at 5:34 pm

      @Tech Maish, Hi Tech Maish, you are spot on – if you don’t know your customer, it makes it very difficult to be in business 🙂 And once you know them, you can work out how to make them very happy through implementing those future goals. Thanks for your comment.

  • Mike

    September 14, 2010 at 6:26 pm

    Excellent point, Fiona! I took a Marketing class last semester and it told me how’s important to know your customer profile. Customer profile helps you create products for each separate customer segment, in which increases the diversity of your product portfolio. In blogging case, I think by understanding customer profile, we can write more value-added blog posts and promote more related products to help our readers.

    • Fiona

      September 15, 2010 at 3:51 pm

      @Mike, Hi Mike, Thanks for your comment. It’s great to hear that Customer Profiling is being taught in marketing classes… And you are spot on about how it can help bloggers. If you understand exactly the type of reader you want on your blog, you can plan exactly what you need to write for them.

  • Mandy June

    September 9, 2010 at 11:57 pm

    Client is key. I think that along the way many people tend to forget that their business is supposed to have their clientele in mind. Always always always keep your customers in mind. They are afterall the ones who are buying your product and service.