Friday 19th Jun 2020
Even in the age of Big Data, in which multinationals are able to turn incomprehensibly large data sets into profit, too many businesses still fail to recognise the importance of even basic analysis of the information they have at their fingertips. If your business is looking to improve its customer base, then there are clear strategies you can take, and by working with your marketing team, or an external provider, you may be able to make use of information you already have. There are two steps to this; working out who your best customers are and what their key characteristics are, and then determining the best way of targeting potential customers who are similar. Let’s take a look.
Who are my best customers?
The first step is working out exactly who your best customers are. And this isn’t necessarily as clear as it seems, because it depends on what determines a great customer. A bricks-and-mortar retailer might see a type of person as a great customer because they spend a lot. Alternatively, a large service provider might see their best customers as those accounts that remain with them for a long period of time. It is up to you to determine what constitutes a perfect customer.
Once you have done this, it is about identifying their key characteristics. What do all of your best customers have in common? Is it an element of demography? This second stage is important, and the more information you can gather the better. Creating an ‘avatar’, or ideal representation is often an effective way of bringing characteristics together.
This avatar might be of a business with a certain financial profile, or an individual with certain interests.
How do I find more customers like them?
This detailed analysis of your customer profile will now allow you to take the information and locate more suitable customers. Key characteristics have been identified, giving you a clear idea of who you are looking to do business with, whether it is individuals or businesses.
Deciding how to target them can be difficult, but it is far easier to appeal to a particular profile if you’ve got a solid understanding of the qualities that comprise it. This is often called targeted marketing, and you can be as granular as you have the resources for. Digital marketing with its ability to drill down into customer insights, is often an effective choice for really narrowing your focus down to a select market that you know is highly profitable for your business.
The more detailed your ideal profile, the more information you will have to identify more top customers, and serve them a targeted, tailored sales and marketing strategy. This exercise in moving your business forward will only improve the more information you have. This is why data gathering is critical to modern marketing activities.