Customer profiling: what it is and how to make the most of it

Profiling customers has transformed the modern marketing world and is a practice which companies and e-commerce businesses cannot do without. This tool allows you to collect and exploit the enormous flow of data that companies process every day, so as to understand the habits, preferences and even hobbies of customers, to come to a complete picture of the target market.

Before customer profiling, marketing was anonymous and impersonal. Advertisements were fed to consumers, without being targeted or following a precise strategy. Today, this technique is unproductive and useless, as consumers do not want a standard product, but want it customized according to their specific needs.

By profiling customers, it is possible to guarantee them a pleasant and consistent customer experience. In this way, you can build customer loyalty and increase earnings by adopting simple tricks. The partners who have relied on us have managed to target their customers effectively, increasing sales by 19% and improving customer satisfaction by 23%.

What is customer profiling?

Customer profiling

Before delving into the best practices to be followed, let's focus on the meaning of customer profiling. This is an activity which requires constancy and meticulousness, with the aim of collecting as much customer data as possible, in order to get to know them and create targeted advertising campaigns. This way, you can optimize your investments and ensure that the customer returns to your brand to purchase.

By launching a targeted advertising campaign, you are more likely to reach your goals. In practice, it is like casting the hook of a fishing rod into a small lake, rather than in the open sea: you can be sure that your customers will bite. In such cases, consumers are interested in what you offer and you can count on a higher return on your investments.

We can summarize the advantages of customer profiling as follows:

  • more direct and targeted communication;
  • reduced advertising costs;
  • increased customer loyalty, where consumers are more likely to return to buy from you;
  • increase in the number of customers and sales;
  • appropriate marketing strategy;
  • rapid disposal of stocks in the warehouse.

How to profile customers 

The profiling of corporate customers is not, however, a simple practice, in the sense that it must still be customized according to one's needs. 

The profiling of customers for an e-commerce site that sells clothing should focus on age, style and the accessories most used by its customers. 

A restaurant, on the other hand, should inquire about the cooking habits of its customers, whether they prefer red or white wine, when they go out for dinner more frequently, etc. 

The profiling of customers in stores selling sporting goods should evaluate the most popular sports amongst customers, the types of products purchased, the times at which they prefer to shop etc.

To get a clearer picture of the situation, here is a list of the best practices for profiling customers correctly.

Customer profiling for marketing: database analysis

Customer profiling can be understood as a sort of funnel, which narrows until one reaches the set goal. In this process, a constantly updated database is required, containing demographic and socio-economic data. Age, gender, race, earnings, job, level of education and many other factors are essential as a starting point for your research.

Psychographic factors are also important, such as hobbies, interests, fears and anxieties. With this data, you can more easily intercept the needs of customers, providing a service or product tailored to them.

What is behavioral analysis? 

After having collected the data in a generic manner, you can move on to a behavioral analysis, that is the study of consumer behavior and their decisions during the purchase phase.

The analysis starts with the study of online and offline behavior. Which emails are opened most by customers? What are the blog posts that attract the most attention? What kind of feedback do these receive? When did sales spikes occur? What are the reasons customers buy from you? How much do they spend on average? By answering these questions, you can proceed through the exercise of customer profiling.

How to present the product to the customer

After coming to appreciate exactly who the customer is, you will arrive at the final step: presenting the product in the right way and highlighting the chief positive aspects of this, based on customer needs. If you did the job well, using football jargon, you can take an empty net penalty - you can't go wrong!

Last step: measuring the effectiveness of the advertising campaign

In order for your strategy to be successful, you must continuously update and analyze the data, because the same customer habits and market trends can change. In this way, you will always be on track by providing an ad hoc service for your audience.

Are you ready to face the new changes and challenges?

We at We Are Fiber are, so contact us to start an exciting adventure together.

Contact us now!

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