Each one wants his or her interest to be piqued by a feeling that you understand their needs, their wants, their preferences… and that you’ve designed a product or service just for them.

How can this be accomplished? How can you let your ideal customers know you that you know them and understand them? You can study to become an advanced customer profiler. 

An advanced customer profiler not only knows the value of research, he or she knows how to put what they learn to work. Here are some pointers so that you can get started on your own path to becoming an advanced customer profiler.

Study the language, to speak like an insider

One of the best ways to prove your authenticity, expertise and trustworthiness is to speak the language of the natives – or the group of people who need the services you’re offering. Hang out in social media places, in chat rooms or forums where your target audience is talking about what interests them and pay close attention to the words and phrases they use most often. A brilliant by-product of this research? You will know your ideal customer better than anyone.

Follow consumer trends

As the things consumers do with their time change, so do their preferences. All choices have consequences. Trends are trends because a large portion of the population has chosen to do the same things. This means that those “same things” are affecting them all in similar ways and making similar changes to the ways they live and interact. For this reason, consumer trends cannot be overlooked. Even the rejection of trends is a trend in itself – and the more trends there are to reject, the more openings your brand has for engagement.

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Never assume that you know how your product is being used

Your ideal customer may need your product for a purpose you’ve never thought of. Or, your ideal customer may be someone different than you first believed them to be. Be flexible in your views of your brand because, after all, your brand isn’t what you say it is; it’s what consumers say it is. Find out how your product is being used, and you’ll gain significant insight into how your ideal client thinks.

Request and gather feedback

Are customers happy with their experience whilst dealing with your brand? What are they telling their friends? Will they be back, and why or why not? Very few people will volunteer their opinions. If they don’t come back, you may never know why… unless you ask. Welcome and encourage testimonials, referrals, feedback, etc. 

Demographic studies are still essential; however, your customer profiling should not end there. An Advanced Customer Profiler will never assume any data collected to be unchangeable. Instead, he or she will continually search for answers to new questions related to trends, language and more.

There has never been a better time to sharpen your advanced customer profiler skills. I invite you to enrol now in our B.R.A.N.D. Building Bootcamp, where you’ll learn how to slip into the shoes of your ideal client and to make the brand strategy and marketing strategy decisions that will not only grab their attention, but keep it through all the major milestones that designate a client as a loyal brand advocate. Learn more and register for the boot camp here.

By Sammy Blindell of How to Build a Brand.

Image: Shutterstock

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