Today I went to yet another marketing workshop, in pursuit of some insight into marketing strategy for my startup marketing research business. The workshop was taught by a local marketing coach who (of course) was using the 2-hour workshop as a lead generation source (hence the free admission). In her favor, she gave us some pithy information about the basic elements of our marketing plans before she pulled out the coaching price sheets.
Still, I left the workshop feeling unsatisfied. As I drove back to my office (a plywood desk in my apartment), I realized that all the workshops I’ve attended over the past six months, both in person and online (and there have been at least a dozen) have all left me with the same feeling that something was missing.
Yes, I’d heard a lot of useful information, but the problem was, none of it to was tailored to my unique situation. Actually, workshops are never tailored to our unique situations. At today’s workshop, for instance, one entrepreneur owned a flower shop. Another was starting a massage business—“but medical massage, not spa massage!” she was quick to point out. One used to own a web design company but is pivoting into hypnosis and wellness consulting. Another is in real estate. And there was me, the wannabe marketing researcher. How can a workshop address the marketing challenges faced by all these small business owners?
The answer is, workshops can’t. They are by nature generic. Unless the audience is a homogeneous bunch of dog biscuit bakers, a workshop can’t get down to specifics. Not for a group of twelve in two hours, anyway.
What we need is a set of questions, the answers to which will allow us to personalize our marketing strategy.
José Antonio Sánchez at Uberflip recommends segmenting customers into distinct groups. These customer profiles, also known as buyer personas, involve several dimensions: work role, company profile, goals, challenges, “watering holes,” personal background, and shopping habits.
Adele Revella is the marketing mind behind the Buyer Persona Institute. Adele trains her clients to conduct customer interviews to gain insights about the decisions they want to influence. One of the most important questions to ask customers is about their perceived barriers to purchasing the brand.
Here are the key question areas you need to develop a complete customer profile:
- Demographics (age, gender, income, occupation, education, marital status, presence of children, geographical location, etc.)
- Psychographics (likes, dislikes, attitudes, beliefs, preferences, intentions, personality types, etc.)
- Location (where do they gather–online and offline, what do they watch, what do they read)
- Search behavior (what do they search for, what search terms do they use, what content do they look for and respond to)
- Purchase process (where do they begin their search, what is their problem or unmet need, what perceived benefits do you offer)
- Purchase and usage behavior (for current customers, how often do they buy, how much do they buy, how do they use the product or service)
Where do you find all this information?
Demographic, psychographic, and location data come from customer surveys. Insight into the purchase process might best be gathered by simply interviewing a cross-section of your customers. Search data can be found in your web analytics. Purchase and usage behavior is available to you in your sales data. You can create a coordinated system to compile all these data in one place.
After you have compiled and reviewed the data, you will start to see similarities between customers, which you can group into distinct segments. Some marketers recommend giving each profile a name and a photo. Writing for this specific (though fictitious) person makes it easier to create targeted content. Hang a photo on your bulletin board, and get to work.
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