It is often said that there’s no better way of marketing than one to one. Utilise this method well enough and you’ll get to know who your customers really are.
Take the time to ask your customers various questions and assess the responses in real time. Take in what is said, the way it is expressed and the accompanying body language. This will immediately give you the opportunity to tailor what you have to fit your customer. “All well and good” you say, but how do you replicate that for a hundred or even a thousand customers?
What you fill find after a few of these ‘one on one’ meetings is that your customers are falling into groups or segments. They may operate in different markets or industries but clearly show similar traits that mean something to you and the way your company operates.
Knowing what group your customer falls into allows you to build segment profiles that incorporate customers who have similar needs for your product or service. Once you have a profile of these segments it will become easier to determine how you will market to these customers. If you have asked the right questions then your market will often tell you how receptive they are to different forms of marketing, allowing you as the marketer to adhere to communication preference.
Segment profiling will identify the customers needs, how they use your product or service and how they value your offering. You will also find out competitive information. Once identified, you can address your segments individually. Fear not, you will have only a handful of these but the next step is to determine a method of communication!
