How well do you know your target customers? I mean really know them? Are they men, women, young, old, Fortune 100 companies, local businesses? If you can at least answer that, then you have the basics, but how much more could you know about them? Can you answer the following twelve questions?
I was recently working with a local service company who was looking for help with their online presence. They were keen to get more active on social media and had asked for advice about the best platforms, optimal frequency of publishing and possible content ideas.
However they were in for a surprise. Rather than getting straight onto the “sexy” topic of social media, I started by taking them through the basics of target customer identification. Lucky for them that I did! When we had finished the exercise, we had actually found five different targets for them to address, rather than just the two they had thought about. This clearly would have an impact on both where, what and how they communicated online.
These are the twelve questions that enabled us to brainstorm, identify and then complete a better and more complete description of their target customers. Their use also resulted in clear differentiated segments for their services – three more than they had originally thought! How would you like to double your own market potential? Read on:
- WHO: DEMOGRAPHICS: OK this is usually a “no-brainer” and is how most organisations describe their customers. Not really original and definitely not competitive, but still the essential foundation.
- WHAT THEY USE: Whether you are offering a product or service, you need to know what your customers are using today. And not only for your category, but in adjacent categories too. What do they use – if anything – if your product / category is not available?
- WHAT THEY CONSUME: Here we need to understand what types of information and media they are consuming; what they do in their spare time, how they “consume” their time.
- WHAT THEY DO: How do your customers spend their time? What type of lifestyle do they have? What do they do all day, and in the evening and at weekends?
- WHAT THEY BUY: This is where you describe their current category habits. How frequently and what quantity do they buy? Do they have regular purchase habits? Do they do research before buying or repurchasing? Do they compare and if so how, where, why?
- WHERE THEY CONSUME: Is the category consumed in home, in work, on vacation? With friends, with their partner, with friends? Are there certain surroundings more conducive to consumption? What makes it so?
- WHERE THEY BUY: Do your target customers have certain places and times they buy? Is it an habitual or impulse purchase? Is it seasonal?
- WHERE THEY READ: Today “read” covers not just traditional media but new media as well. From where do they get information about products? From manufacturers, friends, family, colleagues? Do they access it online, in print, on radio or TV? What websites and people do they follow, listen to and value the opinion of? What interests do they have in general and concerning the category?
- WHERE THEY SEE: One reason to target a specific group of customers is so that you can better communicate with them. Where are they likely to be open to your messages, what media, what times, which days?
- WHY: VALUES: What values do your customers have that you are meeting with your product or service, and explain why they are using it? Do they have other values that are not currently addressed, either by you or your competitors? Do these values offer the possibility of a differentiated communications platform or product / service concept?
- WHY: EMOTIONS: What is the emotional state of your customers when they are considering a purchase or use, both of the category and the brand? Clearly identified emotions enable you to more easily resonate with your customers through empathising with their current situation. You are more likely to propose a solution that will satisfy their need or desire when their emotional state is clearly identified.
- WHY: MOTIVATIONS: What motivates the customer to consider, buy and use their category and brand choice? Emotions and motivations are closely linked both to each other and to the customer’s need state. By identifying the need-state you want to address, you will be better able to understand your customers and increase the resonance of your communications.
If you can answer all twelve of these questions, then you certainly know your customers intimately. But before you sit back and relax on your laurels, remember that people are constantly changing and what satisfies them today, is unlikely to satisfy them tomorrow. Therefore you need to keep a track on all four layers of your customer description to stay ahead of competition, as well as to satisfy and hopefully delight your customers.
As mentioned above, by answering and completing a detailed description of the target audience for my client, we were able to identify a couple of new segments that their services could address. Although their demographics were similar, their emotional and need states were quite different. This gave us the opportunity to respond with slightly different service offers for each group.
If you would like to try out this exercise for yourself, we have some useful templates that we can send you, to make it easier; just drop us a line and ask for them.
For more information on better identifying and understanding target customers, please check out our website: http://www.c3centricity.com/c3c-solution/customer/target/choose/
