No matter what your industry, business size, marketing goals or products are, successful direct mail marketing starts with data. What do we mean by this? We’re talking about customer data. Precise information about your brand and customers that you can use to connect with more prospective customers.
Every business gathers data, even if it’s not intentional. Your customer lists, services areas, customer reviews – it’s all insight that you can use to improve your targeting. In this article, we show you how to use your own business data to:
As your business grows, you will get more information – more data – on your existing customers and prospects. By organizing and reviewing this data regularly, you can use it to define a profile for your ideal customer.
Why should you create a profile for your ideal customer? Simple. To create your ideal buyer, and to understand who you are looking for when you create promotions. When reviewing your data, we recommend asking yourself these five questions:
You probably already have these details and it’s just a matter of organizing the information so you can understand and use it in your marketing strategy. With this information written down, you can then start to build a customer profile for your existing and target customers.
Example Customer Profile – Meet Mary!
The more you define Mary, the more confident you will be in finding more individuals like her! As you collect more data, don’t hesitate to build multiple profiles for different parts of your business. By doing this, you can customize your messaging for each group based on what they need and want.
If you are a new business or simply don’t have an existing database, don’t panic. In this case, you can simply use what you’ve researched about your target audience to get started. There are data sources that can provide you with information about your customers, whether it’s by geographic location or through data shared by similar businesses. This will evolve when you start to gather your own data.
Here’s a list of 12 data points that we often use to help customers to narrow in on their target audience. Every industry is different, so if a data point doesn’t apply, simply skip it!
Now that you know the characteristics of your ideal customer, you can use this information to create look-alike lists! We call the people in these lists look-alikes because they look like your existing clientele and are often extremely lucrative. Best practices for creating a look-alike list uses a blend of demographics, geography, life stage, lifecycle and behaviour to precisely target the right audience.
How can we create a look-alike list for Mary?
By creating your ideal customer profile and using it to target look-alikes, businesses can get granular with their marketing placements and messaging. By speaking to your ideal customers about how and where they want to be spoken to, you’ll see better response rates and make your marketing dollars go further.
Still, have questions about creating your list of ideal customers or how to create an effective marketing strategy to target them? Contact your Direct Response Media Group rep today to find a solution that will help your business reach its target audience.