Get to know your customers

 

Understanding who your business is selling to is vital in figuring out your brand identity. Which specific customer types are you trying to reach? How are you going to reach them? What is the value you intend to provide them? What incentives will they respond to positively? While you might personally know some of your customers, it's unlikely you've sat down and made a conscious effort to visualize what’s in their heads. In this article, we will share tools that help you to understand the consumers' pain points, motivations, goals, and challenges, helping you get more of your products and services into their hands. 

CREATE AN EMPATHY MAP

An empathy map is a team exercise that illustrates customer behaviors, mindsets, and expectations, helping you know what your customers want in relation to your brand or experience. Creating a map helps you synthesize a lot of data into an easy-to-digest visual diagram. It will also help communicate a common understanding of your customers’ wants throughout your organization, removing the effects of any personal biases.

Empathy maps are divided into four quadrants. Each quadrant represents a different moment and reaction that the customer may have about their experience. The four standard labels that comprise each quadrant are: 

• Says. The "Says" quadrant references phrases consumers might say about their experiences. Example: "I’d purchase more wine online if shipping wasn’t so expensive.” 

• Thinks. The "Thinks" quadrant conveys typical thoughts consumers have when going through an experience. Example: "Wine clubs are for older people who have extra money to spend.”

• Does. The "Does" quadrant surveys what consumers do and how they behave. Example: "Compares wine prices on different winery websites."

• Feels. The "Feels" quadrant is about the consumer's emotional state, which you often determine after completing the "Thinks" and "Does" quadrants. Example: "I feel like I don’t have enough  wine knowledge to make the right selection."

CRAFT YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILES

Ideal Customer Profiles take the information surfaced in the Empathy Map and go deeper, effectively creating a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer. The more energy you put towards crafting these profiles, the more personalized your marketing messages and campaigns can be. Usually, a customer profile will have a fake name attached to them to represent a customer segment: like Wine Collector William or Millennial Mary - however, the attributes collected are from qualitative data like: 

• Demographics – age, gender, income level, education
• Psychographics – attitudes, beliefs, personality
• Why they bought your product – what was the primary driver
• Where they found your product – in a retail store, online, in the tasting room
• How your product is used – what attributes are important to them
• What solutions it provides – how does it enhance their life 
• How often and  how much of it do they buy - a case every quarter or two bottles a month
• Objections – why would they consider not buying it
• Communication preferences – do they prefer email, text or phone calls
• Social media preferences - where do they spend their time online

Once collected, this information paints a clear picture of your ideal customer so you can speak directly to them about their wants and lifestyle needs. When customers feel like marketing messaging is speaking directly to them and connecting with their behaviors, personality, ambitions, and concerns - they're more likely to buy what is being offered. Dig deep into who your buyer is. Make a conscious effort to visualize what’s in their heads. Consider using Empathy Maps, Profiles, and other tools to understand them better. Once you know their pains and where you can make gains, marketing strategies are easy to identify.

Would you like Bloom to do the research for you and help you get to know your customers? We can do that. Get in touch with our team of seasoned creatives at Bloom Studio.