Customer profiling.
Those are two words you’ll never hear in everyday conversation. They belong on the chalkboard at business school, in a dense textbook about marketing, or maybe in one of those “strategy sessions” where the boss wants to know why the hell no one is buying your company’s latest product.
It’s a boring term, one that, as a writer, I’m almost ashamed to know and understand, but it also represents one of the most powerful marketing weapons in existence. Like a rusty gun that never runs out of bullets, it’ll help you kill 95% of business problems before they ever rear their ugly heads.
So I’m going to write a post on it.
Just to make it a little more interesting though, I thought I’d ditch the term and add a little bit more of a contemporary spin to the idea that it describes. Chase away any worry of being asked a question like, “Who are customers and how do we target them?”
Instead, I’ll posit a different, hopefully more insightful one: Who is the guy in your Apple commercial?
Marketing Lessons from Apple
Apple is pretty darned smart these days.
Instead of pumping our televisions full of hyped up, meaningless commercials that cost millions of dollars to create but no one pays attention to, they went with simple, cheap, and smart. Each features a Mac guy and a PC guy going through a skit that pokes fun at the PC guy and makes the Mac guy look cool.
They’re called the “Get a Mac” commercials. Not only are they effective at generating word-of-mouth and positioning Apple against the competition, but they’re also a perfect example of what customer profiling is about: making your customer real.
If I asked you to picture the Mac guy, could you do it? Sure. You’d probably imagine Justin Long, the actor in the commercials.
More importantly, if I asked you to develop a new feature that Mac users would go gaga over, would you create a business application? Not likely. The Mac guy wouldn’t like that. Though, he would probably like a way to publish his iTunes play list to his twitter account.
Do you see what I’m talking about? If you can make your customer real, you don’t need heaps of market data to tell you what they want. You just picture them in your head and ask, “Is this something they would like?”
Or, better yet, call them up and ask them.
Customer Profiling Is about Relationships, Not Research
The best marketers don’t just study their customers. They know them. If you asked them to tell you about what their customers will want in the future, they would pick up the phone, call one of them, and hand you the phone. “This is Fred,” they would say. “Ask him for yourself.”
The point is, customer profiling is really just a fancy term for building a relationship with the people that support your business. Demographics, segmentation, and needs analysis are all important tools, but if you really want to succeed, you’ll get to know your customers and carry them in your thoughts everywhere you go.
Eventually, you might even develop a mental image that represents your average customer. You’ll create a “Mac guy” for your own company. Then, whenever you make a decision, you’ll ask yourself, “Is this something that he would want?”
Who Is the Guy in Your Apple Commercial?
So, take a minute to think about it. Who is the guy in your Apple commercial?
- Where does he spend most of his time? In the field? In front of the computer? At home?
- What really ticks him off?
- What other products is he a fan of?
- Is he high strung, or pretty laid-back?
- How old is he?
You could go on and on with the questions. If you buy that customer profiling is like building a relationship, then there are hundreds of things you’ll need to know before you can say that you really understand them.
It’s also tougher if you’ve never had any contact with them. For instance, this blog is only a few weeks old, so I’m still developing a feel for who likes my content and why. I’ve got a fuzzy picture of the average reader, and it gets a little clearer every time I hear from you.
Thank you for sticking with me. We’ve already got a great community going here, and you’re building it just as much as I am. If you haven’t already, leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail. I’d love to hear what you think.
And who knows? Maybe one day, you’ll be in our Apple commercial.
November 28th, 2007 at 8:36 am
“You’d probably picture Jason Long…”
The ‘Mac’ actor is named Justin Long, not Jason Long.
November 28th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
I love the Apple commercials! They know their audience, young and progressive! In fact, I’ve been studying their marketing approach as I try to market to a younger generation.
One of the things I’ve been struggling with is I “do” know my regular customers, most of them are retired gentlemen. Not that there is anything wrong with that. The sharpening business is a great retirement business because you can set your own schedule. But I also have a number of 30 somethings that are pulling down 6 figure incomes and would like more of them.
How about posting your take on marketing to reach a younger crowd. Your opinion on this would be of great interest to me and maybe others on this blog.
November 28th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
@Mike: Fixed. Good catch.
@Jim: Thanks for the suggestion. I’d have to think about that a little more before posting about it. My first thought is that “young people” are a pretty broad market segment. Depending on the product, you’d probably have to be more specific before launching a marketing campaign.
November 28th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Mac understand their customers very well, and this allows them to appeal to what matters to their customers-coolness being one of those characteristics.
November 28th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Long Shot! I am from India (so no chance of getting featured in a commercial) and I have not seen any of such commercials, but I do pay attention to commercials that are aired in India. They are very different from that you ll see in India. Mainly because the customers/consumers across India are so diverse that you cannot stick to profiling.
But yes everybody likes humor,serenity etc. and from what I have observed the advertisements in India are most of the time based on certain themes like that of humor.
November 29th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Jon, just read the article you wrote for Copyblogger. It was sooooo good.
“Each point you make is like pouring them another glass, slowly washing away their objections, tugging on their emotions, and leading them toward the sale without them even realizing it.”
Your article led me here. Heretofore (fab word), I’ll be a regular visitor.
betaBonnie
Richmond, VA
USA
December 4th, 2007 at 10:58 pm
This is an interesting post. I was glancing through the main page and this caught my eye. I loved
And yup, I agree that Apple has greatly simplified the process of marketing for themselves by using these “Get a Mac” ads. =)!
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December 27th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Great post Jon, you’ve caught the essence of what I heard a long time ago in my early marketing/sales days, which is that people buy from people. And generally from people they either like, respect, or make them feel good. And that happens when you get to know them (Fred!)
Despite all the science of marketing we hear about, it most often comes down to basic human characteristics, which your post illustrates nicely.
I’m new to your site and just catching up on some older posts, but certainly looking forward to hearing more from you!
Cheers
M
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