5 Reasons You Need to Start Customer Profiling, Today

1. Not everyone needs you

This sounds harsh, but it is true. Not every single member of the public needs your services or products. In order to get your message to those that count, you need to stop trying to reach everyone and try customer profiling to narrow the search.

2. You are wasting money

How many times have you received a mailer, email, or logoed product that you didn’t need? Probably lots. You probably also simply threw that marketing product into the trash. That is exactly where your efforts are going without a targeted approach. When everything hinges on ROI, you can’t afford to be wasteful.

3. Be a better resource

The reason you are in business is to provide a product or service. By identifying your ideal customer through customer profiling, you increase your exposure to those that actually need you. You can be better about providing timely information about helpful options for them. It becomes a win-win relationship.

4. Take care of those that take care of you

Customer profiling provides the data to identify those of your current customers that give you the most business. Sometimes it is the large account, and sometimes it is unexpectedly a number of smaller clients with steady and reliable orders. Armed with the right knowledge, you can create incentive programs and better ways you can serve each other.

5. You aren’t your competition

Customer profiling can help you understand your specific niche and how to reach out to your key people. Rather than copycatting a marketing plan based on your competition, you can tailor it to your specific market, industry, or size. This helps you stand out from your competitors by giving you focus and definition.

If you would like to learn more about customer profiling from an Austin advertising agency, visit MindEcology.

5 Key Direct Mail Marketing Terms to Know

1. Bulk mail

Bulk mail is one of the tools for direct mail marketing. For those large projects that require mail to be sent to a large recipient list, the post office has a reduced fee scale. It is important to know the regulations and special steps for sending anything bulk mail, to avoid delay.  It is advisable to speak directly with a USPS representative to ensure proper compliance.

2. Call to action

No marketing piece is worth doing, unless it has a call to action. This is the part of the mailer where you let the reader know the next step they should take. They have opened the mailer, they have taken their time to read it. If they are interested, they need to know if they should go to a website, call a phone number, or complete a form. The call to action should be clear, direct, and prominent.

3. List

No direct mail marketing project can be complete without the list. It is the group of people or businesses to whom the pamphlet, letter, or mailer is to be sent. Lists can be created over time, from those that have done business or made inquiries in the past. They can also be purchased from companies or list brokers. However the list is obtained, it is an essential part of any mailing.

4. Segmentation

There is always some method by which a large list can be divided, for easier control and handling of the information. Segmentation is when a master list is divided into groups based on one of the pieces of information in each recipient’s profile. This could be zip code, gender, company size, or anything else that helps the business target a specific subset of the main list.

5. Response rate

The point of any marketing venture is to get customers. In direct mail marketing, the same is true. One of the ways that a marketing team can see how effective a campaign has been is to measure the response rate. This means taking note of how many potential customers or customers that received the piece actually made an inquiry or  purchase.

If you would like to learn more about direct mail marketing in Ausitn, visit MindEcology.

How Demographic Profiling Helps You Find Your Best Customer

In today's marketing world, there are a number of tools that can help you find your best customer. One of the most effective is demographic profiling. It is a complex process that helps you glean your current customer list for your most desirable options. The process helps you and your team place your best efforts where they will count the most. Whether you are a seasoned business owner, or the proud new owner of a small startup, any business could be helped by improvements to their process for converting leads and increasing revenue. Through demographic profiling, analytics is put to work. That way, you and your team don't waste your time on the wrong lead that is less likely to convert. 

 

The process is highly complex, but begins by gathering all information about your current customer base and your business. To that mix, outside information about companies like yours is added, to help find areas you could grow and find your best customer. The numbers are then run on all of the compiled information. The customers will then be segmented into various groups. A quality service will have a robust profiling model that takes multiple levels of information into account. It is important to not lose opportunities because of missing or misunderstanding information. There are also big differences in segmenting categories that should be taken into account depending on whether you are a B2B or B2C company.

In the end, the cream rises to the top. You will find your best customer group listed in a report, with other tiers below them. They will not only have a higher propensity to buy, but will also have a higher buying power. You can then tailor a marketing campaign to speak to them and educate the sales force about how to interact with them. While you always should want to provide the best service and opportunity for any potential lead, it is good to know beforehand how much time should be devoted to any individual.

If you would like to learn more about how to find your best customer in the Austin area, click here.

How To Quickly Find Ideal Prospects for Your Business

When building a business, one of the key questions to success that any owner must ask is, “How do I find my ideal prospects?” Any introductory course in marketing can explain, a good deal of energy can be spent on identifying, describing, and locating the perfect prospect. In order to find them, begin looking at who you already attract and who would like to attract. Create a few personal profiles to exemplify those people. Include any specific information that could help the marketing and sales teams understand who could best benefit from your services or products. Of course, the venture of identifying and properly handling leads can be overwhelming, even for a well run company. Marketing firms are available to help guide your teams, providing experience and knowledge to answer your questions.

One of the ways to “find my ideal prospects” is to be the ideal answer to the customer's problems. Be specific about what you can do for them, letting them know you have real knowledge about their situation. Perhaps create targeted white papers, blog postings, or newsletters about current events or developments that your client could use. By giving them something for free, they see the integrity of your content and can begin to trust you. With a relationship that begins like that, many years of loyalty often follows. However, it is important to remain transparent and truthful. Consumers can spot a scam from a distance and anything too gimmicky could cheapen your image and have the reverse affect.

After you have worked to “find my ideal prospects” and have gained their attention, solid marketing methods and good customer service will convert them to loyalists. If you offer something, then deliver on that promise, they will know. If they have just entered the marketing funnel, or have a need or question, follow up with them quickly. You have gained their attention, but the hardest part is gaining their trust. By being the reliable company they believe you are, you can secure yourself in their lives as a trusted option that won't let them down and waste their time and money. The relationship between company and customer is a mutually beneficial one, once it is established.

If you would like to learn more about how to “find my ideal prospects,” in the Austin area, visit MindEcology.