by Ravi Backerdan on February 03, 2021
Customer modeling or look-alike modeling is a reasonably new method of focusing your data for a direct marketing campaign. Essentially, you create your ideal customer profile based on the data you have about your current customers. You then compare this profile or model to potential customers. Those who are very similar to the model are good prospects for potential customers to focus your marketing on them. Abide by these Top 10 Direct Mail Marketing Tips To Try For Your Next Campaign to reach your business goals.
By creating a customer model and focusing on potential customers who are very similar to that model, you can market directly to people who are very likely to need or want what you offer. While creating your customer model, you will likely notice that your current customers have several needs and traits in common. These commonalities are often related to problems that your business can solve. Any potential customer who has these same commonalities then likely has a question or a need your products or services will fulfill.
Marketing to these individuals not only brings in more money but also saves you money. You can aim your marketing at those who are more likely to become customers. If you advertise to someone who is not like most of your customers, you may be talking to someone who doesn’t need what you are offering – this is a waste of valuable marketing dollars. Read Email Marketing Do's and Don'ts that you should focus on in the next campaign.
To create a custom model for your direct marketing campaigns, you will first need to gather data for your current customers. You want to track who they are, what they buy when they buy it, and any other demographic data you can collect. With this data in hand, you can analyze it to determine commonalities among your customers and look at their purchase patterns and behaviors. This information is very useful for several reasons. In addition to using it for your direct marketing, it can tell you how customers respond to special events and when you can expect both upticks in profits and times when your sales may be down.
However, many newer business owners aren’t sure how to go about collecting first-hand data. This is information you gather yourself, and it can be done both online and offline. If you have an eCommerce website, you can quickly collect where your customers live based on their billing and shipping addresses. This also gives you a chance to ask them to opt-in to your email marketing list, which is always a good thing to do. You can ask them to complete a customer profile, as well, plus you can track which sections of your website or which products they view.
Offline, you can also collect data. Several stores ask customers for their zip code at check-out. Others ask customers to sign up for a mailing list or to complete a survey. This all adds to your available customer data.
Many businesses make a mistake by creating a profile of their ideal customer and then never refine that profile. They use the same model for years, then wonder why they start to see fewer results. Customers change, and those who may have once been loyal to your brand may now have needs that you are no longer meeting. You need to periodically take another look at your data and compare it to your current look-alike model to see if any changes need to be made.
If you have already gathered data on your customers, you may be ready to create your ideal customer profile. However, if you make a model without all of the necessary data, your model may be flawed.
AmeriList can help by taking your customer data and comparing it to the information we have in our databases for the same people. We then enhance your data, adding detailed demographic data to have a much better idea of who your ideal customers are. You can then use this improved data to create a more focused, effective marketing campaign. To learn more about how we can help you with your customer modeling, contact us today.