You knew your customer when you first met. What about now?
Life is changing and so is my persona.
I'm re-entering the workforce after one of life's major changes – Motherhood. After four months of maternity leave my life is forever altered. With the joys of Motherhood also come sleep deprivation, a new commute, new shopping habits – the list goes on and on.
Changes in your customer and prospects profiles are an important part of understanding who they are. These insights may lead to new up-sell and cross-sell opportunities. Changes may mean shifting dollars and tweaking messages as prospects move from a core target to secondary target and vice versa.
Updates to my profile might include:
- Multiple person household with child (and dog)
- Changes in media consumption
- My TV viewing has gone from prime time, to prime time appointment viewing, and even then it's often time shifted by the DVR
- I watch more infomercials now because I'm up at odd hours and sometimes mindless TV is all my sleep deprived mind can take
- My reading habits have changed. The catalogs I once flipped through religiously are now in a pile that grows taller while it gathers dust. Yet, when Parents magazine comes – I read it that night cover to cover
- Many of the blogs I read now are on baby related sites – www.babble.com
- Changes in purchasing habits
- I'm a BJ's club shopper now and clip coupons – diapers are expensive. I even joined www.couponmom.com. (Although this change is not solely linked to Motherhood but also the economy and rising food prices)
- I'm spending less discretionary income on decorating and more on food and clothing
Some marketers are paying attention to the changes in my life – my mailboxes are full. For some (life insurance, college savings products), I am now a desirable prospect. Yet others (Martha Stewart Living magazine, West Elm) miss me and are sending me offers to try and drive purchase. Kudos to you. You will more than likely increase my purchasing habits as well my affinity for your brand.
And then there are those marketers who have no idea that my life has been changed at all. They are wasting their marketing dollars by targeting me with products and messages that are now irrelevant.
Look at your database and profile information on a regular basis to understand changes to your audience. This exercise can unearth new opportunities for cross-sell or up-sell. It may help to re-prioritize your audiences so you can weed out those folks who no longer fit your profile so you can re-allocate budgets. Change can be a good thing.
