Customer Profiles: What They Are and Why They’re Essential

Customer profiles are a cornerstone in the foundations of your marketing strategy. These profiles can include all types of customers - from your target customers to your past customers. Profiles create a simple way to better understand and catalog your target market.

Think of it as a vast yearbook-like database. It is your choice what type of customers you choose to profile and what details you record. You could use market segments like ages to calculate consumer demographics. Alternatively, you could track how customers interact with your business, creating a map of consumer behavior through customer profiling.

Whether profiling potential or current customers, customer profiles are essential to a successful marketing strategy. Profiling your customers creates an opportunity for demographic insights and clarity of your target audience. However, you should use customer profiling in your plan for a million other reasons. So, what do you need to know? We have all the details you need to start reaping the rewards of profiling today.

What Are Customer Profiles?

Customer profiles are any form of profiling of any type of customer. These profiles collect valuable details that aid your business’ success. You can collect anything from age to purchase history and behavioral patterns.

For instance, you could make profiles representing your ideal customers to improve sales in your marketing teams. A profile for ideal customers would also be great to boost foot traffic growth. It is a fantastic way to get clearer on your target audience and take action in attracting specific clientele. This task is brilliant for your marketing strategy’s visualizing and planning stage.

However, if you want to better understand existing customer demographics, then ideal customers won’t be your focus. In this case, you would collect data to form customer profiles for people who have interacted with your business. You’ll be monitoring current and past customers, who directly reflect on how your business runs. An excellent way to do this is through wifi marketing software - which requests details in exchange for a network connection. This is a significant step to take in your marketing strategy’s reviewing and expanding stages.

You can compare asking what customer profiling is to ask how long a piece of string is. Customer profiling falls into many different sub-categories. But put simply, it’s creating classifications and documents to represent and record customers and their behavior. It is a strategy amongst marketing teams and an excellent step for your business.

A Consumer vs Target Market Profile Example

So, what is the difference between consumer and target market customer profiles? Easy. Consumer profiles are of existing customers with a history of interacting with your business. Target market profiles are ideal customers you’d like to attract and can be fictional or real.

Consumer profiles are most helpful when planning marketing and significant business decisions. You can consider how raising prices would impact individuals by looking at their occupations and income. On the other hand, target market profiles are better for segmenting customers into specific demographic groups. For instance, understanding that 80% of customers visit between 8 am and 10 am is essential for new opening times.

This section will provide customer profile examples for consumers and target market clientele. Plus, we’ll throw in extra details on where to find customer profile examples to help you with your business.

A Consumer Profile Example of Customer Profiles

Bio: Milly is a 24 female receptionist who has visited Sunshine Cafe 9 times over the past 3 months. 90% of her visits were between 7 am and 9 am. 10% of her visits were between 4 pm and 5 pm.

Name: Milly Shaw. Age: 24 Gender: Female. Profession: Receptionist.

A Target Market Profile Example of Customer Profiles

Ages: 17-22 Gender: Mixed. Income: Low, e.g., under $15,000. Lifestyle: Socializing, studying, going to the gym, and spending time with family and friends. Tastes and preferences: Trendy, creative, arty, social, cheap, and study-friendly. Generational cohort: It is best to target Gen Z customers through social media posts. Whether the business looks Instagrammable and aesthetically pleasing is essential. Profession: Students.

Customer Profiles: Why You Should Use Customer Profile Marketing

Customer profiles are vital for marketing as they invite business owners to analyze their target audience and consumers. Perspective is a valuable thing. And by profiling customers, business owners zoom in and out with their perspectives. Using a customer profile or target customer profile is an indispensable tool for improving your marketing strategy. You’ll be clearer on who you want to attract and know how to improve your customer experiences. Customer profile marketing is fantastic.

So, what benefits come from a sense of direction and clarity over consumers? Firstly, the ability to increase customer engagement and loyalty. The more you understand your customers, the more you can understand customer journeys. This insight is vital for improving customer experience. You’ll understand customers’ drawbacks when interacting with your service or product. Therefore, you can target these negative aspects and create a more positive experience. Reputation management is key.

Secondly, customer profiles are ideal for making informed business decisions. You can also increase customer loyalty by anticipating and meeting customer needs - using customer profiling to guide you. If you are targeting students as your target audience, you might create aesthetic seasonal services or products. Or perhaps a beautiful photo corner is perfect for attracting your target audience and prompting organic social media marketing. For restaurants especially, selecting a theme is really important.

Lastly, you can use customer profiling to reinvest in your marketing strategy. Having a clear idea of who you are targeting helps optimize your marketing. It stops you from wasting time on the wrong audiences and wasting your budget. With customer profiling, you’ll know exactly who to target and won’t spend a penny outside your target audience.

5 Types of Customers for Customer Profiles

Once you look at customer profiles, you quickly determine that there are many types of customers. You don’t just separate customers into demographic groups. You can also divide them by intent. For instance, you can have browsers and loyal customers. These two customer groups have very different wants and needs. The groups also have different relationships with your business.

Understanding the different intents of customers is vital for successfully utilizing customer profiling. And once you know the basics of customer profiles, learning the types of customers is a brilliant next step. Check out these top 5 customer types.

1. Loyal Customers - The Easiest Customer Profiles

Loyal customers are by far the easiest customer profiles to create. These are the customers that visit and engage with your business regularly. They might have a table booked every Wednesday afternoon if you run a cafe. If you have a shop, they might drop by every other weekend. Loyal customers for personal service businesses will likely book regular appointments for the next six months.

Loyal customers are predictable and reliable. And chances are, you already are on at least a first-name basis. With these types of customers, customer profiling often occurs organically. Business owners tend to have an open and honest relationship with regulars. If something is right? You are bound to know. If something isn’t brilliant? A loyal customer will also politely let you know. All this information is excellent for building a customer profile.

2. Deal-chasing Customers

Deal-chasing customers are pretty self-explanatory. This customer type prioritizes bargains; you’ll find them where the products are quality and at the lowest prices. While deal-chasing customers aren’t the most reliable for your business, they are ideal for inventory clearances.

You want to target these customers when you reach stock clearance. And customer profiles (alongside competitor research) will help you understand how to draw them in.

3. Browsers - The Hardest Customer Profiles

Browsers are the group that ends up as foot traffic rather than consumers. Browsers are drawn by the social aspect of your business. Perhaps they are meeting a friend to wander local shops? Or check out the menus at a new restaurant to make a reservation later? Either way, browsers make up a considerable proportion of visitors to your business.

Don’t get too drawn up in pleasing this customer type despite this. Instead, reinvest in customer profiling to reduce this type of customer. The goal is to attract more browsers to buy products or services. Or perhaps play into this customer type’s desire for socializing - for example, adding a coffee corner to your large store.

4. Product-specific Customers

Product-specific customers can be one-time visitors or repeat visitors. However, the main difference between product-specific and loyal customers is their purchases. Product-specific customers are driven by a particular need. For instance, a customer comes into a bakery to buy a birthday cake. There is an association with product-specific and special occasions.

The good news is that product-specific customers can quickly become regulars. By providing high-quality products, you can attract them as loyal customers - even if it’s once or twice a year. You can also send reminders and track their special occasions by building customer profiles.

5. Impulse Customers - Second Best Customer Profiles

Impsule customers are wallet-happy, and no business will complain about that. Impulse customers are easy to upsell and receptive to marketing attempts. These are the customers you want to add to your email marketing lists.

Customer profiles are important for impulse customers, especially when you track contact details. An excellent way to do this is by providing a rewards card (which isn’t just for loyal customers).

Final Thoughts: How Essential Are Customer Profiles?

Customer profiles are definitely essential for a successful business. Understanding your customers is the root of any good service or product. Profits are an excellent option if you invest in anything to improve your marketing strategy. Profiles are fantastic for giving you a clearer picture of your target and current consumer demographic. And, with a better perspective, it is easier to take effective action.

Feeling a little lost starting customer profiling? At Beambox, we are happy to help. We are experts in collecting customer profiles through wifi marketing, so let’s get the ball rolling today.

Beambox offers the best all-in-one wifi marketing platform. We leverage a dynamic approach to connect, capture, and keep more customers. Start your Beambox free trial today, and let us help you maximize your business’ potential.

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