The Art of Profiling

The more you know about your customers, the more successful your ads will be.  Ads that appeal to a specific group are more effective than ads that have a broad appeal. Accordingly, you should break down the customers in your target market to the individuals who will make the purchase. 

Below are some different methods of Customer profiling:

  • Demographics
    »     Information about a specific population such as age, gender, income, ethnic background, family size, etc.
  • Psychographics
    »     Information about a particular population’s values attitudes, lifestyles and interests. Example, two people may be the same age but one may be a smoking, drinking, motorcycle driver while the other may drink spring water, exercises regularly and bikes to work every day.
  • Geographics
    »     Information on where your target market is located.
  • Biographics
    »     Describes how your customers purchase products.
    »     Cash, check, credit card
    »     Phone or in person
    »     In the morning or at night
    »     Once a week or every day
     
    Some market segments are so small, they are considered “niche” markets.  While profiling can make your ads more effective, be careful not to eliminate potential customers by too narrowly defining your market.