The trick is to determine what uniquely identifies your best customers. Fortunately, deriving this information is not difficult, and in many cases can be obtained from innocuous questions. Consider a manufacturer of baby goods and the fact that families with new babies often purchase multi-passenger vehicles. This manufacturer could build an effective mailing list by surveying recent car purchasers and noting which respondents had traded in sports cars for SUVs. Your information gathering technique of course will vary, but the identifying information always comprises the same three pieces -- demographic information, geographic location, and purchasing history. Demographic Information
Consumer behavior varies with age, sex, education, income, occupation, marital status, and family size. These demographic parameters are typically used to describe consumers, but they're not an exhaustive list. Perhaps the current brand of car or credit limit would more accurately determine your customer base, which reveals the dark side of demographics -- choosing which demographics to discard may be occasionally difficult. You may find yourself fighting the urge to know every minute detail about your customers. Bear in mind that too much information can be just as paralyzing as too little, and remember to choose wisely, because demographic information is the foundation of your customer analysis. Geographic Location
Trends in apartment renting and home ownership have proven the old adage "birds of a feather flock together," amazingly correct. Geographic location analysis paired with demographics reveals clusters of people with similar characteristics living near one another. This type of analysis creates maps where your customers live, which can yield additional clues on where to look for new customers. It's also worth noting that purchasing behavior is remarkably consistent within specific geographic areas, reflecting shared lifestyle traits. Market segmentation studies can build upon geographic analysis to produce studies of various customer types as well. Purchasing History
When did your customers last make a purchase? How often do they buy? How much do they typically spend? You can use these questions to assign a value category to your customers. If you're a consumer goods and services provider, you have all the purchase information you need right in your sales records. If that's not enough, or if you run a different type of business, you can find generalized purchasing history in census data.
Using what you know about current customers to identify likely new customers increases your chances significantly of finding new best customers. That in turn generates sound data to guide your product offerings, promotional programs, and overall marketing strategy.
Catenate, LLC is a web-based provider of detailed easy-to-use targeted geodemographic reports, through the Catosphere (http://www.catosphere.com) and related marketing services.
http://www.catosphere.com
Wendy Cobrda, CEO
Last week we talked about a few of the ways... Read More
Ask Yourself three simple questions that affect your strategy planning...... Read More
Note to Rite Aid and CVS: It's not about the... Read More
Too much goal setting and strategic planning can leave you... Read More
GETTING STARTED WITH SUCCESSION PLANNING: PART IA survey of 4,300... Read More
Some analysts credit [Larry] Ellison with anticipating the consolidation in... Read More
The trick is to determine what uniquely identifies your best... Read More
This week I coached a wonderfully lovely woman I'll call... Read More
After 128 years of business, a household word, Montgomery Wards,... Read More
If you own a mobile franchise business and wish to... Read More
Every decade we seem to come up with a buzz-word... Read More
A business plan precisely defines your business, identifies your goals,... Read More
Ask a small business owner about their strategic plan and... Read More
Private equity firms have raised so much capital over the... Read More
Making money doesn't make your reputation... your reputation makes you... Read More
If ever there were an industry where we want zero... Read More
When in doubt, cut that out! Yeah, yea, doubting Thomas... Read More
Most companies that are worthy of raising venture capital have... Read More
In today's rapidly changing and highly competitive markets, many privately... Read More
If you are looking for a partner, funding, angle investor... Read More
You know you need a business plan. You probably realize... Read More
It is always said "If you Fail to Plan, you... Read More
"Rubbish!" shouted the large, aggressive man in the red-striped shirt... Read More
"Did you hear what your competitor is doing?" This question... Read More
Business seems to drop, slow or even stop during the... Read More
green cleaning service Lincolnshire ..In Ohio: besides the 3-Cs you should look at Akron,... Read More
As a franchisor it is imperative that you seek, find... Read More
Many companies are reluctant to dive into outsourcing ocean because... Read More
The University of Exeter in the United Kingdom recently published... Read More
The boom of the dot-com era in 1999 brought the... Read More
In this small article we'll concentrate on farmers associations and... Read More
I. INTRODUCTIONThe term resilience, which is of frequent use in... Read More
There is so much small business information available today that... Read More
The current state of the available technology at the disposal... Read More
Running a business, whether it be an offline multi-billion dollar... Read More
Writing a business plan to help you direct and manage... Read More
There are no "rules of thumb" in the pursuit of... Read More
When someone mentions business planning we have been conditioned to... Read More
Can you imagine going on a road trip without knowing... Read More
You have heard that there is extra money on the... Read More
Note to Rite Aid and CVS: It's not about the... Read More
Does your overall business strategy include the recruitment of college... Read More
Scenario OneDuring a recent presentation, a business owner was given... Read More
All investors greatly desire and are motivated by a clear... Read More
Making money doesn't make your reputation... your reputation makes you... Read More
Writing a business plan is no easy task, sure you... Read More
Growing your own small business can be one of the... Read More
Entrepreneurs often give little if any consideration to their computer... Read More
A well known, national chain of restaurants discovered that certain... Read More
Succession planning requires the owner of a small or medium-sized... Read More
Strategic Planning |