iMarketing Tip: Know Your Customer

I’m a big movie buff and an even bigger music lover so it’s not unusual to hear me quote movies or song lyrics.

Case in point: The first rule of Fight Club: you do NOT talk about Fight Club.

We’re not going to talk about fighting or even discuss the merits of NOT talking about something… it simply popped into my head when I was sitting down to write this ezine.

The first rule of iMarketing: you MUST know your customer.

Know your customer. If there were a list of rules for doing business online, this would undoubtedly be at the top of the list.

When I used to work for a Brokerage House, one of the forms that we had to fill out for every client that opened a trading account was the KYC Form (Know Your Client). It contained the usual address information but then got into specifics about their trading preferences (on a scale from high risk to conservative), how long they had until retirement, other information about their household, etc. etc. The information was collected so that the Broker could make recommendations based on a unique understanding of each client’s goals and circumstances.

The same deep knowledge of your client (or target market or ideal customer depending on which particular guru you follow) is critical to your success in marketing your business.

I’ve seen it time and time again: a lot of businesses spend countless amounts of money and man-hours using the wrong marketing strategies or platforms or even words to reach their customers – both their potential customers and current customers.

There’s nothing worse than standing on the inside of a company and watching a mass-exodus of customers. But if you find yourself in the unforunate position of NOT knowing who your customers are, chances are you’re not going to be able to deliver what they want in terms of products and services and failing to meet their expectations.

So get to know your customers – create a form if you need to or write out a brief description of their specific characteristics. If you don’t take the time to do this for each group you serve, you better prepare yourself for the consequences.