How to Use Customer Profiles to Improve Your Online Marketing (with Examples)

Have you ever taken a look at your customer personas and wondered, What do I do with all this data? It’s a common question among online marketing pros and online business owners. Sheets filled with details about your core customer profile and the related segment audiences seem really valuable. But how — exactly — do you use that information to improve your marketing?

Is it necessary to use all the data points in every piece of copy you write, every video you create, every blog post you develop? In a word… no. Just pull out what is useful for each particular marketing project you undertake and leave the rest for another time.

Here are 3 ways your customer profiles can help you connect with and convert your audience.

1. Customer Profile Technique #1: Translate Data Into Words

Once you have gathered details for your marketing persona, you might find the data overwhelming. If you’re wondering what to actually do with the information in the customer personas you’ve created, my recommended first step is to translate all those facts into useful words.

For example, if you’ve discovered that 72% of your audience loves technology and working remotely, you can translate that into phrases that convey their desires, such as:

• As simple as opening an app.
• Lets you work where you want.
• Convenient technology.
• A must-have for your mobile office.
• Keeps you in touch and on the go.

These types of messages could apply to almost any product or service.

What if your primary marketing persona includes people who do not love technology? You’d change the phrasing to convey that your product / service is user-friendly.

• No techy mumbo-jumbo.
• Designed for simplicity.
• The benefits of a mobile office without tech headaches.
• Keeps you in touch without flaky technology.

By converting percentages and statistics into real-world communication, you’re able to go from a list of numbers to connection points conveyed though relevant words.

Here’s an example. Let’s say you’re selling portable power banks to travelers. These manufacturers do an impressive job of connecting with people on the go.

Phrases including:

• Charge your mobile devices at an optimized speed…
• Get full-speed charge…
• More time away from the wall…

… all convey that you’ll keep your mobile devices up and running wherever you go, and that they’ll charge quickly.

2. Customer Profile Technique #2: Show, Don’t Tell

But words aren’t the only way to communicate with your target audience. Images are a vital way to define the customer you’re speaking to without using a lot of text. For example, Anker’s website shows this photo. Who do you think the primary avatar for these new colored power banks is?

I see young adults with vibrantly colored power banks connected to phones, tablets, and more. They are dressed casually and are using a blanket to rest in a grassy area. Does this scream college student to you?

Sure, people above college age will use these colored chargers, too. But this ad is targeted specifically to a younger audience. The copy on the page says nothing about being a fun accessory for college students. It doesn’t have to.

That’s not the only photo on Anker’s site that connects through imagery. Take a look at this one for chargers.

Where is this guy? In an airport terminal. What is he wearing? A game console T-shirt, so he’s a techy. He’s not dressed in professional clothing, so he’s likely not a traditional businessman. He’s in very casual attire, meaning he is likely either traveling for personal reasons or he’s an entrepreneur who can wear whatever he wants!

The message? Toss those old chargers that came with your devices and get this newer, faster one.

Why does communicating with visuals matter? That’s what our brains feed on.

• About 90% of information transmitted to your brain is visual, states the Visual Teaching Alliance.
• Content with relevant images gets 94% more views than content without relevant images, according to marketing expert Jeff Bullas.

3. Customer Profile Technique #3: Brainstorm Using Examples

Here are several websites and videos that do a phenomenal job of touching their customer profiles through words, imagery, and more.

Discover Your Talent Podcast

Using podcasts to help listeners find their true talents, host Don Hutchenson categorizes his interviews by stage of life, from early career to retirement.

Each life phase has an appropriate photo that depicts people in that age group.

Coach Glue

This site has an excellent combination of copy and images. From ongoing customer profile research, Coach Glue has discovered that their primary audience is a woman coach who works from home. She’s casual and has an unconventional approach to her workday.

Because she’s an online entrepreneur, she’s able to work remotely from anywhere — whether that be her living room floor, an at-home office, a conference, or even at a desk.

Take a look at the copy. Can you clearly see who they are speaking to? A coach who wants:

• Freedom
• Great content for her followers / clients
• To teach and guide without the hassle of creating every part of the content
• Wants to do what she’s best at and leave the rest to others

Haven’t created your marketing persona yet? Or, perhaps you’ve started a customer profile, but got lost in the process?

You’ll want to get that done first, so you have the raw details I mentioned earlier. Then you’ll be at a point where you can expand that information into usable text and images.

Need help with making a customer profile? That’s what Easy Customer Profile Creation is all about. I’ll walk you through how to start and maintain a marketing profile, how to create a list of words/phrases that specifically appeal to your audience, and how to use that information to improve all your marketing efforts.

At only $27, it’s a no-brainer, quick-start guide that every online marketer needs to have. It gets even better if you use coupon PROFILE to save $10.

Have questions about customer profiles? Talk to me below!

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