We all know that creating customer avatars will allow us to know our customers better.

If you talk to a marketer and he/she says, “My customers are female from the ages 25-45. They are affluent and they have an average of 2.5 kids. They are mostly married and live in the suburbs.”

Just seeing this, this is pretty impressive because this marketer knows more than many other marketers know about their customers.  But I am not going to let you off the hook that easy.  We need to know a step beyond the basics.

The basics include: 

• Age
• Gender
• Education
• Ethnicity
• Location
• Income Level
• Career
• Marital Status
• Kids

These are the basics. The basics don’t impress anyone. In this marketing world we live in you need to know much more!

We need to know things like: 

• Hobbies
• Favorite Food, Music, Restaurant, TV Show, Movies, Magazines etc
• Personality
• Passions
• Are they homebodies or do they like to travel?
• Goals
• Are they Mac or PC people?

This is the stuff that would be impressive if you knew the answers. Forget the basic crap. Your competition knows the basics too.  You need to go above and beyond to really know and understand your customers.

5 Ways To Get To Know Your Customers Better

Here are 5 simple things that you and your team can do to get the answers to the more in depth things you should know about your customers.

1) Utilize Page Insights and Analytics

If you have a Facebook Page (you do have one right?) – then start by using your page insights to gain some basic understanding of your customers.

If you have a blog, install some kind of analytic tracker – a basic one like Google will give you great info.  Even seeing things like search terms and keywords they used to find you will give you the answers you are looking for.

2) Spy on Them

We’ve been through this before people – social media research could get to be a little creepy and stalker-ish.  But if we have the means to dig deeper into knowing our customers, shouldn’t we use them? Google the customer who just bought from you. Search for him/her on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus and Pinterest.  See what they are saying. See what they are complaining about. See what they are happy about.  See if they are married and look at their pictures.  There is nothing wrong with this. I know a marketer who actually puts pictures on his walls of his customer avatars to constantly remind him who he is talking to when he is marketing! It sounds a little weird but it works for him and makes him money….and money isn’t weird!

3) Ask Them

If you have the means to ask your customers questions – DO IT! Have engaging images to really get their attention and involvement.

For instance:

This image will certainly get you some interaction and you will gain a lot of knowledge at the same time! Just by asking your audience / customers different and engaging questions will get them to interact with you and this is how they will let you into their lives. It’s not too hard to do this!

4) Hang Out At Live Events

The best way to get to know someone is to meet them in person. This brings a whole new level to your research. Having one on one conversations with people will usually get you the BEST information you are looking for.  If you ask the right questions people will open up and begin to share things with you. Obviously, take interest and care as to what they are saying…don’t just have an agenda to get a better avatar. Listen to what they are saying…..REALLY LISTEN.  This is how you will gain & keep a customer and a friend for LIFE.

5) Have Question and Answer Sessions

This is one of my favorite things to do AND it is fun.  Just take 45 minutes to an hour and hang out with your customers and invite them to a question and answer session. This could be a Google Hangout, Webinar or Teleconference.  It is best if it is live because then you will get to interact with your customers. What they say to you in the chat boxes and in the questions they ask is invaluable information. Your customers will thank you for taking the time to talk to them and answer the burning questions that only you can help them with.  This is a great strategy for getting to know your customers but also a better business practice in general.

The whole point of this is to go above and beyond the basic information you should already know about your customers. The extra research will take you far…so DO IT!

=> Please share and comment below ways that you are gaining more insight about your customers and target audience. We want to hear from you!!