Customer profiling is a mission-critical marketing task for any business investing resources in segmentation of its target audience and run promotional campaigns. Profiling helps in sending the right message to the right consumer base, which consequently facilitates the increment in lead generation and conversion.
Customers can be classified through different attributes. They can be segmented in different categories according to their socioeconomic status, geographical location, and lifestyle preferences. Customer profiles are also very crucial for businesses serving specific niches.
As we know, direct mail marketing is not about reaching a general pool of customers anymore. The introduction of targeted mailing lists have considerably transformed this old and reliable marketing method. One of the reasons why direct mail marketing continues to exist and thrive in the age of digital medium is because of the innovations in its mailing lists introduced by professional mailing list brokers.
There are various methods and tools employed for customer profiling. In this super post, we will talk about the creation of customer profiles through different targeted mailing lists.
CUSTOMER PROFILING THROUGH MORTGAGE MAILING LISTS
Mortgage mailing lists are compiled through data obtained from the record of home sales, registries of local administration and recent trends in the real estate market. From mortgage amount to purchase date, to the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, mortgage mailing lists contain a lot of data about the features of residences. All this information can help in making a specific good customer profile.
Let’s go through the drill of making a customer profile with the help of mortgage mailing lists.
A good credit score is necessary to secure mortgage. It shows that the customer is financially stable and can afford to pay mortgage payments aside from daily and monthly recurrent expenses. The average loan term for mortgage is usually around 25 years. This means entries in the mortgage mailing list are people in their 30s and early 40s.
So, a customer profile that is build through mortgage mailing lists will be something like this: A group of individuals in their late 30 and early 40s with a family and stable job or a business. This customer profile can serve as a template for a lot of business because these people have a reasonable purchasing power and a range of products and services are needed by their households.
Aside from this general customer profiling through mortgage mailing list, some additional information from the list can specifically help in gauging their income. For instance, presence of pool in the property, its area and the type of exterior are the key takeaways from the mortgage mailing list suggesting that a prospective customer falls in a category of economic class with exemplary purchasing power.
CUSTOMER PROFILING THROUGH VOTERS MAILING LIST
Voters mailing lists are complied after categorizing all the registered voters in the country according to their political affiliations. Furthermore, these lists also comprise of the history of voting patterns of local and federal elections. We know that the profiles of both the Democratic and the Republican voters are significantly different from each other.
The same attributes of voter’s profile can also be employed to create a customer profile. Democratic voters have a more progressive view while GOP voters are known for their business-oriented conservative tendencies. This is an important piece of information and can help in segmentation of your target market according to their political beliefs. Writing a copy of your direct mail in accordance with such prerequisite information can help in making your marketing message effective.
CUSTOMER PROFILING THROUGH AILMENT MAILING LISTS
Ailment mailing lists are comprised of the entries of individuals that have self-reported their ailments, medical condition and administration of prescription drugs through health surveys. This information can help in creating a patient profile. Professionally compiled ailment mailing lists categorized the recipients according to more than two dozen medical conditions.
One can also do cross-referencing among all these different ailments. Some entries present in the list of obesity can also be found in the category of high cholesterol and high blood pressure. This connection shows that obesity must be one of the reasons behind high cholesterol and blood pressure in some recipients. This customer profile can be of great use for establishments dealing in fitness and exercise equipment.
In the similar manner, various patient profiles can be generated with the help of ailment mailing lists that can help different ventures dealing in pharmaceutical products and other healthcare apparatus to reach their prospective market.
CUSTOMER PROFILING THROUGH CREDIT SCORE MAILING LISTS
Credit score mailing lists revolve around the financial information of the recipients. These targeted mailing lists are comprised of the information of the recipient’s credit score and bankruptcy details. Now, it is up to the mailers how they are using this information to employ in their direct mail marketing campaigns. Several customer profiles can be made through the information enclosed in credit score mailing lists.
Entries with 740 plus score: It is considered an above average and excellent (when exceeds 800) credit score. Customers with such good credit scores are very responsible in taking care of their financial matters and can manage to fulfill the fiscal promises at time. Therefore, businesses offering things on installments must prefer to target this customer profile.
Entries with scores in between 580 and 740: Most of the consumers fall in this category. They are good to do business because they belong to a group with moderate income. Business dealing in finance and refinance offers can find a big chunk of their target sales from this customer profile.
Entries with scores below 580: This customer profile entails that recipients have a poor financial history with their credits and loans. Therefore, businesses offering mortgages and related financial services can use this information to exclude all these entries from their list of recipients of direct mail marketing.
As you can see, a single targeted mailing list can help in multiple ways by generating different customer profiles.
CUSTOMER PROFILING THROUGH BEHAVIORAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS
Lifestyle penchants are an important feature of a customer profile and can help you in shaping your promotions according to the hobbies and predilections of the prospective customers. The realm of direct mail marketing also takes care of this important aspect where professional mailing list brokers offer a targeted mailing list specifically compiled for this purpose.
Behavioral interest mailing lists are comprised of the entries with hundreds of different types of hobbies, daily routine activities and passions. All this information can help in generating customer profiles. Cross-referencing behavioral interest entries with any other targeted mailing list will put a lot of credence to customer profiles with the inclusion of lifestyle choices.
Let’s have a look on how behavioral interest mailing list along with any other targeted mailing list can help in making a customer profile. For instance, a recipient with above-average credit score and a knack for golf can be a prospective customer with preferences for high-end products. Now, this customer profile can be made with the help of credit score mailing lists and behavioral interest mailing lists.
In a similar manner, this list can be used in tandem with many other targeted mailing lists to create a customer profile as per the offerings of your business.
CUSTOMER PROFILING THROUGH RESPONSE MAILING LISTS
Consumer’s purchasing activity is a vital element of any customer profile. There are customized targeted mailing lists available that are compiled according to purchasing habits of the recipients. From clothing to electronic appliances, response mailing lists categorize recipients according to different buying habits.
This information can directly and indirectly aid in building a customer profile of your choice. For instance, entries with the details of their buying activity in automobile sector can directly help the businesses to get a profile of their prospective customers.
Moreover, this information can be mined for its indirect use. A recipient with automobile purchasing activity of Coupes and Sedans from Italian and German manufacturers indicates that the prospective customer belongs to a higher income bracket and has more purchasing power. This customer profile can be used to promote and advertise high-end, expensive products.
CUSTOMER PROFILING THROUGH ETHNIC TARGETED MAILING LISTS
There is a targeted mailing list available from an experienced mailing list broker that enlists the recipients on the basis of language, ethnicity and religion. This social information is important when making a profile according to cultural and religious preferences.
For example, Arabic entries from ethnic targeted mailing list describe a Muslim customer with native roots of Middle Eastern countries. Similarly, entries of several different ethnicities, religions and languages are part of these targeted mailing lists which can be used to create customers profile that you might want to target in your direct mail marketing campaign.
CUSTOMER PROFILES THROUGH SPECIFIC PROFESSIONALS MAILING LISTS
These targeted mailings lists categorize the recipients according to their professions. In a way, these lists have already done the half work of making customer profiles. In general, a profession of an individual tells a lot about him and his personality. And this information can also be used to build customer profiles. Specific professional mailing lists can directly tell about these details of your prospective customers:
- Income group
- Education
For instance, a doctor or an architect or an accountant, will belong to a higher income group with defined and developed taste in lifestyle choices. These customer profiles can become a target audience of business dealing in high-end products.
Similarly, there are dozens of professions enlisted in the specific professionals mailing lists, which can be used to generate customer profile of each and every profession. Cross-referencing these lists with other targeted mailing lists can lead to the making of a comprehensive customer profile.
There is perhaps a tinge of typecasting in making these lists, but in most of the cases these details prove to be true. So, it is all right to have these profiles made.
CUSTOMER PROFILING THROUGH INSURANCE MAILING LISTS
Some good mailing list brokers also offer insurance mailing lists. These targeted mailing lists are specifically complied to cater the insurance market. However, they can be employed to generate customer profiles through their several sub-categories. For instance, there are insurance mailing lists available, which enlist the seniors turning 65 and above. Similarly, data of individuals who have just become home owners is also the part of insurance mailing lists.
This information is useful in making customer profiles of these recipients. Apart from the insurance packages, a senior customer might be in need of healthcare products and assisted living services. Similarly, new home owners will also need several fixtures and domestic articles for their new abode.
BENEFITS OF CUSTOMER PROFILING
As we have discussed at length how different targeted mailing lists can help in creating different customer profiles. There are several benefits a business can reap by creating customer profiles.
IMPROVED COMMUNICATION
Direct mail marketing or any other promotional strategy very much relies on the quality of communication between businesses and consumers. Quality of communication gets better when you know more about the other person. By making a customer profile, you will be able to communicate with your customer in a better way, which results in conversion and acquirement.
REDUCING MARKETING EXPENSES AND WORK
Once you are done making customer profiles, there is little left to do with your direct mail marketing. You just have to write an effective copy of direct mail by keeping in mind the customer profile you are going to target and that’s it.
By making customer profiles, you can narrow down your marketing exercise to only a specific pool of consumers, which results in reduced cost on the execution of marketing. Marketing through customer profiles can also help in bringing new customers because you can address their needs in a better way as compared to your competitors.
A professional mailing list broker plays a pivotal role in making customer profiles by rendering updated targeted mailing lists. You can further read about the role of mailing list broker in the success of your direct mail marketing campaigns.
