Getting to Know the Customer’s… Customer

In business, knowing your customer is an essential component of a successful and profitable relationship. The services you provide and the products you deliver all need to be in tune with the wants, needs, fears and hopes of your customer.

At Lime Valley, the entire sales channel must be considered when developing marketing materials. For some clients, the sales channel flows directly to the end consumer. For many others the sales channel may include distributors, dealers, or wholesalers. The importance of understanding this is critical in a marketing/advertising setting.

There are a lot of buzzwords flying around these days like experiential architecture, persona development, etc., that all require or relate back to understanding who the customer’s customer is; what they want, need and desire; and how to best package a marketing communications solution that resonates with them.

This makes marketing communications a two-level process: what motivates your audience and what motivates their audience? That level of understanding develops in several ways.

The first is spending time with the client, the one who is making the product or providing the service. Without understanding how the products or services work in the first place, it’s impossible to develop a unique selling proposition (message) or create an effective marketing piece, whether that’s a brochure, website, product video or even a trade show display.

“When you know exactly to whom you are talking, you are better able to craft meaningful marketing messages.”

The next step is evaluating the competitors, along with their industry or marketplace. Lastly, it’s time to actually engage the customer’s customer directly, if possible. That can happen by visiting the places where a client’s products are sold, developing a testimonial or editorial feature, or attending client events. It can also happen through the development of, back to our buzzwords, personas.

At Lime Valley, it’s the extra effort in knowing our customer and our customer’s customer that results in quality marketing communications materials.