How to help a self researching customer find you

I’ve been playing with the personas recently. Trying to work out how to spot your customers in a crowd? Discover all you need to know about the content customer, the self researching customer (or the researcher).

Know your customers: the self researching customer

The Researcher wants to ensure the purchase they make is the right one for them. The researching customer seeks out information from you, and from as many other sources as they can find. Weighing up pros and cons and really digging into the features and benefits of your product is what makes them happy and loyal.

A self researching customer doesn’t want to only hear from you. They want to hear from your customers, too. And they’ll take several weeks if not months to make their decision. So you better make your content available well before the release date to help with research process.

The kinds of content the self researching customer likes:

• Informative yet easy to read web copy- lean less on the jazz hands sales copy and more on being as plain speaking and informative as possible. Have personality, but make it matter.
• Brochures and case studies- these guys want the detail, so digging in via digital and paper means helps fill the knowledge gaps.
• FAQs- Forget the token fluffy FAQs. The more practical answers on how your company and the product works that you can provide, the better.
• Blogs- being able to catch up with the company and the latest release of information is very important.
• Tables and infographics- researching customers want to see breakdowns of feature sets, how you compare with competitors, and anything else that helps compare ‘apples to apples’ for a proper review.
• Reviews – go beyond the customer testimonial. Make sure you encourage happy customers to use Google My Business and Facebook reviews to attract more of the same. And consider leading online and print journals reviewing your products, too.

You’ll see researching customers in action when your product is a big ticket item (travel, housing, vehicles), where passion is high (collectors, hobbyists) or in items such as IT equipment where feature comparison counts.

The benefits of the self Researching customer:

• The self researching customer is well informed, so they are able to make use of word of mouth and selling your product accurately to friends and family.
• They know what they are buying, so they are low maintenance. When they do make contact for assistance, you better take them seriously though!
• They know what they are getting into. So as long as your content marketing is an accurate depiction of how your product works, the things that may cheese off other customers are already taken into account with the Researcher.

The negatives of the Researcher:

• Research-driven customers need a high level of information. This takes time, money and effort to build up.
• They’ll often know more than your sales staff. So it’s imperative your customer service team and any sales channels you use are very well briefed and supported.
• It takes time to win them over. Don’t expect a rush to the door or the first 6 months of operation to make or break the business with these guys.

How well you know your customers is really important. Does this guy sound like a customer to your business?

If not, why not see if another customer type fits better and helps you spot your customers in a crowd? Click here now.