Krutant Iyer
January 18, 2023
•
8
min read
Customer behaviour has changed. The old, predictable routines are gone. Marketing teams and decision makers now face a new challenge. You must understand who your customers are today—not last year.
Here is what you need to know:
- Customer segments have shifted.
- Old personas no longer apply.
- The customer journey is no longer linear.
- It is now fluid, messy, and involves "channel-hopping."
- Winning customers based on outdated assumptions is a losing strategy.
Why Businesses Must Determine Customer Personas
Knowing your customers is the foundation of great service. This applies to both new and existing clients. The better you understand their pain points, the stronger your customer experience becomes.
Creating a persona is the most effective way to get granular.
- Use market research and real data to build data-driven profiles.
- Tailor your marketing campaigns to speak directly to each segment.
What Is a Customer Persona?
A customer persona is a fictional profile. It represents a specific segment of your audience. It is not a real person. Instead, it is built from real data, research, and insights gathered from actual customers.
Key facts:
- Based on customer needs, challenges, motivations, and behavior.
- Helps brands communicate better.
- Prioritizes the right touchpoints.
- Also known as buyer personas or marketing personas.
Customer Profiles Lead to Better Business Decisions
Personas help you see customers clearly. This clarity benefits sales, marketing, support, and product development.
What they do:
- Identify pain points that need solving.
- Guide smarter decisions on communication.
- Improve product design.
Personalisation Sets Your Business Apart
Would you buy from a site that knows your style, or one that doesn't? Personalisation is the key to winning.
Why personalisation wins:
- Generic offers are helpful but forgettable.
- Personalised recommendations build loyalty.
- Customers stay when they feel understood.
Creating Customer Personas Adds Real Business Value
Whether you are a startup or an enterprise, personas keep you connected. They help you track your evolving target customer base.
Ongoing benefits:
- Spot new challenges affecting your audience.
- Identify market shifts early.
- Tap into customer desires before competitors do.
- Continuously improve products and experiences.
The better you know your customers, the more value you can deliver.
5 Types of Customer Personas
Customer personas help you understand who your customers are. They show you what customers need and how to reach them. Each type has different interaction preferences. Knowing this helps you tailor your approach in real time.
A CINNOX study across 1,200 consumers in six Asian markets found that personalized experiences matter throughout the customer lifecycle. Understanding your personas is the first step to delivering it.
1. Multichannel Enthusiasts
- Age: 20–49, working adults.
- Channel preference: Equal value on digital and human touchpoints.
- Key trait: They want a single, consistent channel for all communication.
What matters to brands:
- Reach them through both direct and indirect channels.
- Avoid redirecting them between multiple agents or platforms.
- Tighten your process if customers feel "bounced around."
2. Reserved Digital Immigrants
- Age: 50+, includes lower-income and retired individuals.
- Channel preference: Strongly prefer human touchpoints over digital.
- Key trait: They find digital channels overwhelming and less trustworthy.
What matters to brands:
- They value safety and comfort in personal interaction.
- Switching between apps feels like a barrier.
- Human support builds confidence and loyalty.
3. Affluent High-touch Seekers
- Age: 50+, high-income earners.
- Channel preference: Comfortable with digital, but prefer in-person interaction.
- Key trait: They are willing to adapt to technology but value personal connection.
What matters to brands:
- Do not assume digital-first is always preferred.
- Personal touch is a major differentiator for this group.
- They offer high lifetime value when relationships are nurtured.
4. Low Touch Digital Natives
- Age: Under 30.
- Channel preference: Strong preference for digital over human interaction.
- Key trait: Self-sufficient, research-driven, and low reliance on brands.
What matters to brands:
- Keep experiences simple and contained within one channel.
- They do not need hand-holding.
- Provide clear, accessible information.
- Over-communicating or pushing human contact may backfire.
5. Omnishoppers
- Age: 29–49, working adults.
- Channel preference: Value both digital and human touchpoints equally.
- Key trait: Tech-savvy, convenience-driven, and socially connected.
What matters to brands:
- They expect seamless omnichannel shopping experiences.
- They prefer online-first but appreciate offline options.
- They are more demanding and informed than other segments.
Why This Matters
When you know your persona, your strategy works harder.
- Targeting affluent high-touch seekers with human-centric communication is effective.
- Using that same approach for low-touch digital natives wastes time and budget.
Match the channel to the customer to win.
Importance of Building Customer Relationships
Strong customer relationships are essential for long-term success. Loyalty, trust, and retention come from genuine connection. When customers feel heard, they become brand advocates. They recommend your business and fuel sustainable growth.
How To Win Over Your Customers
Customer loyalty is everything. Based on the personas above, here are three powerful techniques to win over your customers.
1. Round-the-Clock Engagement
Winning brands never stop engaging. Customers expect help anytime and anywhere.
- Respond fast to prevent bad reviews.
- Meet customers where they are, not just where it is convenient for you.
- Use a unified CX hub for first-time resolution.
2. Automate Lead Qualification
Let AI handle the heavy lifting. Chatbots can qualify leads while your team focuses on closing deals.
- Ask the right questions to determine fit.
- Gather data to personalize follow-ups.
- Promote the right product at the right moment.
- Free up agents for high-value conversations.
3. Pairing and Connection
No one likes repeating themselves. Connect customers to the right agent every time.
- Build familiarity and trust with "sticky routing."
- Maintain consistent service across all touchpoints.
- Use data to understand behavior and route intelligently.
- Handle high traffic without losing the human touch.
The digital landscape is customer-driven. Today's buyers know what they want. They expect brands to keep up. Pay attention to each journey. Understand behavior and preferences. Enable digital engagement that feels personal.
Reimagine how your business can build long-term strategies. Improve the overall customer experience and improve ROI with CINNOX.
Unify people, data, technology, and communications under one roof with CINNOX
CINNOX enables businesses to retain the sanctity of traditional, human engagement while aiding them in their digitalisation efforts by unifying people, data, technology, and communications under one roof, making a business’s growth efforts more precise, streamlined, and ROI-driven.
