Christian business owners should understand their customers so well, they know where they shop, eat and hang out. Do you know your customers that well?

Today, I am going to introduce you to an online tool that will give you lot of insights into your local customers quickly, easily and free.

 

What is MyBestSegments?

MyBestSegments is a part of Nielsen research.  MyBestSegments uses zip codes to give insights into your customers and tells a little bit about their lifestyles.  One of the point on their page says, “Reveal your customer’s lifestyle and behaviors to create a clear comprehensive picture of their likes and dislikes.”

Basically, they have done research across the nation, the United States.  They have noticed certain patterns of people that congregate in certain locations.  If you can understand the general attitude and habits of the people in your local community, you can better talk to them about their needs.  Then, if you can help them, you have a moral obligation to tell them about your business.

 

How to use MyBestSegments

Start at the home page and click on “Zip Code Look-up” at the top.  That will bring you to a page to input the zip code.

Once you input the zip code, general data will show up.  To the left, you will see the common ‘segments’ who live in your area.  These are general groupings of the types of people most likely to live in your current area.

 

To the right you see a map and below the map you will see a scrolling data charts.  They will show you household income, age levels, ethnicity, and even the make up of families, i.e. with or without children.

After making notations about the basic information, click on one of your segments. It will bring you to a page that defines the general characteristics of that type of person.  It starts with a general description of those people, but I want you to focus on the “Lifestyle and Media Traits.” (You will want to do this for each of the segments in your local area.)

 

 

This section has invaluable knowledge.  It will tell you where they shop, what they do, what they read, what they watch on tv and even what they drive.  You may wonder why this is important, but let me share a simple example.

Let’s say that you find out that all of your segments are likely to drive a hybrid or flex fuel car.  That will give you the insights that your population is ‘green’ conscious.  You can attend green events, collaborate with green companies and make sure you point out all of the efforts your company has made to be green.  You even want to consider posting blogs posts and social media about green living and tips on being green and helping the environment.

 

Conclusion

Understanding the habits of your customers gives you insights about what is important to them.  These little things connect your business to your target audience.  It builds bridges so that people are likely to share information about your business with their friends (who are like them according to the research you did).  Those friends are more likely to do business with you because they were referred by a friend and they can relate to your business.

The more you understand about your customers, the better you can communicate to them.  We all have little nuances in how we communicate and if you can learn to ‘speak the language’ of your target audience, you will connect to them, grow your business and impact the Kingdom of God.

The better you communicate to your customers, the better you can make an impact in their lives. Click To Tweet