Throughout the years, it has become abundantly clear that customers trust their peers above all else when making any purchasing decision. For example, Gartner reported that more than 75% of B2B buyers consult three or more sources of validation before they commit to a purchase. From a marketer’s perspective, a recent Forrester study found that 79% of marketers who turn their customers into advocates see increases in upsell, cross-sell, and enrichment. Additionally, 92% of surveyed marketers maintain that engaging post-sale improves a brand’s credibility.

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Ultimately, utilizing a diverse set of advocates in customer marketing programs empowers businesses to connect with key customer markets, harnessing the power of peer-to-peer interactions. But how does this work in practice? In this blog, we will explore the three types of customer personality and illustrate which customer marketing methods are compatible with each personality type. 

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What is Customer Personality and Why is it Important in Customer Marketing?

Customer personality—as it relates to customer marketing—indicates how your current customers’ habits, preferences, and priorities will impact their ability and willingness to foster a relationship and advocate for your business.

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Evaluating different personas is a vital part of the customer marketing process, mainly because individual customers are inclined to participate in different ways. Asking customers to participate in advocacy activities they value and understand will help develop and maintain strong relationships. Think of it this way: your customers must first see the value of what you’re asking them to do before becoming a marketing asset.

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Conversely, failing to incorporate personality analysis into advocacy programs results in burnt out customers who are less likely to advocate for your business in the future. In the worst case scenario, your customers’ loyalty is shaken and your brand’s reputation is damaged. By identifying key shared buyer traits shared amongst your customers, you will be able to tailor your advocacy to appeal to those specific characteristics and preferences. This practice helps ensure that businesses retain advocates and keep them engaged long-term.

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For example, asking a customer who has no interest in public speaking and who does not enjoy traveling to speak at a conference indicates your lack of understanding of their values. They may be a wonderful advocate, but failing to understand their professional aspirations and interests ultimately damages the relationship.

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What Are the Types of Customers in Customer Marketing?

Although the details vary depending on specific industries and business objectives, the 3 types of customers that are most crucial in the advocate space include: analytical customers, expressive customers, and promoter customers. To offer greater clarity, let’s explore each of these personalities in more detail. 

1. The Analytical Customer Type

The analytical customer is heavily focused on numbers and results. Logic reigns supreme in their world, and every aspect of a brand’s offering is subject to intense scrutiny to verify quality and efficiency. Analytical customers are prone to careful deliberation and intense questioning in nearly every interaction. Additionally, appealing to these customer’s emotions is not ideal—these people want the facts and nothing more. Because of their data-driven approach and attention to detail, these types of customers would be ideal for case studies, promotional white papers, and other high-touch, thought leadership initiatives. 

2. The Expressive Customer Type

Excited, engaged, and hasty, the expressive customer places value on relationships above all else. These customers are extremely emotionally intelligent and careful observers of good salesmanship. They respond well to clear and concise explanations of benefits and reciprocal opportunities to highlight their brand while advocating for you—if you scratch their back, they’ll scratch yours. Lastly, expressive customers are fast-moving and are prone to make quick decisions. This often requires brands to nail their first pitch, lest they risk losing the customer’s attention. These customers are ideal fits for advocacy activieties such as podcasts, webinars, and other one-and-done events where they can highlight their brand while advocating for you.

3. The Promoter Customer Type

In customer marketing, your promoter customers are the holy grail of advocacy. Promoters are your most loyal and devoted advocates who believe wholeheartedly in what your business provides. Most often, these individuals will promote your brand unprompted and bring business to your doors by word of mouth. However, a word of caution, just because these customers already believe in your brand does not mean they don’t need to be nurtured. Many brands make the mistake of relying too heavily on their promoters, and forget to reward everything these customers have done. Having a strong loyalty program that recognizes customers for going above and beyond shows promoters that they are appreciated and ensures that their loyalty never dwindles.

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Orca: Customer Marketing Simplified

When done right, cultivating a network of loyal brand advocates gives you a clear advantage in any competitive marketplace. Unfortunately, customer marketing is easy to get wrong. Identifying your advocates, analyzing customer data, scheduling reference calls, and avoiding advocate overuse are all immensely complex processes. Orca saw these challenges and devised a solution. Our platform balances the capabilities of Salesforce with the end-user experience to deliver a powerful and easy-to-use customer marketing application. Orca’s seamless interface and fully-stacked feature suite makes it easy for brands to leverage loyal customers and accelerate business growth.

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Discover what Orca is capable of and sign up for a demo today. 

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