Cluster Analysis: why should you analyze consumer personas?

Did you know that consumer personas analysis is one of the competitive advantages of the world's leading B2C companies?

A consumer persona, also known as a buyer persona, is an archetype: a fictional representation of a company's ideal customer based on qualitative and quantitative research and data analysis. Defining personas is a way for brands to better understand consumers and create marketing strategies that resonate with their values and emotional levers.

Consumer personas are created by collecting and analyzing data about the target audience: demographic information, shopping behavior, online reviews, and other relevant factors that influence purchase decisions. All of this is used to develop a profile of a brand's ideal customer that includes information such as age, gender, income level, interests, and preferences.

The persona is typically given a detailed backstory to make it feel more realistic. For example, a consumer persona for a pet store might be a 35-year-old professional who enjoys hiking and has a passion for animal welfare.

Consumer persona analysis is important for several reasons:

1. Better understanding of target audience:
   By creating a detailed profile of their ideal customer, companies can better understand the needs, preferences and behaviors of their target audience. This knowledge helps focus communication and marketing strategies better to reach and engage customers and prospects.
   
2. Improved customer experience:
   By analyzing consumer personas, companies can identify their weaknesses in the consumer journey and provide a smoother and more enjoyable customer experience, which can improve satisfaction and loyalty.
   
3. More effective marketing strategies:
   Consumer personas help companies develop targeted marketing strategies that are more effective in reaching and engaging customers. This leads to higher conversion rates and increased sales.
   
4. Competitive advantage:
   By understanding their target audience better than competitors, companies can differentiate themselves in the marketplace and gain a real competitive advantage. By gaining a deeper understanding of their target audience and adapting strategies, in fact, customer experience can be improved, driving sales and revenue growth.
   

In general, consumer persona analysis is an important component of the sales strategy of B2C companies.

InTribe has been studying consumer personas for years and has grouped them into 4 macro-clusters that are primarily identified by their low or high digital familiarity (X-axis) and their low or high purchasing power (Y-axis).

These two factors were chosen as discriminating factors because they strongly influence the purchasing choices and behaviors of consumers

The macro-clusters are:

• Digital Followers: mainly over 55 (Baby Boomers), they are digital immigrants with high spending power and medium-high education. They are those who have most changed their digital behaviors during lockdown in their daily lives
  
• Creative Class: mainly Millennials and partly Gen X with medium-high technological and digital expertise. They generate and consume culture, influence the values and behaviors of society as a whole.
  
• Normies: include different age groups, but mostly under 55. They have medium digital familiarity, but steadily increasing: also in their case, the pandemic has acted as an accelerator in the use of new technologies. They follow popular trends and mass lifestyles.
  
• National-Populars: include different age groups, predominantly Baby Boomers and have low spending power and low education. Wary of technology and with little desire to upgrade, conservatives clinging to traditions, the traditional family and old-fashioned values.

Want to find out how you can gain access to dozens of consumer personas to make more effective strategic and operational decisions?