At Attadale Partners, one of our mantras is “Your Customers Know Best. Listen to them.” We know that there is nothing more valuable than truly understanding your customers – what makes them decide to choose your brand, how they feel about your customer service, what their pain points are, and the list goes on and on. Having these insights about your current customers helps you keep them satisfied, loyal, and coming back for more.

But sometimes, especially when looking to grow your business, there is a benefit in talking to the people who are not your customers…yet. These potential customers might look, buy and behave like your customers. Talking to this group helps you gather the most effective information needed when trying to increase your customer base – why they don’t currently buy your product and what your brand or business might be missing for them to purchase. These people are called lookalikes – and it’s time to meet them if you haven’t already!

Lookalike targeting is available on most ad tech platforms and major publisher websites, the most famous perhaps being Google and Facebook, or now, Meta. Implementing a digital marketing campaign using the lookalike targeting capabilities on these channels can increase reach, while also staying hyper-targeted which in turn is more cost-effective. Brands create a lookalike audience by using their own first-party data (for example, subscribers to their loyalty program) as the benchmark or guide for which third-party data is leveraged to identify other consumers with similar characteristics and serve them the brand’s messaging. More specifically, a brand’s first-party list is uploaded into the chosen ad platform directly to allow cookies to ‘find’ the third-party lookalike audience.

Brands often report higher click-through and conversion rates when using lookalike targeting. Why? Because the people now seeing your messages are more likely to be interested in these types of products or services. They are potential customers, soon-to-be actual customers.

Lookalikes can also be used when doing research. When using market research panels, you can survey or interview not only your actual customers but also people that look like your customer but are not yet. Understanding perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of your customer lookalikes allows you to uncover all sorts of insights: Why isn’t this group choosing you? Do they not yet know something about your product or brand that your current customers do? Who or what are they purchasing instead? Why? 

The answers to these questions give you powerful insights when creating a brand, product/service, or messaging strategy that gets results. Information from these panels is also helpful when considering entering a new market. Before making a big investment, ask and listen to the people you think will become your customers!

Market research doesn’t have to take months or cost buckets of dollars. Attadale Partners can help you talk to and learn from your customers, or lookalike customers, and collect actionable insights that will help you achieve your business goals. Give us a shout and let’s get started!