Why Your Customer Profile Is Probably Lying to You

Let’s talk about a lie marketers tell themselves.

“We know our audience.”

You know their name. Age. Job title. You know where they live. Maybe even their favorite coffee order.

But here’s the problem: none of that means you actually know them.

It’s like thinking you understand a person just because you know their zodiac sign. Cute. Harmless. Ultimately useless.

Personas Are a Great Place to Start—and a Dangerous Place to Stop

Personas are like scaffolding. Helpful for structure. But no one wants to live inside a construction site.

The assumption behind most customer personas is fatally flawed:

• That people understand themselves.
• That they stay the same.
• That they fit into neat, single-use categories.

Newsflash: they don’t.

People change. Daily. New information hits. They switch jobs. They hear a podcast. They break up. They fall in love. They panic-scroll during a recession.

So tell me again how your persona built 6 months ago is supposed to guide your marketing today?

Context Eats Personalization for Breakfast

Personalization isn’t about slapping someone’s first name on a Mailchimp email. It’s not about knowing they’re a 37-year-old systems engineer in Tampa.

It’s about understanding what’s happening around them.

Ask:

• What’s in the news today that will stress them out?
• What trend is threatening their business model?
• Is it sunny, stormy, or literally hurricane season where they are?
• What’s their emotional weather like right now?

Context shifts behavior faster than any personality trait ever could. And yet, most marketers are building with identity when they should be building with momentum.

You don’t need a deeper psychological profile. You need a better radar.

The Trap of Over-Personalization

Here’s the kicker: personalization done wrong feels creepy.

Ever gotten a hyper-specific email that should feel relevant—but somehow doesn’t?

That’s because your brain detects when a message wasn’t really meant for you—just someone like you. It’s faux intimacy. Like a stranger calling you “buddy.”

Instead of guessing interests based on job titles or creepy cookie trails, try this revolutionary idea: ask them.

You can get creative with how. Polls. Quizzes. Interactive forms. Just ask.

Because that systems engineer you profiled as cold and analytical?

Turns out he writes poetry at night. His decisions aren’t made in spreadsheets—they’re made in stanzas.

Two Types of Thinkers: Rigid vs Fluid

Every human sits on a spectrum somewhere between two modes of thinking:

• Rigid thinkers need structure. They crave logic, timelines, rules. Sarcasm doesn’t land. They build in steps.
• Fluid thinkers thrive in ambiguity. They use metaphors. They shape-shift. They pivot. They feel their way forward.

Both use logic. Both use emotion. But their default settings are different.

The kicker? Context rewires both.

Put a rigid thinker in a factory with a blueprint? Genius.

Drop them into a chaotic disaster zone? Meltdown.

Put a fluid thinker in a brainstorm session with crayons? Magic.

Put them in a sterile office with 100 boxes to move and a shock penalty for deviation? Torture.

The Giraffe, The Bear, and The Fish

Let me tell you a story.

A fish, a bear, and a giraffe are asked to compete in three challenges:

1. Stay underwater the longest.
2. Roar the loudest.
3. Reach the highest fruit in a tree.

You already made assumptions about who won each challenge.

But what if:

• The bear had a scuba tank?
• The giraffe was hooked up to a PA system, while the bear was in a soundproof room?
• The tree was underwater, and they all started at the bottom?

Suddenly the fish might beat them all.

Context changes the game. Every time.

That’s why audience segmentation without situational awareness is like grading the fish on how well it climbs.

So What Should You Do Instead?

Here’s your new checklist:

1. Ask about interests. Don’t assume. Ask what lights them up. Even one unexpected answer can unlock a campaign angle your persona never would.
2. Test for thinker type. Rigid or fluid? Are they linear or lateral? You can’t sell to someone effectively if you don’t know how they think.
3. Define motivation. Are they building a quiet empire or chasing virality? That north star changes the tone of your message completely.
4. Map the triggers. News events, seasons, economic shifts, local context—track the ripples that move your market.
5. Challenge their worldview. Offer an alternative perspective. Ask how they feel about it. The response will reveal more than a survey ever could.
6. Find the sideways door. Bring in ideas from left field. Analogies, unrelated industries, metaphorical insights. That’s where creativity hides.

The Punchline

You can’t market to someone effectively until you stop looking at them and start looking around them.

Because humans aren’t stable. We’re not predictable. We’re not binary.

We’re a bear in a scuba suit.

A giraffe with a megaphone.

A fish with ambition.

And marketing that works? It sees that. It adapts. It listens.

Because empathy isn’t knowing someone’s demographic.

It’s knowing what matters to them today.