Know Your Audience
Do You Know Your 2027 Customer?
Customers change faster than most plans. Five questions to answer before you set next year’s budget.
Most businesses plan the new year around last year’s customer. But customers move faster than plans: who’s buying, what they’ll pay for, and where they look before they decide all shift every year. Before you lock in 2027, it’s worth checking whether the customer in your head still matches the one at your door.
1. Who is actually buying from you now?
Most owners can describe their customer. Fewer can say whether that description still holds. Neighborhoods change, new residents arrive, and the people who found you three years ago may not be the ones finding you today.
The first job of audience research is simple: compare who you think your best customers are with who they actually are, by spending, by frequency and by how they found you. The gap is usually where your next growth is.
2. What will they pay for, and what will they cut?
Moody’s expects U.S. consumer spending growth to slow to about 1.5% in 2026, with shoppers trading down toward value, including higher-income households. That doesn’t mean everyone wants the cheapest option. It means people need a clearer reason to pay more.
Know which parts of your offer customers see as worth a premium, and which they’d happily trade for a lower price. That answer shapes your pricing, your offers and your message.
3. Where do they look before they buy?
The path to a purchase has moved. In an April 2026 survey of U.S. consumers, more than three in four said they’d used AI to help with a shopping decision in the previous six months, most often for product research. And among Gen Z, 46% say they prefer social media to traditional search engines (2024).
If your customers ask ChatGPT or scroll TikTok before they ever visit your website, that’s where your business needs to show up, and say the right things.
4. Who do they trust?
Trust has moved from ads to other people. 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses, and 41% now say they always check, up from 29% a year earlier.
What people say about you online is already shaping your 2027 sales. Social listening shows you what’s in those conversations: what customers praise, what frustrates them, and how you compare with competitors.
5. What’s changing around you?
Your market doesn’t stand still while you plan. New competitors open, older ones reposition, and the area you serve shifts in who lives there and what they earn. A competitor analysis and a read on your local market show you which of those changes are opportunities, and which are threats.
How to get the answers before you budget
You can start on your own: look at your sales by customer type, read your last 50 reviews, and search your category in an AI assistant to see who comes up.
For a complete picture, Burgeon’s Foundation pairs Know Your Audience (audience research) with Read the Market (competitor analysis and social listening). In 3 to 5 weeks, you get an insight deck answering all five questions, with recommendations ranked by their likely impact on your 2027 revenue.
Key takeaways
- Customers change faster than annual plans. Check before you budget.
- Value matters more in 2026, but people still pay for clear reasons.
- AI assistants, social media and reviews now shape buying decisions.
- Five questions, answered with data, make 2027 spending safer.
Questions people ask
How do I find out who my customers really are?
Start with your own sales data, then add audience research: consumer surveys and social listening that show who buys in your category, what they value and where to reach more of them.
How often should a business update its customer research?
At least once a year, before budgeting, and any time sales or your market shift noticeably.
When should I start planning for 2027?
Now. Customer research takes 3 to 5 weeks, so starting now means you plan January with answers instead of assumptions.
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