The most common mistake I see female business owners making is not creating a customer avatar. And I asked myself why?
I quickly discovered it’s out of fear.
Are you scared of defining your ideal customer?
Do you fear honing in on one or two specific avatars will restrict your business?
If so, you’re not alone.
But here’s why you need to clear the fear and nail your ideal customer avatar.
Because you’ll create a clear marketing message which works.
Clear the fear of nailing you customer avatar because you’ll get clear messaging to explain you have the solution to problems.
Believe it or not, the most deadly form of marketing is trying to appeal to too many types of people. Because your message will become dangerously generic.
And you can’t appeal to a specific problem your client wants to solve.
If your target audience is too broad and you’re trying to reach many different segments your marketing won’t have a clear message. Which means you can’t speak directly to a person’s beliefs, desires, fears and point points if you’re not clear on who that person is.
By speaking directly to a person, you can instantly solve their problem because you can deliver a clear message about the solution they need.
You can write blogs and articles about they like, what they fear and offer helpful advice.
You can develop your tone of voice in a way which will resonate with them.
The marketing segment breakdown
Let’s work backwards.
In marketing, we break down a target market into an audience and then further drill it down into a specific person.
Creating an avatar helps you create a niche target market within your ideal target audience.
But where does that start?
Your target market
The specific group of people you want to reach. They’ll be most likely the people who’ll want your services.
For example,
Female business owners 32-50 years old
Your target audience
Here we begin to dissect your target market into specifics.
Demographics which are characteristics such as,
income, occupation, education level, living status, marital status and more.
Psychographics which are the classifications of people according to their attitudes, beliefs, aspirations and fears.
This is where it begins to get juicy.
Because deeply knowing the above psychographics will ensure you get inside your client’s heads and their hearts. Which means communicating with them based on these factors.
Once you understand your target audience’s
- Problems
- Wants / needs
- Who they trust
- What sets off their distrust
- Fears
- Objections
- Interests
- Hobbies
- Lifestyles
- Where they source information
- What influences them
You’ll be able to pull at their beliefs, desires and fears to instantly connect with them, which means they’ll feel understood and relate with your business.
Not convinced yet?
It’s a common thought to think about all the possible people who you can sell your service to. All the people who will buy it because after all, you want a successful and profitable business, right?
Of course, you do.
But picture this. Imagine if every day you got to work with the people you want to work with.
Aaaah, bliss, right?
Totally, these are the clients who resonate with you. Who get and connect with you. And who know you know your stuff. But most of all the clients who will recommend you to more people like them.
The best form of advertising is recommendations. Word of mouth is stronger than any other form of marketing.
What’s in it for me?
Aaaah, the above question is the question of my business existence.
Remember, people are selfish.
Which means they don’t care about you and your business (before they know you) unless you have something for them.
Which means having a clear message about a problem you can solve for them means marketing success.
Will your business,
-Create time in their life?
-Simplify their work processes?
-Provide them with strategy and a plan?
-Offer them coaching to improve their business?
There are many solutions that your unique business’s services will offer your target audience. And once you have a clear idea of who this audience is you can speak to them.
So where does the avatar come into this?
You’re clear on your target market, you’re clear on your target audience’s demographics and psychographics. So now it’s time to think about your ideal customer.
Beginning with ONE ideal customer helps you to learn about them and how best to speak and engage with them.
Think about the 80-20 rule. 80% of your clients will be from your target audience, and 20% will be from outside.
Don’t fear the power of niching
Instead, embrace it because you will still get other clients. But most of them will be the clients you WANT to work with.
How to create your ideal client
Think about your favourite client.
-The one who warms your heart
-Uses you time and time again
-You have an incredible working relationship with
-Loves you
-And gets you
Profile your client
As you know this client so well, what is your client’s goals? Desires? Needs? Buying behaviour? What objections did they have about your service? How well did they know your service before becoming a customer?
And what influences the way they feel about your service?
Next, think about the way your client likes to get spoken to. So you can understand the language which resonates with them.
For example, do they talk strategically, or are they casual?
Delving into these questions will help you with your marketing pitch and how to speak to them.
Do you see how we’re getting a clear customer profile here?
Once you’ve answered all of the above. Then you can create your avatar.
Give him or her a photo and a name, so it becomes personal.
Then write a short story about them so you can get to know them personally.
From here, you can base all your content, marketing content and communication around your avatar. So you can best speak to them and mould your services to suit them best.
In summary,
-An avatar builds trust
-Gives your clients what they want
-Tell them what’s in it for them
-Gives your marketing direction, purpose and clarity
It’s genuinely marketing that works
Now it’s over to you.
Did you have any ah-ha moments from the above?
Have I missed anything? How to you drill down to your ideal customer profile and create your avatar?
Has doing this transformed your business and marketing communication strategy?
Let me know here. I want to hear all about it.
Oh, and if you’re levelling-up and need help with nailing your target audience, customer profile and avatar, you know where to find me.
