Who Needs a Customer Avatar?
Short answer:
Before you build your customer avatar. You must have determined your niche, you want to find the sweet spot, that is the convergence of talent, interests, skills and market demand. And you should want to become an expert in that niche.
Only that is done it’s time to get serious when getting customers, that is where having a customer avatar comes in.
A lot of this information in this article was shared by Brian Goodeve a leading business coach for Perry Mardon International a Multi Award Winning Business Trainer on our current weekly ‘Quickie Tips and Tools to Online Success’ zoom meeting.
Register here for the next one and to get access the achieve of past ones.
Why Spend Time & Energy Building the Profile for your Perfect Customer?
You will save you money. As your advertising dollars should be well spent and targeted with accuracy.
Would you like 500 responder’s to weed through or 50 highly qualified leads? It should be the second option that you can achieve when you have built your customer avatar! It will make you money.
Effort vs reward this is a no brainier. It is all about promoting yourself as a professional and expert in your field. Generalists get lost in the fight for traffic and recognition. They also usually work on less margin and typically rely on volume sales.
Who is your Perfect Customer?
Don’t know? It is time to find out…
Do you know who your ideal customer is? Many business owners have never given serious thought to this question. But without addressing it how can you market your product or service to anyone?
Here is where we begin to build a perfect customer. This applies for products and services across any industry. We are after all dealing with a customer who is an actual person. Business is very simple in that it solves the needs of supply and/or services to your perfect customer.
Start by thinking about existing customers or clients. Who do you have that you would like more versions of?
“Understanding who isn’t your ideal customer sometimes helps you better clarify who is”
~ Amber Hurdle
Name your Customer Avatar
Naming your avatar humanizes the profile. If you are targeting both men and women, you’ll want to create a male and female name. I find this makes the process real…
Can you visualise someone you might know?
Build their profile and describe them accurately.
• Who are they? Dig deep on this.
List out your avatar’s demographic traits, things to consider are:
- How old are they?
- What do they do professionally?
- Are they married, single, or divorced?
- What is their educational level?
- What’s their household income?
- Does culture or religion take a large role in their lives?
- What does your ideal customer’s typical day look like?
- What is the size of their family?
- What do they value? What’s not important to them?
- What do they really want? What is their interests?
- What are their aspirations and dreams?
- What is their lifestyle like?
- What do they value? What’s not important to them?
• What pushes their buttons? Get personal.
These are a little more complicated and require a deeper understanding of your client avatar.
- Why does the customers need this product or service?!
- What are their biggest objections?
- What are their biggest problems and challengers? What are their greatest fears?
- What transformation can your ideal customer avatar experience when they consume your product?
- What would stop them from buying your product?
• Who are they accountable too?
• Will you be able to satisfy their demands on every level?
Once you have gathered this information it it is time to design a dossier. A dossier is a one-page collection of information about your avatar that includes its name, picture (what your avatar looks like visually), information, and story.
Be as specific as possible—the more details you have, the more you and your perfect customer will connect. Create your avatar based on market research and customer feedback rather than your own opinion and perception.
Want a FREE Avatar Worksheet to help you build your perfect customer profile? – get it here.
Where is your Customer?
This relates to a few levels.
• Geographical: Requires post code specific marketing for best results. Facebook marketing can be accurately pointed geographically to concentrate targeted areas when marketing.
• Is your customer the end user?
• Does your customer buy on behalf of others? Corporate buy on behalf a client!
The absolute magic of avatar work can be seen in this situation. The buyers position will be taken into account, as well as their responsibility and prestige. In this case, you’ll need to provide guarantees to safe guard their position. All their pin points must be negated. Their future will depend on you.
How MANY Customer Avatars?
Ideally one is best but I generally only recommend two at the most!
You may be looking at the same product or service going across a few market places but the messaging must be strong and believable. Confused marketing with a shot gun approach is not viable and rarely produces quality results.
If you are a discounter then be a discounter relying on volume and low margins. This model needs a net thrown deep and wide. I am not against this form of business but am mindful of the cost of finding a client who will return time after time. If you are looking for that consistent high return then be avatar specific and targeted.
Ask Your Avatars
Once you have built yourself your three-dimensional customer avatar(s), it is time to test your marketing and product ideas against everything you know about them. I do mean everything… taglines, color schemes, advertising channels – they can all be evaluated in the context of your customer personas.
Avatars Help Laser-Focus Marketing Efforts
Once you confine your marketing efforts to a highly defined, but more limited market, you’re able to engage those individuals on a much deeper level, and make better decisions with them in mind.
A great marketing campaign promotes an amazing product to the right people, on the right platform, at the right time. When you understand who your ideal customer is, what they look like, their habits, interests, challenges, aspirations, in fact everything about them, you’ll be much more effective in marketing to them.
If you could use some help creating your customer avatar, or with other areas of your marketing strategy, contact us today via Facebook Messager.
Are you in business and want to learn some new tips and tools to save you time, money and headaches? Join us for a Quickie Tips and Tools to Online Success zoom meeting here.
Talk Soon,
Nicky Cane
