Finding Your Perfect Customer – How to Create Your Ideal Client Avatar

Are your perfect clients motivated to take action when they see your marketing materials? Or do you find yourself wading through a bunch of “tire kickers” before you find your actual buyers?  If you answered the latter, chances are you need to do some work to identify your ideal client.  It’s hard to appeal to your “perfect” client if your marketing message is generic and designed to appeal to everyone.  You know that saying, “if you’re speaking to everyone, then you’re speaking to no one”?  Well, that’s true and is the whole point of nailing down who your ideal client is. 

So, who IS your ideal client?

This doesn’t mean that your product or service can’t appeal to everyone, but who is your IDEAL or perfect client?  The one who completely resonates with what you have to offer and understands you and why you are doing it?  Who are the clients you absolutely love working with, the ones who value what you have to offer, and aren’t looking for the lowest price?  THOSE are your ideal clients – they’re the ones who “get” you and value you.  In the car business there’s a saying…”there’s an @$$ for every seat”, and while that’s in fact true, some clients are better suited for the seat YOU are offering.  Sticking with the car business example, if you’re a Jaguar dealer your ideal client will likely be different than if you’re a Kia dealer.  That doesn’t mean your products don’t appeal to everyone, but some clients are ideal buyers for your products, and those are the ones you want to focus your efforts on attracting.

It’s fairly common to have a scarcity mindset, thinking you have to cast a broad net and appeal to everyone, but the reality is that when you do that, your messaging is typically too generic and you end up appealing to no one.  You might also be afraid of repelling people who aren’t your target client, but in fact, that’s how you separate out and attract your ideal clients.  Your messaging needs to be specific enough that your ideal clients will see or hear it and instantly know that you are “their” people, and be interested in what you have to say.  The fact that some people are turned off or don’t resonate with your messaging is actually a good thing because they’re not your clients anyway.  Focusing on YOUR people is always the desired goal. 

How do you get started?

One of the first things I do when meeting with small business owners is helping them walk through the process of identifying who their target client or ideal client avatar (ICA) is.   It’s a step that too many small business owners skip in the initial stages of their business, and then wonder why their marketing isn’t connecting with their ideal clients.  Identifying your Ideal Client Avatar is critical to the success of your company’s overall marketing strategy.  Have you done this work for your business?  I’ve created a free worksheet that will help you get this process started.  You can download it here:  Ideal Client Worksheet

Doing the work to discover and create your ideal client avatar will take some effort, but you will see increased results if you take it seriously.  My Ideal Client Worksheet will walk you through the process of getting started, but here are the basic steps involved in identifying your ideal client:

1. Define your target market demographics – age, gender, income, and location of the people who are most likely to benefit from your product or service.
2. Understand their needs and pain points – what pain point does your product or service solve for them?
3. Understand and Identify their decision-making process – what factors influence their buying decisions and what do they need to know before purchasing?

Why is this so important?

Knowing and marketing to your Ideal Client Avatar will help you

• differentiate yourself from your competition,
• show your clients your authenticity and give them solid reasons to connect with you, and
• attract your ideal clients and bring other like-minded people with them.

Having your ICA identified will also help you stay on course when you’re tempted to get caught up in the comparison game that is so prevalent these days (Can you say Instagram?!).  Knowing who your people are is only one component of your overall marketing strategy, but it is the most important thing you need to know before you can develop or implement an effective marketing plan.  If you’ve already done this work, Congratulations, you’re ahead of the pack!;  but if it’s been a while, it’s probably time to do it again because it’s a good idea to revisit your ICA every 6 to 12 months.  Things are always changing and evolving, both inside and outside of your business, so staying tuned in to what’s going on that can impact who you’re marketing to, where you’re finding them, and how you’re marketing to them is supercritical.  Don’t waste any more precious time on marketing if you’re not crystal clear on who YOUR Ideal Client Avatar is! 

If you’re ready to do the work to identify your Ideal Client Avatar, please download my FREE Ideal Client Worksheet. It will walk you through the initial steps of this work and really get you thinking about who your perfect client is. As always, if you have questions or need additional help, please reach out. I’d love to hear from you!