Why defining your ideal customer is essential for a killer marketing strategy

You might even be wondering why you really need to have an ‘ideal’ customer since you’d be more than happy to sell to any living, breathing, two-legged mammal that walked in your door?

I hope not. Because you’re losing sales right now.

Get specific, I mean really specific

Have you heard the saying “if you’re marketing to everybody, you’re selling to nobody”?

It’s very tempting to want to sell to many different market segments. We’re all wired to think that a bigger pool has more fish. But when your target market is too broad, your messaging becomes very vague.

It doesn’t talk to anyone’s specific situation, so it doesn’t connect with anyone. 

To be quite honest, your copy is totally boring. You can spot it a mile off – it sounds like some academic waffle – all fluffy theoretical stuff totally removed from reality.

So when you drill down into who your ideal customer is and really narrow your focus, amazing things happen.

Suddenly you’re writing messaging that connects, makes your audience feel like you really understand their problems, and can solve them.

Your advertising becomes highly targeted and results in much higher conversions.

You’re providing the maximum value to the RIGHT customers

If you know who your ideal customer is, you also know who to avoid. You won’t waste time chasing customers that aren’t right for your business.

The right customer is one who you can provide the most value to. They will be willing to pay for your services because you’re delivering value to them.

And you’re able to provide a great customer experience, which means your customers are delighted and will recommend you to others.

You see how it all links together?

How do you define your ideal customer?

There’s no blueprint for an ideal customer. It’s as individual as your business! So you need to think about how you want your business to operate.

Your ideal customer should be one that fits best with your business, brings you the most profit and has the most potential growth.

First up, analyse your existing customers for clues:

• Which ones are the happiest?
• Which ones have stayed the longest?
• Which are the most profitable for you?
• What are common characteristics between them?

Next, think about your business growth potential.

1. Who is ready to buy, and has the money to pay for your services? Regardless of whether you think someone would benefit from your services, if they can’t pay they aren’t a great customer for you.
2. Who can you make a real difference to? Those who gain most value from you will be the happiest, and happy customers refer others to you. This is the easiest way to tap into your target market without advertising.

Now you’re ready to build a customer avatar.

Create your own customer avatar

An avatar is the easiest way to get inside the head of your ideal customer. Build an imaginary person so you can tailor your products, messaging and pricing to them.

The more detailed you can make your avatar the better.

My template (free download below) uses these 5 categories to dig deep into the personification of my ideal customer:

Demographics – age, gender, where they live, family situation, wealth etc
Personality – what characteristics they have
Psyche – what they think, opinions and beliefs.
Education – what they know about your industry, services, and your company. Where they get their information from.
Buying behaviour – how they prefer to buy, their role in the buying process.

Grab your free template here: