Customer Avatars, Target Markets, Oh My!

What if I told you that, with a little effort, you could create a baseline to make all your future marketing endeavors easier and more effective?

Did I pique your interest?

This simple, yet effective, tool is a customer avatar. This ‘avatar’ is your ideal client. It’s your target market, but fine tuned — and it’s who you’ll focus your marketing efforts on.

To start, we’ll begin by looking at who’s seeking out your product or service. Who has has a ‘wake up in the morning problem’ that can find a solution in what you have to offer?

You won’t sell to someone that doesn’t feel a need to purchase, so this is the base level of your target market. But, there may be a multitude of people interested in purchasing what you have to offer. Our purpose is to focus this further.

Ask yourself these questions to hone in on exactly who you’re here to help:

Would I be most effective with service-based businesses, digital product-based businesses, or physical product-based businesses?
Is there a type of industry I’d prefer to work with?
Would I prefer to focus my efforts on businesses that are still in the founding phases, established small businesses, or businesses that have expanded their team?
Do I have an income range that I’d prefer my clients fall within, or would I like to engage with them and focus on their capabilities for growth?

Now, here’s where the fun begins.

The avatar:

This person is your biggest fan. She or he loves your business and what you have to offer. And, it’s the person you’d most like to work with, and the person you feel will get the best results by working with you or will get the most out of purchasing your product.

Begin creating your avatar by answering these questions:

Are they male or female? (If your demographic includes both, feel free to create 2 avatars.)
Where do they live (location or urban vs. suburban vs. rural, house or apartment…)?
How old are they?
Do they have a spouse and/or children?
How do they generally spend their money? Where do they shop?
What do they like to do with their free time? (Ie. Travel, Hobbies, Interests)
What’s important to them? (Ie. Education, Religion, The Environment…)
What is their job/career/business?
What are their goals?
What culture do they originate from?
What do they look like?

These questions are a great jumping off point to help you to create your avatar. Get as specific as possible about this person.

Then name them and assign them a photo. Just google what they look like find an image that fits your perception, and store it to reference back to. It’s for your reference only. It’s purpose is to allow you a visual image of your avatar. This allows you to focus your product or services on a specific client in a specific market.

Then, you can use this avatar for narrowing down your messaging.

Use it when you…

Review, renew or establish your branding
Post to social media
Create your website
Begin creating ads on social media & need to narrow your audience
Write blogs, email marketing materials, and any other form of copy to distribute to your audience
Create customer service processes within your business

… and the list goes on.

This approach allows you to stay focused on who your ideal client is interested in and what appeals to them.

You want your business to catch their attention, so communicate directly to them.

It’s one way to set you apart from the rest of the crowd.

Hi there! I’m Heather Remec…