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Successful marketing starts with clearly identifying who your ideal clients are and what makes them tick. Many business owners have trouble doing this. That is the focus of this blog.

Most businesses don’t take the time to create their ideal client and end up wasting a lot of money targeting the wrong audience with their marketing. Remember, while it may seem counter-intuitive to narrow down your prospective audience, “everyone” is not an ideal client group; it is a wish list!

Marketing to everyone results in lots of mixed messages so no one knows who you are, what you sell, and what you stand for. By trying to be everything to everyone, instead of something to someone, you end up being nothing to no one. 

This blog discusses the steps needed to craft your ideal client persona and finishes with a quick start worksheet to help you define it.

What is an Ideal Client Persona?

Your ideal client persona is a detailed representation of your ideal customers. The more detail you have about their demographics, behaviours, preferences, goals, and challenges, the more life-like they feel, making them easier to connect with. It is a powerful tool you can use to visualise and connect with your customers and sway them to purchase your products or services.

A couple of points when creating your ideal client persona:

1. Every business has, at least, two or more ideal client groups. Try to keep your ideal client groups to 2 or 3 maximum unless you have a large budget and resources on hand to help you manage your marketing.
2. Note the 80/20 rule which is 20% of your customers will generate 80% of your revenue. This means that some people who buy from you will not fall neatly into the detailed description of your ideal client. That’s ok. By focusing on marketing to your ideal client, you’ll get more of the 20% you want and therefore much more “bang for your marketing buck.”

What to include in an Ideal Client Persona?

Start by identifying your ideal client demographics and psychographics.

Demographics are the things about your ideal clients that can usually be quantitatively measured. measured. They are things like age, location, gender, and ethnicity. Knowing your demographics can help you understand the makeup of your audience and tailor your marketing to specific groups.

Psychographics are the important psychological characteristics, traits and attributes that make your ideal clients tick. Examples include their beliefs, values, interests, hobbies, work, or lifestyle choices. Understanding these traits will help you craft messages that resonate and connect with them.

You can find out the demographics and psychographics of your audience by looking through your current audience for threads of commonality. You can also survey or interview your customers, investigate census data, analyse your social media, or conduct market research.

This is where most people stop, but the real gold comes in digging deeper.

The importance of digging deeper

Understanding the problems, desires, and needs of your ideal clients allows you to target them on a deeper level by pulling on the heart strings, solving their problems, and addressing specific issues. 

When you understand the challenges, pain-points, or difficulties that they face in their lives , you can position your product or service as the solution to fix those issues.

When you understand the desires, wants, aspirations, or goals they seek to achieve, you can position your product or service as the solution to help them achieve their goals or fulfil their dreams.

Tailoring your marketing to the problems, desires, and wants of your ideal clients helps you to be more customer-centric and connect with them on a deeper level.

Finding the right platforms to reach your ideal clients

There’s not much point focusing your marketing efforts on channels when your target market doesn’t use them. You need to know where your ideal clients look to find information about your products and services.

In general, GenZ use TikTok and Instagram more than Baby Boomers, who are more likely to use Facebook or read the newspaper. Tradies are more likely to listen to rock music radio stations than lawyers, who are more likely to use LinkedIn.

However, basing your marketing channel selection on age or demographics only can be a mistake. For example, older people use Instagram for food, fashion, photography, real estate and interior design inspiration. People of all ages use search engines, like Google and Bing.

Knowing what channels your ideal clients use, can help you to focus on the right channels to spend your time, energy, and budget, making the whole process quicker and easier.

Why do they choose you?

What makes you different from your competitors? Also known as your Unique Selling Point (USP), we refer to this as your emotional hook. It is the number one reason why your ideal clients choose you above everyone else in your industry and connects to their wants, and desires.

Your emotional hook doesn’t need to be completely unique or different, but something that is authentic to your business, and that you can make your own in your marketing and brand messaging.

For example, the USP for M&M’s (the candy shell covered chocolates) - Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hands – sets them apart from other candy companies. This USP connects to the texture and experience you get when you eat M&M’s and delivers on a solid promise that’s especially important to parents who don’t want their young children’s hands covered in sticky sweetness. No doubt, there are other candies that do the same, but once M&M’s owned this space, no other brands could claim the same.

Quick start worksheet

To help you get started, click to download the worksheet or complete the following exercises.

A. Demographic profile

Not all criteria will be relevant to your company. Ignore those that are not relevant and add any that are missing.

• Gender:
• Age:
• Location:
• Ethnicity:
• Marital / relationship status:
• Household size:
• Children:
• Pets:
• Education:
• Income:
• Language:
• Religion:
• Occupation/Employment status:
• Company name
• Company type:
• Industry:
• Years in business:
• # employees:
• Estimated turnover:
• Associations / Memberships:

B. Psychographic profile of our ideal clients

Describe the psychographic profile of your ideal clients. What do they do for fun? What TV shows do they watch? What do they believe in? What do they really care about?

• Activities:
• Interests:
• Opinions:
• Attitudes:
• Values:

C. Your ideal clients’ key problems, desires and needs.

Write down your ideal clients’ key problems, desires and needs below. Examples include price, location, exclusivity, results, safety, timeliness, convenience, health, connection, status and connection.

D. Decision making process.

How does your ideal client decide on their purchases?

• Research process
• Decision factors
• Price sensitivity / attitude to price
• Recommendations/opinions from others
• Competitor considerations

E. Your ideal client profile

Based on your answers above, write down your detailed customer profile.

For example: Our ideal clients are single men aged 25 - 35, making between $60,000 - $70,000 per year, urban dwellers, who have no kids, own dogs, really care about the environment, enjoy watching and playing sports, and want affordable, stylish casual wear. Many are renting and actively saving for their first homes.

They seek recommendations from their friends, review videos on social media and read reviews before they buy significant purchases. They prefer to buy online but for high ticket items, will go into store to see, touch, and try the product as well as do product comparisons.

Summary

A well-crafted ideal client persona helps you target your marketing efforts, moderate your resources, tailor messaging, and develop strategies that connect and resonate with those that matter most to your business.

Remember, everyone is not a market. It’s a wish list. Want help to craft your ideal client persona? Get in touch today!

 

Science of Marketing

Dive into the secrets of effective marketing with the next blog in the Science of Marketing Series! Uncover the truth behind the "marketing funnel" and discover how to plug those leaks. Read How To Fix the Leaks in Your Funnel to Keep Your Marketing on Track today.