[vc_row full_screen_section_height=”no”][vc_column][vc_column_text]My favourite Marketing Master, Seth Godin, said this:
Choose your customers, choose your future.
I love this quote, but it may sound like an almost impossible task. Or is it? I don’t believe so. Your customers are who they are because you chose them. You found them through your marketing efforts; lead generation, messaging, creative content and then you committed to working with them.
If reaching your ideal customer feels like roulette, please keep reading and download our free template below to create your customer profile/s.
What is customer profiling anyway?
Also known as personas and avatars, a customer profile describes your current and ideal customers. It’s an estimated profile to support you with creating clear messages that capture interest and the drive to buy. When we work with clients on this exercise, most business owners can reveal the demographic data but, it’s the psychographic data that is essential for creating great content and making a sale.
Why do we use it?
The short answer – to get leads!
An ideal client profile provides the path to sell your product or service. Creating a customer profile will help you break down how a customer makes a decision, what triggers the buying impulse and then help refine the services and products you offer.
Customer profiling is the key to successful marketing.
Marketing strategy has to be clear to work. Often business owners don’t have a measurable understanding of their customers and what they want. They know the general demographics, for example; 25-35, female, a mum, earning $50-90k per year; but a broad idea isn’t enough to nail sales material that will do the job.
As a knowledgeable business owner and skilled marketer, your first job is to know your customer – inside and out. This is where customer profiling steps in. It sounds like basic marketing – and it is, but without this information, your marketing, messaging, and content won’t resonate, and leads won’t be flowing in. Understanding your customer gives you the sales advantage in every way.
Even if you’ve been in business for a while, it’s wise to assess your customer base annually to ensure they are the type of customers you want to work with and can grow your business.
How to create a customer profile for your business.
Before you get started, download the template on the link below. Then, think about the clients you love working with and focus on these. You can have more than one but don’t make it too hard; I would recommend no more than three to five.
Step 1 – Who do you want to work with.
Whether you’re a new business and not sure who your ideal client is or revising your perfect customer, the best place to start is a description in 50 words or less with the type of customer you want.
As an example, in an ideal world, our description would go something like this: I love creating websites with clients who know what they want and have all of their content and images ready to go. They allow us complete creative control, which contributes to a smooth design process. Whether new in business or long-standing, their website’s success is their most important investment.
Step 2 – Give your ideal person a name.
Stop painting your ideal customer as a number or dollar value and make them human. Give them a name and even find a picture of what they would look like so when you are marketing to them, you have a picture of who you are talking to.
Step 3 – Add in the primary data.
The next step is to add in the demographic data, including age, income, family status etc. You may already know this, but if you don’t, you will be able to look at your Google Analytics and social media insights to get an idea.
If you’ve been in business a while, do the reports and insights match your ideal data?
Step 4 – Fulfilling their needs.
The third step is the nitty-gritty part of the activity and looks deeper into their psyche. There are four areas to consider;
- What are their problems?
- What do they want and desire? What are their aspirations for doing business with you?
- What are their biggest frustrations and fears?
From there, there are two levels: what your customer says, but more importantly, what they don’t say. What they don’t say helps pinpoint gaps and leads to great content that converts.
When looking at the spoken and unspoken, questions to think about are:
- How do they feel now, and how do they want to feel after they have worked with you?
- What are the triggers to begin researching and ultimately buy your products and services?
- How do they make decisions?
- Who is deciding to buy? For example, if the service or product is highly-priced, do they need to discuss it with a partner or boss?
- Are there external pressures?
- What aren’t they saying?
- What are their blockers?
- When talking to them, what is their body or verbal language like?
Profoundly understanding what matters to your ideal client is the key to creating and developing compelling messaging and content that will lure them into contacting you. Mastering this activity as part of your marketing planning will ensure your success, and it’s a timely approach. In 2022 Google will be rolling out privacy updates worldwide, making insights from your efforts less available, and with those changes imminent, now is the time to develop a deep understanding of your customers.
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Who do you want your customers to be in 2022 and beyond?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_screen_section_height=”no”][vc_column][vc_column_text]
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