3 Steps to Creating Your Ideal Client Avatar
Ever been ghosted? Ever booked a client that gave you a massive headache and you find yourself wondering how you missed the red flags?
Or maybe you’re not getting many inquiries? It could be because you haven’t zeroed in on your ideal client.
If you can’t answer the question, “Who is my ideal client?”, you risk wasting a lot of time and money in your business.
And as a business owner, you don’t have time and money to waste.
Ideal Client. Buyer Personal.It doesn’t matter what you call it. What matters is that you figure it out and use it.
By the end of this blog post you will know:
What an ideal client is
Why you need to know who your ideal client is
How to get started on figuring out who your ideal client is
When I ask clients who their ideal client is, a common response I receive is: “My ideal client is a female creative business owner, aged 25-50.”
But that’s way too general.
It’s not specific enough. We need to get specific on who your ideal client is. We need to know what they like doing, what a typical day looks like for them, what their personality is like, and what their frustrations are. We’re going to turn your ideal client into an actual person. An avatar. And it’s going to help humanize this person.
More than likely your ideal client is going to have a lot in common with you… because the more relatable you are, the more likely your ideal client is going to be able to connect with you. And if you haven’t heard - better connections usually means more sales.
That’s a lot of people who want to feel like they’re known, who want personalization. But you can’t make someone feel like he or she is understood if you don’t really know what’s driving them and who they are.
Why it’s important
Zeroing in on who your ideal client is is incredibly important to you as a business owner and your marketing efforts. If you try to market to everyone, you end up connecting with no one. You want to speak to ONE person.
Figuring out who your ideal client is and having a really strong grasp on who that person is will help you weed out the wrong clients. You know the ones… the ones who waste your time, energy, and resources. The ones who don’t value what you do.
Once you figure this out, it’s easier to know what to say and how to say it in your marketing efforts. Your clients will see you and think you’re speaking directly to them. Your marketing efforts will make them pause and think, “How is she inside my head? How does she know all this? Ok. I need to buy XYZ from her. Like yesterday.”
And that’s the goal.
How to get started
Think of your top 3 clients. Your dream clients. The ones you look back on and are like, “I wish every single client was just like them.” That’s your ideal client.
They loved you. They loved your work. You loved them. You loved working with them. It was, in essence, a perfect relationship.
For me personally, once I figured out how to do this and who my ideal client is, I started booking those people over and over again. And my team and I found ourselves constantly saying, “Gosh. She’s amazing. I want to keep working with her and be friends with her.” Because I took the time to zero in on who I wanted to work with.
The other thing that happened once I kept my ideal client front and center? More sales.
So now you need to really work through figuring out who your ideal client is.
There are 2 major things you need to keep in mind as you work through who your ideal client is:
Get super specific. Dig deep.
Give him/her a name. Remember - we are humanizing this person. Making him/her real.
Step 1: Figure out his/her demographics
Gender
Age Range
Location
Income
Education Level
Marital Status
Family Status
Occupation
Religion
Step 2: Figure out his/her psychographics
Personality Traits
Likes
Dislikes
Hobbies & Interests
What he/she reads
What he/she listens to
What do they believe?
What do they stand up for? What are their values?
What does his/her typical day look like?
How does he/she talk? What phrases does he/she use?
How does he/she make decisions?
What do they spend time doing?
What stores and brands does he/she love?Where does he/she hang out on social media? (make sure you’re focusing your marketing efforts on the platforms he/she is actively engaged on)
Where do they shop for home decor? Clothing?
How does he/she like to consume content? Written content like blog posts and emails? Video like YouTube and REels? Podcasts? Infographics? Something else?
Step 3: What are his/her pain points?
This is a biggie. You need to know your ideal client’s pain points, challenges, and frustrations so you can solve them. So you can prove that you can help her overcome them. When you understand what she’s going through, you’re able to really talk to her about it, really get her to emotionally connect with you on how you can help her.
Now what? What do you do with it now?
When you are writing blogs, social media captions, email campaigns...pretend this person is sitting across from you, and you are speaking to them and them only. When you're creating content, you’re addressing their needs directly. You are keeping this person at the top of mind throughout your business endeavors and marketing efforts. Some initial ideas to think about:
Think about hashtags that your ideal client may use when looking for your services. Use them.
Think about the publications that your ideal client may use and look at… can you advertise in any of them?
What local organizations might your ideal client be a member of? Can you join the organization and go to their events? Can you offer to be a guest speaker?
Where does your ideal client hang out? What coffee shops? Can you spend some more time there?
Ok so there you have it. You should now have a firm grasp on who your ideal client is and how you should pivot or alter your marketing efforts. And you should see more loyal customers and more of those “perfect” clients start falling in your lap.