12: Ideal Client Avatar 2.0

If you’re speaking to everyone, you’re speaking to no one. That’s why we create client avatars. We give them names, talk about where they like to shop and whether they’re married, have kids or pets…or both. But we fail to include the most important information in these profiles – that which will help guide our content and convert visitors into customers.

In this solocast, I’m breaking down a lot of myths surrounding the ideal client avatar and why most of the avatars I see are incomplete. I share an actual example of an avatar I commonly see and how it can be improved for the purpose it was designed for – to judge whether the content and services we’re releasing will resonate with the audience they’re intended to reach.

Bonus: I’m giving you specific questions to get you started forming your own (useful and accurate!) ideal client avatar.

In this episode we discuss:

The purpose of an ideal client avatar,
How to create an avatar when it seems like you have more than one ideal client,
The difference between demographics and psychographics,
Why designers love client avatars, and
What most client avatars are missing.

QUOTABLES

“When you create this one person, it does become easier to create visuals, content and market your business because you’re now speaking to one person rather than a faceless group of people.”

“You have to be careful not to assume your ideal client is you.”

“Psychographics are specific to the questions, fears, and challenges that this specific type of customer would have as it relates to your brand.”

“What do they want more than anything? What are they worried about? And have they hired or bought from someone like you before?”

“The secret to appealing to your customers is understanding what they’re looking for and mirroring that back with exactly what you provide.”

“Look outside of your industry to see a new way to draw your customers in.”

“Reflect on your client inquiries and look at the language people are using when they reach out to you. What questions are they asking? How do they describe their situation?”

“There’s a difference in messaging between a budget-friendly brand and a high-end brand and neither of these is right or wrong. But it is specific to the customer that they’re appealing to.”