When you want to connect with the right type of client/customer and “speak their language” about what they’re thinking, feeling and the reasons behind why they will buy from you, it’s important to understand your target audience on a deep level.
This means researching who they are, what they like, what they don’t like, and how they react to your brand’s messaging.
When your brand’s messaging connects with them as an individual, they will feel more connected with you and likely encouraged to reach out and either ask for your help through a contact/consultation form or buy something on your website.
A customer avatar is important for anyone on your team or even contractors working for your brand, as this will set out who exactly the people you want to connect with are, what their likes are, and what they like to do in their spare time, etc: it creates a whole customer/client persona that helps shape your brand’s message.
If your brand speaks to everyone, then you effectively speak to no one.
What is a Customer Avatar?
Essentially, it’s a persona of your ideal customer/client. It sets out:
- Their age range
- Male or female
- What they like and what they don’t like
- Where they live
- What job(s) do they have
- What TV programmes they like to watch
- Magazines they read
- Blog/news sites they read
- Podcasts they listen to (esp. if business-focused)
It will also include their behaviours, what they want from you, how they communicate best, what challenges they have in life that you can help them with, and what their goals and aspirations are.
You’ll then get a customer avatar like: Sarah, 38, runs leadership workshops but wants to slim down and tone her body. She is motivated to get her ideal body shape, but doesn’t like the gym, doesn’t want to get bulky, and enjoys watching cooking shows on YouTube. She’s married, has two children, and has a busy schedule, so having someone there to help her lose weight and motivate her is what she wants (and needs).
Why is it So Important?
It helps you understand the audience
When communicating with the avatar, you are speaking to and forumalting your voice (no matter what medium) to speak directly to the individual person. Yes, there are probably tens, hundreds, or even thousands of people like that one person you’re communicating with, connecting with, but on a deep level, they should believe that you’re speaking directly to them as an individual.
If you (or anyone in your business) has something to reference, then it makes it so much easier for them to stay on point with brand communication, so that everyone who is communicating about your brand and buisness is doing so from one “voice”.
It makes marketing more effective
Any ads, emails, blog posts, white papers or any other messages all resonate with your ideal customer/client when put in front of them. The messaging is on brand (aka has your avatar feel) because you’re speaking to one person who’s replicated hundreds, thousands or even millions of times.
This voice is then used across all of the mediums you use to communicate: articles, blog posts, YouTube videos, adverts, and emails. When they all have one voice, the message resonates better with your target audience.
Saves time and money
You won’t be targeting the wrong people through ads as you’ll be able to choose their likes, dislikes and other options to narrow the audience on different platforms. And your message will actually reach the intended audience, resulting in better conversions, which in turn lead to lower CPC (cost-per-click) and higher ROAS (Return on Ad Spend).
Guides product and service development
Honing in on who you actually serve will make it so much easier to develop future products and services for your customers/clients. The ones that actually have a profound impact on them and will solve the actual issues they want to solve or want help with. The result? Happy customers/clients and a happy, profitable business.
Common Mistakes Businesses Make
Vague, generic copy that speaks to “everyone” and isn’t taregted enough will have people wondering, “…wait is that really for me? Maybe not. Oh look, a cute cat video.” instead of what you really want: “Wow! That’s totally me! And, those people look like me too. I have to learn more!”
Speaking directly to your customer avatar will connect with them on a deeper level and make the buying process and decisions so much easier.
Being thiny spread everywhere
If you have your customer avatar dialled in, then you can concentrate on delivering the right message to your ideal client/customer on the right platform. This means you’ll be effectively using your time and delivering a message on a platform where they are. The alternative is trying to be everywhere to everybody and suffering burnout or, even worse, having little impact and using time, resources, and money connecting with a low number of valuable people who don’t care about your message and will never buy.
Attracting the wrong type of buyers
If your message doesn’t resonate with your ideal customer/client, then you could literally end up with anyone wanting to purchase goods and services from you. What could that mean? Attracting individuals or businesses that don’t fit your target market and don’t have the budget for what you’re charging. And, if you don’t qualify these leads properly before jumping on a call or progressing through a sales funnel to the point where you provide your prices, you might find that they don’t value what you have to offer or they can’t afford the prices you’re charging.
How To Create a Customer Avatar
How do you actually create a buyer persona for who you want to be your ideal client/customer?
Who is my current best customer/client?
Have a look at the best customers you already have. Which ones are the better ones that you’d want more of? That’s who you want to model your customer avatar after, so that you attract more customers who love what you do and are happy to pay for it.
If you don’t have any current clients/customers, then think about who you want to target: what do they like, don’t like, what magazines would they read, what websites would they visit, and what Facebook pages or groups would they be part of?
Research current data, insights, and reviews
Reviews are, by far, the best source of information about what people think about your business and brand after they’ve bought from you. This information can provide you with the motivations, reasons, thoughts, and feelings behind a purchase (and repeat purchases).
They can also provide you with the language your customers/clients use when they talk about your business, your brand, and the products/services they want to buy from you.
Define the demographics & psychographics
Demographics
Set out who they are. Are they male or female, what age range are they in, what type of job do they have (if B2B, what’s their role in the organisation), where are they located, what’s their income, marital status, educational level, what language do they speak/write in, and what is their household size?
Psychographics
What are their goals, their fears, and their pain points? What values do they hold? What interests & hobbies do they have, and are they part of any clubs or societies? Are they concerned about their health & well-being? How much? What goals & aspirations do they have? What attitudes, opinions & beliefs do they hold on different topics? Are there some that are more important to them than others?
Name them and write their story
Fill in all of the details from the above. Give them a name, an age, who they are, what they do, and why. Think about them as a person and create their “character” in your story.
Example of a Customer Avatar
“Mark, 45, runs a local estate agent business. He wants to get fit and has been to the gym a few times, but doesn’t really understand what he should be doing. He doesn’t know what exercises, how much, or how much time he should be spending. He is motivated by a few of his friends competing in Ironman competitions, and wants to do the same, but he doesn’t understand nutrition and knows he should be eating better. He doesn’t want to “diet” too much, though, as he enjoys going out for dinner and a few glasses of wine with friends at the weekend. He’s looking for a fitness coach who is trusted, has helped people like him before, and can show results. He’s put a lot of weight on over the years and is a little apprehensive about losing the weight with all of the loose skin videos on Instagram and TikTok, but he knows he needs to lose the weight for his own health and to keep up with his children (and future grandchildren).”
This is just the start of the avatar. It would probably delve more in-depth into the magazines he reads, any news sites he visits in the morning, and possibly whether he helps in the local community (if that’s your focus).
Your business and brand messaging will change if the avatar changes. For example, you would have a completely different message for Mark than you would for Sarah. Both would want to lose weight, but there would be different (sometimes slightly with this topic) motivations and fears towards their end goal.
Conclusion
Knowing the customer avatar for your brand is a crucial foundation of good marketing: you should know who you’re communicating with before pushing forward in your marketing and advertising methods.
Without it, you’re guessing, and you’re putting any members of your team, contractors, or agencies in a no man’s land of being unsure and indifferent. Having a clear customer avatar can help you all communicate and message from the same playbook.
Want help creating a customer avatar for your business/brand? Let’s work together to develop one that makes your marketing messages clear and effective. Contact us here.
