So – you have a product, and you’ve chosen the most suitable platform for running ads. Now, you’re deciding on the best possible marketing strategy to reach your target audience and generate a sale. BUT – who exactly is your target audience? Who is your message for? Who do you want to buy your product? Continue reading and I’ll walk you through exactly how to create your very own customer avatar.
Prefer to watch instead of read? Click here to watch The Strikepoint Academy break this subject down.
What is a customer avatar?
First, let’s define what a customer avatar is. It’s a fictional but detailed representation of your ideal client that helps you tailor a marketing strategy. Ask yourself the following questions to determine if you need to sit down and map out your very own customer avatar.
- Who will you market your products or service to?
- Who will buy your products and services?
If you don’t have detailed answers to these questions, odds are you need to build a customer avatar to hook your ideal clients time and time again.
How will you build a marketing strategy if you don’t know who it’s for? While targeting everybody might seem like you’re reaching a more significant number of potential customers, you’ll likely end up wasting ad dollars and valuable time. Keeping your target audience in mind will be very helpful in ensuring that your messaging and approach are tailored specifically for them.
How do I build a customer avatar?
Let’s say for example you have a business selling fitness supplements. Who do you want to walk through your front door? Who do you want to land on your landing page? Picture that person. You’re probably thinking of an athletic person who spends their time and money keeping themselves in shape through gym memberships, exercising, supplements, and dieting. This fictional representation of your customer is who you want to create your avatar around.
Now that you have a mental image, what else do we know about this customer? In this step, you are going to list the characteristics of your customer based on demographics and characteristics. Let’s say you want to focus on your male customers in their late twenties/early thirties. Think about their age, income level, geographic location, education level, job, etc…
Let’s name this customer Riley. What else do we know about him? Let’s rattle off some wants/needs of this customer.
- 1. He’s looking to increase his muscle mass
- 2. He’s looking for a cheaper alternative to his current workout supplements
Now, we will take that further and give your customer some depth. Let’s get to know him better. What are his frustrations and pain points?
Riley’s main frustration is that his current supplements are quite expensive, and they have less protein than he desires. He’s looking for a new supplement that could be shipped directly to him at a cheaper price, while also packing more protein into the supplement.
Lastly, and most importantly, you must consider the “why” part of the purchase process. Why would Riley choose your company over any of the other supplement brands? Is yours cheaper? More effective? Does it taste better?
All of these are great selling points to prove the “why” portion of the purchasing process, but you must convey these through your messaging and advertising.
An image or portrayal of a specific type of customer, albeit fictional, can help you design an appropriate marketing strategy to reach this audience. This way, you won’t be wasting time and resources on marketing strategies that are not targeted, and thus ineffective. It’s become easier to reach more people in the digital world, so you’ll have to cater to a diverse number of customers. Because of this, and depending on the type of business you run, you can create multiple customer avatars. This way, you can make subtle modifications for each avatar and consider them all while planning.
Legendary marketer Neil Patel has a great resource here to help craft your customer avatar/persona.
Mistakes to avoid
When creating your customer avatar, keep these common mistakes in mind:
- Avoid being vague
It will help you in the long run to be as specific as possible. Dig deeper.
- Don’t ignore your own data
Pore over your analytics, demographics, or whatever data you have in hand to know everything there is to know about your customers.
- Ask for help when you need it
Don’t try to do everything yourself. Your business is likely your baby, and you will have some blind spots. Reach out to your team and work with them!
What are you waiting for? Get out there and start building your very own customer avatar and start hooking your ideal clients every time!
If you need assistance and want to work with our team, contact us here.
