What is an Ideal Client Avatar and why should you have one?

by | Business

Understanding the importance of knowing who you really want to be working with
Have you ever thought about who your Ideal Client is? If your answer to that question is, ‘anyone who wants to buy from me’, then you are most likely limiting the effectiveness of your marketing and content, and maybe even your services and/or products. If you try to direct your marketing, content and service offerings to ‘anyone’ or ‘everyone’, chances are you are reaching nobody. Do you know exactly who you really want to be working with? This is where an Ideal Client Avatar can be invaluable.

So just what is an Ideal Client Avatar?

It’s a detailed profile of your ideal customer. Think of the client that you’d love to clone and deal with over and over again. They’re the dream. Now you need to think about WHO they are. It’s a little bit fictional, of course, but this avatar is a representation of your ideal client, and don’t spare the details. You will need to come up with:

        • Their name
        • Gender
        • Age
        • Occupation
        • Marital and family status
        • Hobbies and interests
        • Location (both where they live/work and where they like to hang out – both in real life and online)
        • Their values/what is important to them
        • What motivates them to seek out your product or service?
        • Even a photo (obviously this would be a stock photo or similar of how you imagine your ideal client!)

Why should I have one?

When we work with clients on their content or marketing, this is one of the first things we will ask them about. Once you have your Ideal Client Avatar, all your content and marketing will be targeted towards this persona. Then, once you know WHO your ideal client is and WHERE you might find them, you can start thinking about how to attract them to your business.

Understandably for some people, the thought that they shouldn’t want just anyone as a customer was a bit scary. What if their customers suddenly disappeared? Marketing to an ideal client doesn’t mean you are stopping anyone from buying from you. You are maximising the chance that your dream customer will discover you, fall in love with you and become a loyal client (and tell other people like them about you).

Here are some examples of Ideal Client Avatars that we created (for illustrative purposes only – not real businesses).