You might have heard of a customer avatar before, but it may have been called something different, like a buyer persona, marketing persona, or customer profile. Whatever you call it, we’re here to tell you: it’s very important.
The days of shotgun marketing are over. Attempting to sell your product, service, or business simply by sending the same message to as many people as possible is a waste of time and resources.
There’s a better way, and it starts with creating a customer avatar.
Speak To The Right People
You shouldn’t be trying to find a customer, you should be trying to find the right customer.
Have you heard of the Pareto Principle? It states that 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes. Also known as the 80/20 rule, this distribution has been observed in countless disciplines and fields.
When it comes to marketing, this doesn’t mean you should ignore your bottom 80% and speak only to the top 20%. However, it does mean that appropriate focus should be given to those customers who will be the most profitable for your business.
Stop Wasting Your Own Time
It is also important to make sure you aren’t spending resources speaking to the wrong people.
This might sound counterintuitive, after all, if someone’s got money in their pocket, don’t you want their business? The simple answer is no.
Ideally, it would be nice if you could target anyone with business to give, but the truth is that if you’re speaking to everyone, you’re speaking to no one. Experts agree that most customers are exposed to thousands of marketing efforts every single day. In order to stand out, you need to connect.
Building An Avatar
So, how do you go about building a customer avatar? As with most marketing, it starts by doing your research.
You know your product or service better than anyone, but it’s important to put aside who you want to sell to, and focus on who you should sell to.
Here are some of the things to consider:
Demographics
Once upon a time, demographics were the sole focus of many marketing campaigns. While there are other, more important, factors to consider, demographics can still be useful for narrowing your focus. They include things like:
- How old are they?
- What’s their gender?
- Are they married?
- What’s their occupation?
- How much do they make a year?
- What’s their level of education?
Goals
Cultivating a long-term customer means throwing out any thoughts of a transactional relationship. Everyone is trying to move from where they are, to somewhere they want to be.
- Are they trying to be healthier?
- Attempting to learn a new skill?
- Protecting their business?
- Preparing for a financially stable future?
- Improving their mental health?
- Changing their lifestyle?
When creating your customer avatar, try to really “get” them and remember: you aren’t just trying to sell them something, you’re trying to become an essential part of their journey.
Challenges
Stemming from your research into their goals, what is stopping your customer from achieving them?
Also referred to as “pain points”, you should be trying to solve your customer’s biggest problems. Anything that is stopping them from moving forward towards where they want to be.
For example, they may want to:
- Be healthier, but have an injury
- Learn a new skill, but they don’t have time
- Save for the future, but expenses are adding up
Building a customer avatar doesn’t happen overnight. It can be a time-consuming process and that avatar might change over time. Luckily, there is an alternative.
Siva Creative is the marketing agency you need to supercharge your growth. Creating a customer avatar is just one part of a marketing strategy, and our team of experts are the best at getting your business in front of the right people.
Not sure where you stand? We’ll audit your website and social media, for free.
