THE 7 PILLARS OF SUCCESSFUL BRANDING: Pillar #4 Create a Profile of Your Ideal Customer
One of the demons I face in helping people figure out their Personal Brand and marketing is the belief that they have to serve EVERYONE.
Research shows if you try to help everyone, you’re far less likely to help anyone. If it’s for everyone, it’s not for me.
The more we can address the specific wants and needs of our target audiences, the better chance we have of connecting with them.
That’s why it’s important to talk to your fans and prospects to get their story [as mentioned in the last article] so that you have fodder to create your Customer Profile. [Also called an Avatar or Customer Persona]
A Customer Profile is an amalgamation of the different aspects that represent your ideal fan, the one that LOVES to work with our and/or your services.
- You may have more than one target consumer, but each has a persona that suggests unique ways of connecting with them.
- Be as specific as possible in creating this profile - the more details and textures, the better because the more we know about them, the better we can communicate with them in meaningful ways.
Here are some questions to answer about each of your key Consumer Profiles. It’s best to have one, but definitely no more than 3 or you’re again marketing to everyone, just pretending you’re not.
1-How do others see my ideal customer? How would their best friend describe?
2-Where does my ideal customer hang out? What websites do they go to?
3-What do they do for work? What skills do they have?
4-What did they study in school?
5-What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?
6-What do they read?
7-What do they watch on tv?
8-How do spend their free time?
9-What are their goals?
10-Who are their heroes?
11-Who are their enemies?
12-What are they proud of?
13-What’s their secret desire?
14-What do they value?
15-How do they overcome problems?
16-What gets them down?
17-What encourages them?
18-Who do they want to please?
19-What do they want?
20-What do they need?
Here’s an example of one of my Customer Profiles. This is a professional who is interested in upgrading his career.
Meet Kevin:
“Kevin” is a school principle who delights in the “relationship” aspect of his work, not the administrative duties. Ever since he was a little kid, he’s always been the go to person when his friends or family and now coworkers had issues. He values helping others and he loves to solve problems. He just turned 45 and although he makes a good living doing what he does, it’s not satisfying his desire to work with people more intimately and watch them grow. He comes from a family of professionals – doctors, lawyers, psychologists, financial consultants. None of them work for an organization, all are entrepreneurial. His favorite TV shows are Billions, Homeland, The New Twilight Zone, Big BanG Theory and although he hates to admit it, The Walking Dead. He works out at a gym several times per week to stay in shape and believes in eating healthy. He has a wife of 15 years and 2 teen kids who he’s very proud of. His wife has a degree in art and works part time as a floral designer.
He is making a good salary making it hard for him to move towards what he really wanted to do, which is to coach families.
You can imagine him, right? And what we know about him suggests how my services can meet his needs.
To attract the right buyers, it’s critical to craft stories that revolve around your customers first, with your products or services as the supporting characters that help them get where they need to go. So in an important sense, your customer’s wants and needs create your strategy and tactics.
Knowing who they are, you can attract the people who align with your business ideals and will want your offerings. It’s not everyone, just the people most likely to buy into your story [that reflects theirs] and help make it a success.
After all, your ideal prospects and existing customers are the heroes of their own buyer’s journey - and by taking time to understand these leading “characters,” you’ll be better able to capture their attention, keep them engaged and ensure that your business offerings are successful.
And if you need help with creating you Customer Profiles and their stories please feel free to contact me directly at DrSharonLivingston@Gmail.com Or call 201-614-4439
To your success!
Sharon :)