I hear it all the time from overwhelmed business owners. Their marketing efforts are failing, they’re dealing with all the wrong clients, and they were barely able to afford the new business cards they just ordered. When you’re running a business that is not profitable, where the people you work with are constantly trying to negotiate your terms and prices, and your marketing plan is just not working, sometimes it feels like you should just give up. Clearly, your’e just not cut out for this whole entrepreneur thing. Right? WRONG! Often, these problems stem from failing to spend time on a crucial part of your business in the early stages, and today, I’m going to show you how to turn things around!
Recently, I had a conversation with the owner of a direct sales company that sells food mixes, and asked her who her target market was. She replied, “anyone that eats.”
More often than not, this vague answer is what I get when I ask this million dollar question.
One photographer declared her target market was “mainly moms.”
When talking with a web-designer, she listed “business owners” as her ideal clients.
There are a few key questions your explanation of your target market should answer:
- What types of advertising would attract your ideal client?
- Where should you focus on marketing so your ideal client has the best chance of seeing it?
- What should your brand feel like? What would your ideal client connect with?
- What are your ideal client’s pain points? What would their objections be to working with you?
Now, think about the answers I got from business owners. Did their answers give any insight into these questions? Heck no they didn’t!
When setting up a new business, one of the first things you should hammer down is your target market. Adding this to your to do list can make all the difference in the world.
Don’t worry, if you skipped this step three years ago, today is the perfect day to sit down and figure it out!
All you need is a pen, because at the end of this post I’m giving you access to a worksheet that will help you create the ultimate client avatar (basically, a detailed snapshot of who it is you want to attract)!
When you know who your target market is, and have your ideal client nailed down, it is a LOT easier to put together marketing plans, and create products and services that would appeal to them. The great part? The client avatars you create can always evolve. They need to, because your business is always evolving, and your target market can change.
While many experts will tell you that creating client avatars, and getting clear on your target market, is uber important, what they won’t do is take it a step further, by telling you to add a section to your avatars for how your ideal clients will feel AFTER they work with you, or buy your products.
Why is this important? Because it allows you to show them that you’re the answer to their problems, by giving them a total case of the feels.
For most industries, being able to identify with your target market, and speak to their souls, is one of the most effective selling tools you have. The more vividly they can envision how working with you is the answer they’ve been searching for, the better!
By painting a picture of how you can fill a void, solve a struggle, or improve the lives of your ideal clients, you help them identify with the service. When you know who your target market is, you’re better able to relate to them, and show them how your services will help them, by making them FEEL something.
For every product or service you offer, you need to know who it is designed for, and what problem it would solve. It’s so important to be able to pinpoint what problem you can solve, and describe how people will feel after using the product, or booking the service, with absolute clarity.
One brand always gets me to buy their products, because they’re amazing at marketing to their target market, which happens to include me. Check out their strategy, and learn how to use it in your own business, here!
Now that you have a better understanding on WHY creating client avatars are important, and how you can use the information to run your business more effectively, let’s get down to business!
Click here to download a worksheet that will get you moving in the right direction. But don’t leave me just yet!
Once you’ve downloaded the worksheet, take some time to create out a few avatars. Three if you can. You likely have a few different ideal clients, that all fit into your target market.
Use the worksheet as a guide to write the story of your ideal clients. Something vivid, as though you’re talking about your best friend. Consider adding a picture, to really drive the exercise home. Someone you find in a Google search, Jennifer Aniston, whoever you think looks like the person you create.
After you’ve gotten your story together, think about how you can better market to them, based on the profile you’ve created. How can you communicate with them in a way that makes them feel comfortable (vocabulary, means of communication, etc)? What can you do to bring on the know, like, and trust factor? When they purchase your products or services, how will they get them where they want to be in the next five years?
If creating your client avatars is hard, try thinking about who they aren’t.
For me, it’s always easier to decide what I want, by thinking about what I don’t want. After narrowing things down, I tend to be more able to form a precise idea of what I’m looking for.
The most important thing to remember, when it comes to any aspect of your business (and your life in general!), is this:
For more tips on creating your client avatars, so that you can define your target market (and run a better business!), check out these resources:
How Do You Define Your Ideal Client
The Ideal Client (I love that this looks at it from a service based perspective, and lists 10 questions they need answered before they’ll work with someone)
If you haven’t downloaded your FREE client avatar worksheet, snag it here! Do you know who your ideal clients are? Tell me who they are! If you haven’t figured it out yet, what is holding you back? Share your stories in the comments! Got questions? Head here and shoot me an email!
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