The foundation of marketing your online programs and services is intimately knowing your ideal client. Too often I meet with small business owners who build their products and services around their own ideas. They quickly grow frustrated with their inability to make sales and think better marketing will fix their problems. However, without knowing your ideal client well, you will always be missing the target.
When creating products, programs and services, you MUST forget about your own brilliant ideas and start to focus on your ideal client’s problems. If you are not solving their problems, or adding value to their lives, then people will simply not buy into what you are selling. So, in order to create things of value, you’ve got to know your ideal client.
Create your avatar.
An avatar is a representation of your ideal client. When creating your avatar, you want to get incredibly detailed and specific. Here are a few things to consider:
- Age
- Marital Status
- Kids or no-kids
- Socio-economic status
- Education Level
- Profession
- Where do they live?
- What do they do for fun?
- Where do they shop?
- What are their three biggest struggles?
- What types of books do they read?
- What t.v. shows do they watch?
Don’t be afraid to get super detailed. Many people are afraid of getting too specific, because they don’t want to exclude people. But, if you are selling to everyone you are truly selling to no one. So, don’t worry about repelling certain types of clients; that will happen. Getting super specific will help you to attract the right kinds of clients, every time you sell.
Create for your avatar.
What you are passionate about is only important if it is going to help your ideal client. Once you know your ideal client intimately, you will be able to create services with that avatar in mind. As you do that, you will draw in more and more of your ideal clients because you are offering something they truly need. Don’t start with you and what you are good at, start with your ideal client and what they need most. Then, find the intersection of that need and your passion to create something that will truly help your ideal client add value to their lives.
Speak to your avatar.
While it is incredibly important that you find your own voice, it is also important that you speak your ideal client’s language. An ideal client who is a professional, working in some high-powered, corporate environment, is going to speak a slightly different language than a young, stay at home mother. While they may both be educated in a similar fashion, the language that will connect to their pain points will likely be different. In the fitness industry, you are going to use different language to connect with fitness pros training for competition than you would for those who are inactive and wanting to lose their first 50 pounds. Speaking in your voice is important, but speaking in your client’s language is equally important. Finding the perfect balance between the two will help you connect and convert your ideal client, every time!
An effective product and strategic marketing plan are absolutely necessary to make sales online. However, you truly cannot build an effective product and strategic marketing plan, without knowing exactly who you are building that plan for. So, if you don’t already have this written out with a significant amount of clarity and detail, jot down a few notes and create your ideal client’s avatar. Then, be sure to speak to that avatar every single time you make a social media post, send out an email, or write a blog. Doing so will connect you to the right people and keep you from spinning your wheels on the wrong type of client for your business