Who are you and why are you here? That's something I ask myself often enough when I stare at myself in the mirror. Your purpose in life is something greater than ourselves. Everything we do is part of a bigger picture. Why is it then we can peruse Instagram and see the same stock photo 3 times in a sitting? With a lack of purpose and intention, we're going to end up like everyone around us.
That difference between things that capture us and what we scroll past is too valuable to your business to ignore. As a business owner, you need to ask yourself: “Are you marketing yourself to that Instagram feed you scroll through, or to the unique, specific needs of the individuals who comprise it?”
Your purpose in business is to reach the people you are trying to help. This is where the oh so fancy sounding “client avatar” comes in.
Developing a clear understanding of who and why you are marketing to the people you are can have overwhelming benefits for your businesses. Failing to stand out can result in another person scrolling past you A client avatar gives you the ability to paint a picture of people you can see; maybe even relate to.
"I firmly believe creating a story about your Ideal Client is the easiest way to make him/her a real person in your mind. Sure, it might feel silly, but once you’re confident in your Ideal Client Profile, you’ll soon be attracting your dream clients...all because you’re talking to him/her in a way they love about the things they love."- Jasmine Star, Instagram Guru
Imagine that whatever you’re posting, is a direct message to that potential client. If you don’t know what to post, think about what that person would love to see. If you don’t know what to say, imagine what you would tell them if they were face to face. If deeper your client avatar, the more effective the message you’ll be able to craft.
When we relate to our clients better, our ability to serve them increases significantly. The best part? Creating a client avatar is fun and easy! When done right, you give yourself the ability to understand and meet client needs better than ever. That means more business.
So, you may already be thinking that in order to do this, you’re going to need to start doing some research and break out the spreadsheets.
I have good news: no fancy statistics are required to do this. The creative world rejoices.
Statistics are helpful and can be very specific in some cases, make no mistake. While they may give us a strong overview of our clients or industry, client avatars humanize them. They inform them by reminding us that like our Instagram feeds, our clients aren’t just numbers in a study.
More importantly, your avatar will help narrow your statistics down to truly meaningful insights. Statistics might have even helped create that seemingly congruent feed, by painting too generic a picture of who we are marketing to.
Your calls to action will have more weight and resonance to them. Your client avatar will help save you time while making your potential clietns feel known.
To get an idea of where to start, there are a whole host of helpful templates you can follow. For example:
I really liked the template Digital Marketer created, so we’re going to break that one down to give you a better idea of what an avatar should look like. They listed out simple demographics, before diving into their avatar’s goals, sources of information, challenges and potential roadblocks.
Our first avatar, Emily, is looking for a wedding photographer.
Roles In Purchase: Emily is up to date on Instagram and current style trends and will make most creative decisions regarding the wedding. Emily’s vision for her wedding photos, based on the various media she has taken in, will determine what photographer the couple chooses. If she doesn’t feel comfortable with the style, work, process, they will consider other options.
Avatar number two, Mark, is looking for personal training.
Roles in purchase: Mark’s desire to work more in acting and modeling will drive him to invest a bit more than he should into things he thinks will give him an edge. He is young and likely unmarried, so he is unburdened by other financial commitments.
As you can see, we have created two easy to understand templates, for two very different types of clients. The information is clear, concise and should give you enough to go on to dive even deeper!
While the templates may change, the benefits they have on your business are the same. Whatever template you choose, there are a few key aspects you never want to miss. Identifying some of these will allow you, in turn, to do things that provide even MORE detail than the template provided.
The more detail you put into all of this, the wider the impact it will have. Not just on how you identify clients, but every aspect of how you interact, market, and appeal to them. The words you use in ads. The images you use. The color pallets of your branding. Everything can be strengthened by knowing them better.
When you know them better, you serve them better and when you serve them better, your business thrives.
