Having a clear understanding of who your Ideal Client is allows you to stop spending time and money advertising to the wrong audience. Instead, you can focus on creating content and copy that really connect with your ideal customer.

The most successful business owners create a connection with customers by showing that they are relatable.

Research shows that an emotional connection plays a key role in buyer’s purchasing decisions.

In this previous post we took a deeper look at why understanding your Ideal Client is so important, and in this post I want to share with you the three steps to creating your ideal client. So, let’s get straight to it.

Step 1: Build a broad description of your Ideal Client.

To create your Ideal Client avatar, think about your ideal client’s demographics. Remember, you are creating the ideal client for your business; the client that you want to do business with most.

To do this you need to answer a number of questions:

• How old is your ideal client?
• Are they male or female?
• What is their marital status?
• Do they have children?
• How do they describe himself?
• Where do they live? Do they own or rent?
• What is their current occupation?
• How long have they been doing this?
• How much money do they earn in a year? What is the annual household income?
• What is their highest level of education?

Step 2: Consider more personal details to help form a better understanding of your Ideal Client.

Once you have the basic demographics in place it is time to take a deeper look at your Ideal Client and gain a better understanding of them on a more personal level so that you can better engage with them.

Once again you can use a series of questions like these that  you can use to help you do this. They  will help you learn where to find your Ideal Client and how to engage him or her. This is extremely useful when planning marketing strategies and creating content. Try to imagine what a typical day in their life is like.

• How do they spend their free time? What are their hobbies and interests?
• What are their likes and dislikes?
• What books and magazines do they read?
• What kind of music do they listen to?
• What do they watch on TV? What are their favourite movies?
• What are their favourite websites? What type of content do they consume most?
• Are they active on social media? Which networks appeal to them?
• What is their source for getting the news?
• What blogs do they read?
• Who do they admire most?
• What are their fears?
• Do they have a guilty pleasure?
• What kind of car do they drive?
• Are they health conscious?
• Are they tech savvy? Do they have a smart phone?

Step 3: Dig even deeper to define your ideal customer’s hopes, dreams, and aspirations.

Now it is time to dig even deeper and in the context of your business. This is where we go beyond most of the “me too” vanilla client avatars that so many business owners produce. Answering these questions about your Ideal Client will enhance your client profile and allow you to connect with them on an emotional level in the context of your business. The more details you can add the better.

Envision that you are having coffee with them when going through this whole process. Pay particular attention to how they behave and talk. Get to know them on an intimate level.

What Are Their Desires?

• What’s my prospect’s most urgent problem regarding my products and services?
• What do they want to avoid?
• If they could have a magic wand what would they want more than anything else in this area?

What Are Their Beliefs?

• What do they believe fundamentally about their issue / problem / need / desire?
• What do they believe about the forces that affect my market?
• What do they believe about this type of product / service?

What Are Their Emotions?

• How do they feel when they look for what I’m selling?
• How do they feel about my industry?
• How do they feel when they read related advertising in my industry?
• How do they feel about my product / service offer?
• What makes them happy / What would make them happy?
• What are their secret self-doubts?
• What angers & frustrates them? What are their deepest fears?
• What are their hopes, dreams, and aspirations?

Critical Questions

• What questions does this audience have about products/services like mine?
• What are their top three immediate goals my product/service can help them achieve?
• What are the top three problems that are standing between them and their goals?
• What objections might they have to purchasing a product like mine?
• What other options do they have to solve their problems?
• What do they need to believe about themselves as it relates to the goals my product/service can help them to achieve, in order to buy now?
• What benefits did they enjoy from the product/service?
• What didn’t they like about the product/service?

Creating your Ideal Client Avatar

Now it’s time to give your Ideal Client avatar a name and a face. What do they look like? It might sound kind of funny to you, but this is the person you’ll be talking to when creating content and other marketing materials. Giving them a name and a face will make it easier to actually talk to your Perfect Client. Browse through stock images and see if you can find a picture to associate with them.

Create a short “life story” for your customer avatar. Explain how they have come to need your help.

Use your ideal customer avatar to connect with your target market and watch your conversions and sales skyrocket.

Now that you have tapped into your ideal customer’s psychology, look at life through their eyes.  Do you feel his excitement? Can you understand his pain?

Put yourself in their shoes every time you create content, ad copy, or marketing material. Use their language to mirror their words in a natural, authentic way. If you are able to master the art of feeling and thinking exactly as your ideal customer does, you will be able to create marketing campaigns that resonate with them.

They will feel as if you know what they are thinking. They will feel completely understood; as if they are at home.