If you are looking at getting a job, advancing your career, building your business, it is imperative to define who your specific client is, so you know who you are aiming at. You could make the fatal mistake of claiming that your target market is “everyone” or “the whole world,” you have already lost. If you focus your attention on everyone, you might as well focus it on no one. The results are the same.
Effective marketing requires specificity.
When you laser focus your attention on what you want with specificity, you notice it more, it is attracted to you, and if you stay steadfast, you will get what you want. This applies to all areas of your life, everything from finding a romantic partner to expanding your business.
Whether you are a remote worker, freelancer, service provider, independent contractor, or business owner, you need to get your message out about you and what you do and the best way to aim at and hit your target market is to reduce your market to one person. Well call this person, your customer avatar.
CUSTOMER AVATAR
Reduce the characteristics of your target into one person, give him or her a name and describe him or her in incredible detail. The greater the detail, the more your marketing efforts are increased exponentially.
An example might be:
Name: Mark Ratava
Age: 39 years old
Geographic Location: San Francisco
Education: High school
Profession: Hourly employee, Internet technology
Diet: Carnivorous, somewhat interested in eating healthier. Wife purchases food staples from local market.
Home: Rents (not a homeowner)
Auto: Drives a newer Toyota & making payments.
Family: Married with two children. Basically happy, but finds financial strain a constant irritant,
Regular spending activities: Eats restaurant lunch work days, buys barrista-style cup of coffee 2x per work day.
Spare time activities: Watches television includes binge-watching series on Netflix on the weekends, watches a movie at a theater once a month, uses marijuana occasionally
Mental health: Moderately undiagnosed mental health issues and insecurity.
Satisfaction: Likes time commiserating with friends at the bar, twice a week. Faithful husband, basically enjoys intimacy at home (though flirts occasionally with saleswomen).
Secret wish: To win the lottery, or suddenly be appointed CEO of the company he is working for.
That’s a good start, keep going.
The more you know about your Customer’s Avatar, the easier you can market to him or her. Create a drawing or find a photo (from a magazine, Facebook, Google, wherever) to have a visual representation of your perfect client. When you write your ad copy, keep a picture of him or her in front of you and/or by your desk when you answer emails or customer service calls.
Once you know who your Avatar is, you know what he/she does, what interests him/her, where he/she goes, you can align your marketing efforts to deliver the message that he/she wants to hear and be in the place at the time he/she is likely to be looking/listening for your message.
It is also easier to target your marketing efforts based on your avatar’s profile. This is extremely effective for online advertising vehicles that let you specify which recipients receive your offers based on your avatar’s dynamics.
And you are not limited to one customer avatar. If you have a larger advertising budget, you can target more than one. For instance, you could have both male and female avatars and they can have vastly different profiles.
While you can have multiples, know that it is easier to focus your marketing and message(s) on fewer avatars. Plus, it keeps you from diluting your voice in the marketplace and spreading yourself too thin.