Before you start designing your brand logo, launching a website and writing messaging, it’s important to know who your target audience or ideal customer is. Creating a customer avatar is one way to get to the heart of who they are so you can speak to them directly, go where they are and attract them. Once you can describe the person that you want to engage with your product, it becomes easier to create clear and concise messaging to reach them. So, let’s take a closer look at what a customer avatar is and how you can create one for your business:
What is an ideal customer avatar?
Sometimes referred to as an ideal customer, buyer or marketing persona – a customer avatar is a detailed description of your dream client. Think of your target market as a crowd of buyers for your product and your customer avatar zooms into the crowd. So your avatar is a closer and deeper look into your bigger target market.
Now that you know what a customer avatar is, you can start building one for your business using the CARE™ (Commit, Ask, Research and Establish) framework.
Commit
Committing to stand out in your market requires focus and intention. Through commitment and consistency your brand will evolve. There will be times where things don’t go as planned, but your target audience needs to see consistency and commitment. This commitment shows up in your presentation. Think of where you are now and where you want to be. Then identify what’s now and next and focus on that.
Ask
Do you know someone who fits your customer avatar? Ask them questions for feedback. This will help you learn what you want and don’t want in a customer avatar.
You can also conduct a focus group or gather insights from people who are part of your social media groups if they fit your target market.
Research
Knowing your customers traits, goals and motivations will assist in not only understanding who buys your product but also why they buy it. Here are 4 categories to help you create your customer avatar.
- Demographics: This includes age, race, sex, income level, occupation, family size and education level.
- Psychographics: These traits give you a deeper understanding of their lifestyle, interests, hobbies,values, beliefs, where do they shop, what drives them, what keeps them up at night, what matters most to them?
- Goals: What do they want to achieve?
- Motivations: What inspires them and gets them excited?
Here’s an example of a customer avatar:
Product: Crossover Purse
Gender: Female
Age: 25-35 years old
Annual Income: $20,000-35,000
Location: Midwest
Where do they spend majority of their time: School and Work
Attitudes: Fun, Optimistic and Ambitious
Challenges: Lack of Time and Resources
Establish
While research will set the foundation, there are things you won’t learn about your customer avatar until you start to engage with them. By engaging with your customer, you will understand how to position your product as a solution. For instance, does your product reduce time in the morning for a busy mom? Does it allow for the wearer to travel in style and ease? Does your product create comfortability and durability for the adventurous hiker? By focusing on establishing your brand in one category, you will open the doors for expansion, when the time is right.
As you start and grow your business it will be challenging to break through all the clutter, but a good customer avatar will be your guiding star throughout the process. Once you know who your product is for, you can easily create marketing material that will encourage your desired target audience to engage with your product.
Denisha-Dlang Ferguson is a creative catalyst, event producer and fashion designer. She is the CEO of Indiana Fashion Foundation and produces Indiana Fashion Week. She combines research and creativity to help businesses and creators launch their ideas and events. She co-authored 2 books that reached #1 AMAZON Bestseller, You Can and Prayers for the Boss Babes, as did her most recent solo book project Year of The Creator.
Her work has been featured in tv, magazines and websites like Thrive Global, Elephant Journal, Forbes and MTV’s Ridiculousness. She has been a guest on podcasts such as The Mindset Mastery podcast, Made in Indy, Do Boss and Motor City Woman. You can find out more at www.yearofthecreator.com and denishaferguson.com
