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More than just an avatar. A guide to building your customer profile to work with the clients you want.

My favourite Marketing Master, Seth Godin, said this: 

“Choose your customers, choose your future.”

I love this quote, but it may sound like an almost impossible task. Or is it? I don’t believe so. Your customers are who they are because you chose them. You found them through your marketing efforts: lead generation, messaging, and creative content. Then you committed to working with them. 

Let me ask you this. What do you really know about your customers? If reaching your ideal customer feels like roulette, please keep reading and click here to download our free template to create your customer profile/s.

What is customer profiling anyway?

Also known as personas and avatars, a customer profile describes your current and ideal customers. It is an estimated profile to help you create clear messaging and content to capture interest and enhance the drive to choose you as their law firm. 

When we work with clients on this exercise, there’s a lot we uncover. We find most business owners can discuss the demographic data, but when it comes to the psychographic data that is essential for creating great content and acquiring a new client they struggle.   

Why do we use it?

The short answer – to get leads! 

An ideal client profile provides the answers for creating the path to selling your service. Creating a customer profile will help you break down the process a potential client will go through to make a decision. It will reveal what triggers the decision impulse, so you can then refine your content to enhance their journey with you. 

Customer profiling is the key to successful marketing.

Marketing strategies must be clear to work. The first step of any good marketing plan is to know your customer – inside and out. This is where customer profiling steps in. It sounds like basic marketing – and it is – but without this information, your marketing, messaging and content won’t resonate, and so leads won’t flow in. General demographics, 35-45, female, divorced, earning $50-90k per year; isn’t enough. Gaining a deeper understanding of your customer gives you the sales advantage in every way.   

Even if you’ve been in business for a while, it’s wise to assess your customer base annually to ensure they are still the type of customers you want to work with and will allow you to grow your business. 

How to create a customer profile for your business.

Before you get started, download the template on the link below. Then, think about the clients you love working with and focus on these. You can have more than one but don’t make it too hard; we would recommend no more than three to five.

Step 1 – Who do you want to work with?

It’s easy to get caught up with wanting to help everyone. Yet, when you define your ideal client you’ll have more work satisfaction and start to move your firm towards real success. 

Whether you are not sure who your ideal client is or you are revising your perfect customer, the best place to start is with a description. In 50 words or less, describe the type of customer you want.

Step 2 – Give your ideal person a name.

Stop painting your ideal customer as a number or dollar value and make them human. Give them a name and even find a picture of what they could look like, so when you are marketing to them, you can clearly see who you are talking to.  

Step 3 – Add in the primary data.

Once you have made your profile person human, step three includes adding your ideal client’s demographic data, including age, income, family status etc. You may already know this, but if you don’t, you will be able to look at your Google Analytics and social media insights to get an idea. 

If you’ve been in business a while, do the reports and insights match your ideal profile? 

Step 4 – Fulfilling their needs.

The fourth step is the nitty-gritty part of the activity and looks deeper into their psyche. There are three areas to consider.

  • Can you identify their problems?
  • What do they want and desire? What are their aspirations for doing business with you?
  • How can you eliminate their biggest frustrations and fears?

From there, there are two levels to consider: what your customer says, but more importantly, what they don’t say. What they don’t say helps pinpoint gaps and leads to great content that converts. 

When looking at the spoken and unspoken, questions to think about are:

  • How do they feel now, and how do they want to feel after they have worked with you?
  • What are the triggers to begin researching and ultimately buy your products and/or services?
  • What is keeping them up at night?
  • How do they make decisions?
  • Who is deciding to buy? For example, if the service or product is highly-priced, do they need to discuss it with a partner or boss?
  • Are there external pressures?
  • What aren’t they saying? 
  • What/who are their blockers?
  • When talking to them, what is their body or verbal language like? 

Profoundly understanding what matters to your ideal client is the key to creating and developing compelling messaging and content that will lure them into contacting you. 

Mastering this activity as part of your marketing planning will ensure your success, and it’s a timely approach. In 2023, Google will be rolling out privacy updates worldwide, making insights from your efforts less available. With those changes imminent, now is the time to develop a deep understanding of your customers.

If you got what you needed from this blog, subscribe to the Absolute Web Design Monthly Newsletter or connect with Katie here for more tips like this and ways to excel with marketing your business!

Who do you want your clients to be in 2022 and beyond?

About the Author

Katie provides clients with complete marketing solutions from branding to website design right through to lead generation campaigns, content creation, and social media. From strategy to implementation she can support you to create, enhance and grow your online presence. Having worked with a range of clients providing services from different industries and sizes, her clients benefit from a personalised approach, which results in customised strategies and the right tactics so you have a better return on your investment. Katie wants what you want. Results and greater success for your business, so you keep coming back for more! Are you ready to shine online? Get in touch here to chat about working together.

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