In order for your marketing and advertising to hit right on target, the very first exercise is to craft your customer avatar.
It doesn’t matter if you’re just opening up or have been in business for 20 years. This is an essential exercise to practice from time to time. You’ll learn below what makes this so valuable.
What is a customer avatar template? A customer avatar is a virtual demographic portrait of your business’s perfect customer. The creation of a customer avatar combines the economic status, personal interests and tendencies that a sample pool of highly valued customers would have in common. This collection of personal or group traits is then used to identify targeting characteristics of an advertising and marketing campaign.
Download – Customer Avatar Template – DOC
Creating a Customer Avatar for Marketing
First, who is your product or service is essentially designed to serve? Are they male or female? Married or single? Is there a particular income bracket that they would fall into? These are only the most basic of customer demographic questions. Usually your customers have a common condition or a common interest that drives their purchasing action.
These questions only scratch the surface of who your ideal customer really is.
In our Customer Avatar Survey you’ll define the demographic profile of your customers first. Next, you’ll follow a progression of questions that dive deeper. You’ll document the goals of your customer along with personal interests, THEIR favorite sources of information and hangouts (often where your advertising can reach them easily as a market segment).
The following sections address why a potential customer might not purchase from you. In many cases we can find ways to overcome common objectives in the very copy that attracts their attention in the first place. This segment is followed by a true role reversal exercise where you’ll self-examine your own product or service to identify why someone should buy from you.
How This Helps You Market to Customers
Create your customer avatar or avatars (sometimes you’ll need more than one for females, males and other demographic conditions that segment your market). You’ll be able to dissect your target audience and identify the best advertising and marketing strategies to reach them specifically.
Following the guidelines in this exercise will assist you in reaching more of your potential customers than ever, and should reduce the number of impressions or clicks to people that do not fit your target audience. In the long run this can save considerable money and time!