To effectively market your product or services, you must first understand who your potential customers are. That way you will be able to find them easily and tailor your messages to appeal to them and this is where the customer avatar comes in.
The term “avatar” is literally defined as an icon or figure representing a particular person in a video game or an internet forum
But in digital marketing, the term “avatar” is a fictional figure of a person that helps us define and understand who our ideal customers are and how to reach out to them using digital channels.
Therefore a customer avatar which is also referred to as a customer or buyer persona, is a detailed description where you use a fictional person to define and understand who your ideal customers are.
You must have probably heard or come across the word “customer avatar” but you may not fully understand the term and how it can be of great benefits to your business.
So, in this article i will be sharing with you what a customer avatar is? and how you can create a customer avatar to define your ideal customers.
Also in our 90% practical digital marketing course; the very first thing we teach our student during the course is how to create a customer avatar in order to define their their ideal customers.
What is a customer avatar?
A customer avatar is an important area of your digital marketing strategy.
It is a detailed description of a person who represents a specific target market for your business.
But before you can get a detailed description of your ideal customer you must carry out a thorough research in order to get the following data about your idea customer which is not limited to the following:
- Who is your ideal customer?
- The age range of your ideal customer?
- What type of content will resonate with your ideal customer?
- Income level of your ideal customer?
- what platform can you advertise your product or services on? Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Google, or Bing.
- What platform does your ideal customer spend their time on?
- How do you sell your products and services to your ideal customer?
- Can you establish the pain point and desired outcome of your ideal customer?
- Why would your ideal customer want to buy from you?
Developing a clearly defined customer avatar not only helps you determine who your ideal customers are, but how to market your products and services effectively to them.
This is the first thing that you should consider before running an advertising campaign to sell a product because it will help you target them with the right message.
Also, when you know who your ideal customers are, you won’t waste time and money trying to target the wrong people because you will be able to find the right people that will buy your product or use your services.
When used properly, a customer avatar, helps you understand different aspects of your ideal customer lives and how your products or services can help them solve their problems or achieve their desired result.
What customer avatar is not?
A customer avatar is not a collection of all your potential or current customers, a brief, unclear description that disregards important facts, a list of attributes based on assumption and speculations, or an assessment of anyone who might be interested in buying from you.
Why should you have a customer avatar?
When it comes to digital marketing, you will need a customer avatar so you know who you are trying to sell to.
When looking out for an ideal customers, you are looking at someone who will spend a lot of money, buy from you again, and tell others about your brand or business.
I guess this is the type of customers you want to attract in order to expand your business.
When you understand who your ideal customers are, it is easier to advertise your product or services to them more effectively and get your desired results.
Also, creating a well-defined customer avatar allows you to improve in different areas of digital marketing which includes:
Content Marketing:
With a customer avatar you can decide which blog post, videos, podcast; you can create that will align with your ideal customer pain points, desires, challenges, goals, and values.
Addressing your ideal customer’s pain point and desire through content writing and how you can help them achieve them can help you generate more leads for your business.
Paid advertising:
With a customer avatar you can determine the best platform to use during an advertising campaign.
For example, if you are a business owner who wants to target people between the ages of 18-25 to sell a particular product or render a service to them.
With a clearly defined customer avatar, you will know the platform where people between the age range of 18-25 spend most of their time.
Copywriting:
With a customer avatar, you can write an ad copy that addresses your Ideal customers’ pain points, challenges or desires, in a way that will compel them to buy your products or use your services.
Email Marketing:
With a customer avatar you can create emails that will get more open rates, clicks, and increase conversion rate; because you now understand who your ideal customers are and this will help you with your email subject line, the body, and the call-to-action button.
Importance of having a customer avatar
When you have a clear definition of the characteristics of people who are likely to buy your product or use your service then it will be a lot easier to present them with a message that moves them to want to buy your product or use your service.
But, if you think everybody will buy your product or use your services, then nobody is going to buy from you and you will keep showing your product or services to people who aren’t interested in what you are offering.
You can’t appeal or reach everyone, businesses who try to appeal and reach everybody end up appealing or connecting with nobody and they spend more on advertising and rarely reach their target customers.
Knowing who you are speaking to when structuring your digital marketing strategy is key to attracting prospects and converting them into customers during your advertising campaign.
That way you can tailor your ad copy, ad creative, sales landing page, emails to speak to their goals, desires, pain points, and challenges in ways that will propel them to take action.
Once you have the attention of your ideal customer, they would want to know more about the product you sell or the service you offer. This can help you convert them from being a prospect to a paying customer.
How to Create Your Customer Avatar?
It takes a lot of time and work to create your first customer avatar. As previously stated, your avatar should be based on data rather than guesswork or assumption.
Here are the following steps that you can use to create your own customer avatar in order to define your ideal customers.
1. Demographic data of your ideal customers
According to Investopedia demographic data is very useful for businesses to understand how to market to consumers and plan strategically for future trends in consumer demand.
Knowing your customer demographics can be very useful when using social media platforms to run your advertising campaign and it can help bring your ideal customer to life.
Demographics include personal information about your ideal customers such as
- Avatar name.
- Job title.
- School attended.
- Level of education.
- Marital status.
- Religion.
- No children.
2. Source of information of your ideal customer
There is where your ideal customer gets their information from and these includes:
- What books or magazines do they read?
- Who are their thought leaders or authority figures?
- What events do they attend?
- What music does your ideal customer listen to?
- What movie does your ideal customer watch?
- Where does your ideal customer visit a lot?
- What music does your ideal customer listen to?
- What movie does your ideal customer watch?
- What is your ideal customer source for industry or business news?
- What social media platforms or search engines do your ideal customer use frequently?
3. Values and goals of your ideal customer
What are the goals and dreams that are important to your ideal customer?
What does your ideal customer really want to achieve more than anything else?
For example,
James is a realtor, and one thing he values most is to get buyers interested in buying a house and can afford it
For James to achieve this goal he desires to know:
- How to plan, run and manage an effective online advertising campaign using Google Ads, Facebook and Instagram Ads, YouTube Ads, Twitter Ads, and LinkedIn ads to target people who are interested in buying property.
- How to build a landing page and website in a way that will drive more sales conversion.
- How to re-target people that have visited his website or interacted with him on social media and didn’t take any action to come back with an offer that will increase sales conversions.
- How to rank his business online so that people looking to houses can find him on the first page of Google and other search engines.
- How to create a funnel that will take someone looking to buy a property from a prospect to a paying customer and much more.
4. Challenges, and pain points of your ideal customer
If you know the values and goals of your ideal customers, then you need to identify the pain points and challenges of your ideal customers.
Then you need to list the challenges and pain points your ideal customer has; that make them an ideal customer for your business.
For example: since we know what James’ values and goals are, then we should be able to figure out his challenges and pain point.
Challenges
James’s challenge is that; he does not know how to plan, run, and manage an effective advertising campaign on social media platforms and search engines to reach people who are interested in buying property.
Also, he has spent a lot of money running ads on advertising platforms without getting any results.
Pain points
The pain point of a James is losing out to other Realtors who are more digitally inclined.
5. The objection of your ideal customers.
Finally, you need to think of a reason why your ideal customers won’t want to buy your product or use your services.
For example, James might not want to use your services because he had undergone other digital marketing training without getting any results.
So, you need to assure or convince James that your digital marketing training is the best by sending him an email or retargeting him in an advertising campaign with probably a testimonial or a Google review that can clear his doubts.
Once you have a detailed description of who your ideal customers are then it’s time to start working on your ad copy, creatives, audience, landing pages, and content creation.
With these five (5) elements you can create your own customer avatar to represent your ideal customer for your business.
The more detailed you are in creating your customer avatar to define your ideal customers, the more effective you become structuring a high converting advertising campaign thus; increasing sales.
What are the common mistakes and pitfalls to avoid when creating customer avatars?
When creating a customer avatar, there are several mistakes to avoid. here are some common mistakes to avoid are:
- Make assumptions about your customers without real data and feedback from them.
- Creating too many or too few profiles.
- Focusing on demographics only and ignoring other important factors such as goals, challenges, pain points, motivations, objections, or triggers.
FAQs
What is the goal of a customer avatar?
The goal of a customer avatar is to create a detailed profile of an ideal customer that includes demographics, psychographics, goals, challenges, motivations, and behaviors. This profile helps businesses understand their customers’ needs, wants, and problems, and how their product or service can solve them. It also helps businesses create more effective marketing strategies and build a brand that resonates with their target audience.
Is a customer avatar the same as a customer persona?
No, a customer avatar is not the same as a customer persona. While both terms are used to describe a detailed profile of an ideal customer, they have subtle differences in meaning. A customer persona is a semi-fictional representation of a group of customers based on research and data, while a customer avatar is a more detailed and specific representation of an individual customer. Additionally, the term “avatar” is often associated with make-believe, while “persona” is associated with a person’s identity and the world around them.
How do I find my customer avatar?
To find your customer avatar, you need to conduct qualitative and quantitative research to identify the demographics, psychographics, goals, challenges, motivations, and behaviors of your ideal customer.
Here are some steps to help you determine who your customer avatar is:
1. Identify your business goals and what you aim to achieve with your product or service.
2. Examine existing data, such as surveys, interviews, or back-end details from marketing campaigns.
3. Create a name, physical description, and personal story for your customer avatar to bring them to life.
4. Define their situation, feelings, and needs to create better products and marketing material with your ideal customer’s needs in mind.
5. Find their information sources and where they get their information and marketing messages.
6. Use the information gathered to create a marketing strategy that establishes you as an expert in your niche and streamlines your promotional efforts.
Remember to focus on the details and avoid anything vague as you work through the steps.
Conclusion
The internet is a wide ocean filled with so many people with different interests and a customer avatar gives your business clarity and direction in finding your ideal customers.
With a detailed description of your ideal customers, you can run an effective advertising campaign to reach your ideal customers at the right time, on the right platform, with the right message that talks about their pain points, desires and provide solutions for them.
If you want to get a more detailed step on how to create a customer avatar for your business; register for our 90% practical digital marketing course; where you will get practical knowledge and other digital marketing strategies that you can use to grow your business.
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