You’re probably wondering why finding your ideal customer is the first step towards your business goals and why is it such a big deal for marketers?
Let’s say you’re planning to start your own business and you already have enough funds to build one.
But do you already have a product or service in mind?
Yes? No? Maybe?
Well, that’s totally fine and completely normal because there are also a few things that you need to consider before even creating an offer.
In today’s article, we will be talking about the first and most important step to start a business and what methods you can use to get you to the next step.
Finding Your Ideal Customer
Whether you already have a product in mind or not, who do you plan to sell it to?
Start by focusing on a smaller audience, aka “the target market”, and you can easily find your ideal customers.
This marketing strategy involves adjustments and refinements over time.
Sometimes, this ideal customer of yours may or may not change as you keep on expanding your business.
To learn who your target client is, you need to create your ideal client profile first.
What is an ideal client profile?
The ideal client profile represents the characteristics of your dream client or customer.
Are they the type of persons that have the same interests as you do?
Do they spend most of their time on social media?
Where do they work and are they willing to spend more or less on anything?
Although these questions might seem too specific, it’s actually one of the key elements that major companies consider before expanding to a wider audience.
How do you create an ideal client profile?
Try to ask yourself who do you want to serve in the long run as you dedicate your time creating something for them?
Of course, it always has to be based on facts, and consider doing research on what you want your client to be.
Don’t have someone that has superpowers or whatever, because this ideal client is who you’ll be working with as the years go by.
This is also the part where you create a systematic overview of your client regarding their gender, personality, age, problems in life, etc.
What are your client’s interests?
Do your research on where your ideal customer spends most of their time.
For example, your ideal customer loves to collect plants.
Ask yourself, where do people go to look for plants?
The garden, right?
Is there a garden center near your place or not?
If there is one, then start doing more research.
Take note of this simple fact and analyze it so you can make more questions, get the answers you want, and start linking everything you learned.
The internet is a powerful tool to conduct your research, so take advantage of that!
Going to their ‘place’ is also a great way for you to meet more people just like your ideal client.
Since our sample client loves going to local garden centers and we went there to see the place, we’ll also have the chance to meet more people that may or may not have the same interest.
How do you reach your ideal client?
Reaching your client is a lot easier than looking for your ideal client.
Start by creating an offer based on your research.
It has to be something that you find very interesting for them so you can easily grab their attention.
However, your approach also plays an important role on this part and it’s very crucial since this is where you want to build a special relationship with them.
This special relationship will create a bridge for you and your client to make them want to trust you and be interested to know more about your offer.
Going back to our ideal client who loves collecting plants, try to think of anything that’s related to gardening, like a flower pot that has unique features.
Or maybe seeds from another country that they probably never tried before.
It has to be something that will solve their problems and worthy of their attention.
That’s because most customers prefer to invest in useful things no matter the price.
What can they benefit from your offer?
This part is where you need to consider their underlying problems and give them something that solves can solve it.
Suppose our ideal client loves plants just like our first example.
Except that this time, they are no longer spending hours at the garden planting, cleaning, or weeding due to arthritis or consistent back pains.
What product can you offer for them that can help solve their problem and at the same time bring back their normal routine?
Of course, you can think about painkillers, but why not give them something new?
Like a pillow for their back so they can get a good night’s sleep at night – since most back pains can be a result of uncomfortable beds.
Or maybe stretchable bands that target specific areas causing all the pain for their arthritis, but it has a special cooling feature that temporarily numbs the area.
Always remember that people don’t always care about the price as long as it solves their problem.
What are the 4 types of customers?
Whether you worked as a salesperson before or not, there’s a huge chance that you already met the four different types of customers.
The customer who makes a purchase depending on the price
“How much is that one? Oh, that’s too expensive, but can I get like half of the whole thing instead? No? Why not? The other place sells the same thing way cheaper than you do”
This type would rather buy a product or service that’s cheaper no matter the quality and may find haggling as their unique skill.
The customer who knows what they need to buy
This particular customer is very easy to deal with since they’ve already done their research on what product to buy.
However, they can also be difficult to deal with sometimes since they’ll always stick to their beliefs.
It can also be a challenging experience especially when they aren’t that interested in a product or service that you’re currently offering.
The customer who always gives a challenge
This is the type of customer that most people label as “The Karen” or troublemaker.
They’re the type that arrives at the store with a negative vibe and think highly of themselves
It even comes to a point that unnecessary things are worth the trouble or talking to the manager.
Okay, I’m not saying that all people named Karen are difficult to deal with, but you get my point.
The customer that buys anything that makes them feel better
Or simply the impulsive buyer.
You might consider this customer as the one who makes a purchase based on their feelings without even considering the price and benefits.
For example, a person thinks about buying a tub of ice cream after a breakup because they think it makes them feel better.
So they quickly go to the nearest store with hopes to find happiness without even realizing that it was premium ice cream that costs 3x more than the regular ones.
Why do I need to know my ideal client?
You need to know your ideal client because it makes it easier for you to create a product or service for them.
Not only does it make your business attractive, but it also helps your company grow your brand.
Plus, this strategy isn’t as risky as the others so you don’t have to worry too much about focusing on your ideal customer.
What are the 3 methods of customer profiling?
According to Commence.com, the three methods of customer profiling are:
The Psychographic Approach
This type of customer profiling involves looking at the client’s lifestyle along with the different components that make it such as activities, interests, values, and more.
The Consumer Typology Approach
It talks about the four common types of customers that we mentioned in the earlier sections, and how their different mindsets are managed.
The Consumer Characteristics Approach
This type of approach is based on what influences the customer’s buying decisions specifically if they are:
- Convenience-driven
- Connectivity-driven
- Personalization-driven
How do you attract high-paying clients?
Any client is very much willing to pay no matter how expensive an offer is just to get their problem solved right away.
That simply means finding a faster solution to their problem is what attracts these types of clients.
For example, this client named Abby wants to lose weight but doesn’t want to work out since they find it very slow compared to going under the knife.
The plastic surgery industry is one of the fastest-growing and biggest industries in today’s world.
Simply because they provide instant results and clients like Abby is their ideal customer.
So before you think about what your offer, find your target audience first and you’ll start growing your business in no time.
How to find your ideal customer and more excellent tips like this are shared within the book DotCom Secrets.