Update: With the launch of my newest free customer avatar training on YouTube, you will need access to the 4 printable avatar worksheets in order to build your avatar. Get access to the avatar worksheets, by clicking here.
The entire five part customer avatar tutorial that teaches you how to research your perfect customer and walks you through the customer avatar worksheets is available here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g2cu4hoksM
And now back to our regularly scheduled programming...
Because knowing who your audience is and who your best customers are is one of the most powerful ways to grow your business online fast.
If you don’t take the time to learn about your audience, their needs, desires, goals, fears, etc… You will be making the process of building your business online much more difficult than you need.
Why is a "Customer Avatar" so important?
People will do business with those who they KNOW, LIKE and TRUST!
A bond is created between two people who, “get” one another.... They can each relate to their respective unique problem/dilemma/situation.
When you take a moment to create a clear picture of WHO your customer is and you create content or products based on this insight, you’llcreate an EMOTIONAL bond.
Once that emotional bond is created, you’ve got a lifelong customer.
You ggain a competitive advantage...
These insights... And having empathy for your customer help you to create a customer-centered business…
You see:
The goal is to attract the EXACT customers that make it fun to be in business.
You need to know who they and what they are 'dealing with' in life in order to align yourself with those who are your best, and happiest customers.
As you create content that speaks to and helps that specific customer... You'll naturally repel the type of customer you DO NOT want.
And many of the best marketers in the world actually create a customer avatar for the segment of their audience they DON'T WANT to attract...
The truth remains.
Whoever knows their audience best...
And empathizes with them on an emotional level...
Is #Winning in business, today.
Most people skip this research phase and waste countless hours and dollars in advertising and marketing funnels that are simply not suited to the target market…
When the messages miss the audience, nothing happens.
Eben Pagan who taught me this idea of a customer avatar says is brilliantly:
“When you really understand your customer and what their needs are, you can create things that speak directly to them and really meet their needs.” -Eben Pagan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqxJBus7v8c
It is important to remember that your goal is to be of service to your customer avatar and your audience…
The more you give of yourself to these people to help them solve their problems, fill their needs and to generally be of service the faster you will experience growth in your business.
I can’t stress this enough…
You may be wondering… What does a kick-ass “Customer Avatar” actually look like?
Go here and check out Andre Chaperon’s customer avatar: http://frankvsmatt.com/
Andre is super smart and his writing style is prolific... So pay attention when you read his stuff!!!
My "customer avatars" live in word documents on my hard drive that I update when I get new information about my audience based on testing and what-not.
This is not super scientific nor is it complex... Just a page with notes about who they are and I grabbed a google image that 'represents' her, so I have a visual representation of who I'm speaking to when I create content.
Now, up until this point, everything has been very 'abstract' and I want to give you a couple of techniques you can use to get real, actual DATA on your audience... Because data driven business decisions are always better than guessing!
Watch these two videos in this playlist for my 'tricks' to using data available from big businesses that cost millions of dollars for them to put together... That you can find online free!
Then, the real 'trick' is how you use the customer avatar concept once you've created it.
See, the goal is to have an image in your mind of the quintessential customer of yours and then every time you create content you speak directly to that one person.
This is so important, because all communication, whether it is a blog post, a video or a podcast is always consumed by individuals... One person at a time!
So you need to speak to that ONE PERSON every time you communicate... And that one person is your customer avatar.
Make sense?
For us.... Every time my wife and I craft a message to our audience, we are speaking to our customer avatar.
Whether it is a sales message, a social media post, a YouTube video… It doesn’t matter. That message is always focused on one person and written with “You” -speak so we are literally talking directly our customer avatar.
Like right now…. How I’m talking with you.
Just you and me… having a friendly marketing chat. 😉
This creates a very personal feeling to the reader/viewer/listener and helps your message 'sink in' more quickly because they feel that you are speaking to them directly.
It may seem simple or even trivial... But shifting your writing and speaking patterns to 'You' speak and focusing on one person with every message (your best possible customer) is quite possibly one of the most profound shifts you can make in your marketing.
