Photo by Elsita (Elsa Mora) on Flickr
From my last guest post on Imaginative Bloom – Why You Need an Ideal Customer Profile – I hope you realized how important it is to identify your ideal customer. Now, I’m going to tell you how to do it.
Remember that Your Ideal Customer Lights You Up
You can start to narrow down your ideal customer by knowing who isn’t your ideal customer. Start by making a list of the “not so fun” customers you’ve had in the past. This could be someone you liked but didn’t connect with. This could be someone who seemed interested in your services at first, but always had an excuse as to why she didn’t follow through. What characteristics do these customers share?
What customer experiences have lit you up? I want you to stick with the experiences that have made you jump out of bed in the morning to start working, enticed you to work well past your bedtime, and made you smile. What characteristics do those customers have in common? Make a list.
Physical Characteristics
Now, I want you to close your eyes and imagine your ideal customer. I want you to picture what she looks like. Take out a sheet of paper and start describing the physical characteristics of your ideal client. If you’re having trouble with this, flip through a magazine until you find your “ideal client.” Make sure you include age and gender in your physical description.
Some people get stuck writing out a physical description, because they have clients that look completely different. That’s okay. Many of them might be your ideal customers, but for the purpose of this exercise, pick one.
Employment Characteristics
In the next paragraph, describe your ideal customer’s employment status. Ask yourself these questions:
- Where does she work?
- What’s her specific job title?
- How much money does she make?
- What’s her level of education?
This information can help you determine price points on your products and services, and it can help you better understand what characteristics you should target in your marketing.
Emotional Characteristics
Continue picturing this ideal customer in your mind, and try to get in her head. Ask yourself these questions and fill in the next paragraph of your description using them:
- What does she love to do?
- What is she most afraid of?
- What is her biggest problem at home?
- What is her biggest problem at work?
- Is she married or single? Is she happy with her relationship status?
- What movies does she watch? What books does she read?
- What does she value?
- What are her goals?
Complete this Exercise More Than Once
All of your ideal customers don’t fit into a neat little box, so write a few ideal customer profiles varying the characteristics—but always stick to characteristics you would find in an ideal customer. Write one profile each day for the next three days. This will help to open your eyes to the specific market that you’re trying to reach.
Use Your Ideal Customer Profiles
Once you’ve done this exercise, put it to good use. There are many ways that you can use these profiles to target your ideal market.
First, you can read your descriptions and brainstorm places that your clients hang out. If your ideal customer is a single mother, you might find her on support blogs for single moms or in specific forums for single moms. Go where your clients are and interact with them. Answer their questions on forums and on Twitter, leave comments on their blogs, and chat with them on Facebook.
Second, you should always look over one of your ideal customer profiles before you write anything—a blog post, product description, sales page, or other marketing materials—and write them directly to that person. Narrow your focus and seriously pretend that you’re writing to your ideal customer. I promise this will help you attract the right customers for your business.
Third, you can use your profiles to make products that will help your ideal clients solve their biggest problems. When you can imagine your customers’ fears, values, goals, and dreams, you can make products and deliver services that they want and need.
I believe taking the time to think about and write your ideal customer profiles will increase your business success, make marketing much easier, and allow you to attract the customers that you really want—and who really want what you have to offer.
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About April
April Bowles-Olin works with creative women to lead more fulfilling lives while they make money doing it. She also attempts to add a little prettiness to the world with her art and jewelry. You can learn more about her at Blacksburg Belle or connect with her on twitter @blacksburgbelle.
Foto by Elsita (Elsa Mora) in Flickr
Dal mio ultimo guest post in Imaginative Bloom – Perché hai bisogno di un Cliente Ideale – spero che abbiate capito quanto sia importante identificare il vostro cliente ideale. Ora, sto per dirvi come farlo.
Ricorda che il tuo Cliente Ideale ti “illumina”
Puoi restringere la tua ricerca del cliente ideale sapendo chi non è il tuo cliente ideale. Inizia facendo una lista dei clienti “meno simpatici” con cui hai avuto a che fare in passato. Può essere qualcuno che ti piaceva ma che con cui non ti sei connesso. Può essere qualcuno che sembrava interessato al tuo servizio inizialmente, ma che aveva sempre una scusa per il fatto di non seguirti. Che caratteristiche hanno questi clienti?
Quali sono le esperienze con i tuoi clienti che ti hanno “illuminato”? Voglio che tu tenga ben presente quelle che ti fanno saltare giù dal letto al mattino con la voglia di iniziare a lavorare e di farlo anche oltre l’orario di lavoro, quelle che ti regalano un sorriso. Che caratteristiche hanno in comune questi clienti? Fai una lista.
Caratteristiche Fisiche
Ora, voglio che tu chiuda gli occhi e che immagini il tuo cliente ideale. Voglio che ti immagini come è fatto. Prendi un foglio di carta e inizia a descrivere le caratteristiche fisiche del tuo cliente ideale. Se hai delle difficoltà a fare questo, sfoglia una rivista finchè trovi il tuo “cliente ideale”. Assicurati di aggiungere anche età e sesso nella tua descrizione fisica.
Alcune persone si bloccano davanti al dover buttar giù una descrizione fisica, perchè hanno dei clienti che sembrano totalmente diversi. E’ ok. Molti di loro possono essere i tuoi clienti ideali ma, per il fine di questo esercizio, scegline solo uno.
Caratteristiche Impiego
Nel prossimo paragrafo, descrivi lo stato di occupazione del tuo cliente ideale. Fatti queste domande:
- Dove lavora?
- Qual’è nello specifico il suo titolo di lavoro?
- Quanti soldi guadagna?
- Qual’è il suo livello di educazione?
Questi punti possono aiutarti a determinare i prezzi dei tuoi prodotti e servizi, e possono aiutarti a capire meglio quali caratteristiche dovresti targhettizzare nel tuo marketing.
Caratteristiche Emotive
Continua a visualizzare ed immaginare nella tua mente il tuo cliente ideale e cerca di entrare nella sua testa. Fatti queste domande e usale per compilare il prossimo paragrafo:
- Cosa gli piace fare?
- Cosa gli fa più paura?
- Qual’è il suo più grande problema a casa?
- Qual’è il suo più grande problema al lavoro?
- E’ sposato/a o single? E’ felice dello stato della sua relazione?
- Che film guarda? Che libri legge?
- Cos’ha valore per lui/lei?
- Quali sono i suoi obiettivi?
Fai questo esercizio più di una volta
Tutti i tuoi clienti ideali non potranno stare nella stessa piccola scatola, perciò scrivi qualche altro profilo di cliente ideale variandone un pò le caratteristiche — ma tieni sempre in mente le caratteristiche che tu vorresti trovare nel tuo cliente ideale. Scrivi un profilo al giorno per i prossimi 3 giorni. Questo aiuterà ad aprire gli occhi sul mercato specifico che stai provando a raggiungere.
Usa il profilo del tuo Cliente Ideale
Una volta che hai fatto questo esercizio, fanne buon uso. Ci sono molti modi in cui puoi usare questi profili per targhettizzare il tuo mercato ideale.
Primo, puoi leggere le tue descrizioni e fare un brainstorm circa i posti nei quali i tuoi clienti vanno/stanno. Se il tuo cliente ideale è una mamma single, potresti trovarla in un blog di supporto per mamme single o in forums specifici per mamme single. Vai dove sono i tuoi clienti e interagisci con loro. Rispondi alle loro domande nei forums e su Twitter, lascia commenti nei loro blogs e chatta con loro su facebook.
Secondo, dovresti sempre guardare al profilo del tuo cliente ideale prima di scrivere qualsiasi cosa – un post per il blog, la descrizione di un prodotto, la pagina per le vendite, o altri amteriali di marketing – e scriverli direttamente a quella persona. Restringi il campo e immagina seriamente che stai scrivendo al tuo cliente ideale. Ti prometto che questo ti aiuterà ad attrarre i giusti clienti per il tuo business.
Terzo, puoi usare i tuoi profili per fare dei prodotti che aiuteranno i tuoi clienti ideali a risolvere i loro più grandi problemi. Quando puoi immaginare le paure dei tuoi clienti, i valori, gli obiettivi e i sogni, puoi fare prodotti e fornire servizi che voglio e di cui hanno bisogno.
Credo che prendersi del tempo per pensarci e scrivere i profili dei tuoi clienti ideali aumenterà il tuo successo, renderà il tuo marketing più facile, e ti permetterà di attirare i clienti che veramente vuoi – e che veramente vogliono ciò che tu hai da offrire.
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Chi è April
April Bowles-Olin lavora con donne creative per far condurre loro una vita più appagante, guadagnando mentre fanno ciò che amano.
Cerca anche di dare un pò più di bellezza e grazia al mondo con la sua arte e i suoi gioielli.
Potete conoscere meglio April nel suo blog Blacksburg Belle o entrare in contatto con lei su Twitter @blacksburgbelle.
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