How to find your ideal client

Whenever you are about to put some marketing together you probably think, "what on earth am I supposed to write?" staring at a blank screen for ages with no idea what to say.

There is a way to get the absolute most out of your marketing AND stop writer's block.

You need to find your ideal client.

Once you know who your ideal client is, everything you do is written to and for them. You might even have an idea of a real person or an imaginary person. Maybe you have given them a name, a family, hobbies, and interests (it is helpful if you do this!)

So how are you supposed to know who your ideal client is? Surely anyone that buys from you is ideal, right?

Wrong!

We have all had those customers that we struggle to work with and have thought about sacking them. Those people are never happy with the work that you do and always cause you more of a headache than they are worth. Now I am not saying that you refuse to sell to these people, but, if you can never seem to make them happy then you need to accept this and move on to those lovely customers that are happy with you.

How do you find your ideal customer?

Firstly, think about three customers of yours that are a joy to work with. They never quibble on your fees or ask for a discount, they repurchase from you multiple times, they recommend you to others and you may even have grown to think of them as friends (but only if you met them through the business, your actual friends do not count here).

What are the similarities between your top 3? Perhaps they are all the same age group or gender. Perhaps they all have the same hobby?

Now, thinking about them in closer detail, where do they do their food shopping? What car do they drive? What clothing brands/perfume do they wear? This might all seem a bit superficial, but it will paint a picture of what is important to them.

The key point here is, what is important to your ideal client? Do they look for value for money or quality? There is little point in giving discounts and sales if your ideal client is not motivated by saving money. You would be better off selling to them for the full price and using your marketing to show the value and quality of the product.

To take this one step further, you can use your ideal client to help you with all decisions within your business. If your ideal client is a very busy person and time is the main barrier to them purchasing from you, maybe you can design a delivery service or a regular order so that they don't have to think about coming into the shop or placing an order. Perhaps that client has a group of friends that also have no time and this would benefit them - you have just solved one person's problem and likely they will have told their friends, now you have even more clients that fit within your ideal client profile. Most people are friends with people that are similar to themselves so it would make sense that if you have one person as a customer and do them an awesome job, you could end up selling to their friends too.

Once you know who your ideal client is, and you know what the message needs to be to attract them, you need to know where they are. Where does your ideal client hang out? Are they on Facebook, or do they read the local paper? If your ideal client has never even heard of Facebook then it is likely that you are wasting your money by putting an advert on there. Or maybe you are a B2B service, local press is probably pointless but Linked in could be a really good option. Think about where your ideal clients' attention is and spend your marketing budget here. Yes, you still need to have a presence elsewhere, but your main focus and spend should be where your ideal client is going to see it!

Trying to appeal to everyone is a waste of time and money; focus your marketing efforts on your ideal client. By spending your limited resources trying to reach people who are already interested in the types of things you offer you will maximise the effectiveness of your marketing as well as your budget.

If you would like help finding your ideal client, get in touch - I can help you to find your ideal client and all of your marketing will be a breeze from then on!