Successful marketing is all about getting the right message, in front of the right person, at the right time. And the first step when planning out a marketing strategy needs to be deciding on who you will be marketing too. It might sound obvious to some, but unless you clearly define who your target customer is from the outset, the majority of your marketing efforts will undoubtedly fail.

What Is A Customer Avatar?

You may already have an idea who your general target market is. It’s important! (You can read more about that here). But in order to communicate with your potential customers in a real, authentic and persuasive way, you need to go deeper than that. Specifically, you need to know what their individual pain points are and how you can help to fix them. The only way to get this information is by making a Customer Avatar. Once you know who you are talking to and how to find them, your marketing will be so much more effective.

Your customer needs to be the centre of your world. A customer avatar will allow you to define who they are and identify what they really want, so you can cut through the noise and speak directly to them.

Meet Steve

Steve is 48. He runs his own small arborist business with an above moderate turnover. He’s happily married with two teenage kids, but he wishes he had more time to spend with them. He enjoys fishing trips, playing local footy and water sports but can never find the time these days.

Steve is determined, hardworking, loyal and passionate.

He values his family, his employees and his reputation. He loves making a difference in his customers lives by providing service, attention to quality and detail. He has invested in some adult education as he sees the value in being ahead of his competition and new technology excites him. He is striving to be better and looking for that competitive edge.

At work, he has key man issues. Everyone demands his attention and he ends up spending all his time on the wrong tasks when he should be focused on the business. His job is physically demanding and this is causing him health issues. He wants to build the business to give him freedom to do what he loves, but he has trouble finding new, younger staff. His cash flow is stable, but he needs to increase his margins and secure a new stream of reliable customers.