How to Create Your Ideal Client Profile

A finely tuned marketing strategy is often the key to a successful business. However, if you haven’t taken the time to figure out who you are marketing to, and why your services will meet their needs, your advertising efforts could go to waste. Advertising agencies will try to tempt you with beautiful graphics and catchy taglines, but if you haven’t defined your ideal customer these marketing gimmicks will fall on deaf ears.

Yes, the ideal client profile provides the foundation for all your marketing strategies and helps you focus your business model. But how does one go about defining the perfect customer? It’s quite an undertaking to create a detailed ideal client profile, but it’s well worth the effort. By examining existing clients, your past experiences, and your function as a business, you can pinpoint exactly who your ideal customers are.

Scrutinize Your Business

Before you fixate on your customers you must practice some self-examination. Your company data will inform who your clients are in the broadest sense. Ask yourself what problems your products and services solve. What results can you create? These are pretty basic questions that every business should be able to answer with ease. You know your purpose, but who benefits most from that purpose? By understanding who has the problems you work to solve, and who is looking for your services, you have already narrowed down your potential customers.

Next, take a look at your existing clientele. Who are your best customers? Consider these important questions to determine your answer:

• What are your most profitable accounts?
• Does the client pay for services in a timely manner?
• Does the customer provide positive feedback?
• Is the customer easy to work with?
• How long has the client used your services?
• What is the average expenditure of the client?

Try to narrow the list down to your top ten clients and cross-reference what attributes they have in common. If you don’t know much about the clients’ backgrounds consider using a survey tool to gather further information. This survey can include questions regarding educational background and work background, as well as questions that specifically pertain to your business (i.e. how did you find our company? Why did you buy from our company?, etc.).

How to Create Your Ideal Client Profile

Based on your list of top clients you can very easily begin a detailed ideal client profile. Define your perfect customers with three criteria: demographics, psychographics, and behavior.

1. Demographics. age, gender, income, marital status, etc.
2. Psychographics. personality type, values, opinions, lifestyle, etc.
3. Behavior. likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc.

With all this information you can begin grouping your potential customers into profiles that describe specific segments of the client base you hope to reach. Each profile should be as tangible as possible so you and your marketing team can envision the person you are selling to.    

Benefits of the Ideal Client Profile

There are several key benefits associated with the ideal client profile that pertain directly to your marketing strategy. First, knowing your client profiles allows you to customize your website to match their needs and create custom content designed to attract their interest. You can also segment your profiles and create multiple campaigns that align with different purchasing styles or life-cycle stages. With segmentation you have the ability to target specific groups in specialized ways that speak directly to them.

An ideal client profile helps you tailor your business for those that need it, and offers a chance to incorporate effective branding for your company. With a firmly targeted marketing campaign you can reach the customers that actually want your services, and ensure you get the customers you want. The benefits of a thorough client profile affect both the business and the customer, assuring great opportunities for top quality transactions.

To learn more about creating an effective ideal client profile, or put one to good use, contact us today!