Could You Pick Your Ideal Customer Out of a Room of 100?

Imagine you're at a Chamber of Commerce event, and your sole objective is to find one new customer among the hundred or so people in the room. There are people of many cultures, backgrounds, occupations and ages. The organiser has given you a table, a banner and some brochures, with explicit instructions not to harass anyone. You wait for them to approach you.

What's your approach?

Would you generalise what you do in a feeble attempt to appeal to everyone in the room? Or would you craft your message, look and feel to appeal to one type of person? Perhaps there are only three or four of those in the room.

When I put it like this, it seems nonsense to try and appeal to everyone, and in doing so become less appealing to your ideal customer. But that's what businesses do every day in their brand and marketing when they don't have clarity about their perfect customer. They generalise, and when you generalise, marketing gets hard.

Meet psychographics

If you don't have a marketing background, the most familiar way to group people is by demographics. Age, location, occupation. That may work. But before you do it, let me introduce you to psychographics.

Psychographics group people by what they think. Their beliefs and values. Do they value family, saving money, holidays, learning, career progression? Are they prudent and conservative, or do they believe experiences are worth more than possessions? That's what drives behaviour, and it's what you want to know.

A standard tool is to write a one page Ideal Customer Profile. Who they are, how they think, where they hang out, how they behave online and offline. Give them a name so it's easy to refer to them when you're making decisions.

Meet Sarah

For a high end retreat it might look something like this.

Sarah is a 36 year old professional who commutes to the city for work. She has a high disposable income and values quality over quantity. She keeps a tight friend group and they catch up regularly to try new restaurants. Sarah periodically gets away with the girls for short breaks in the regions. Because they work so hard in their daily life, they want to make sure they have a great break. They only ever go somewhere new when a close friend recommends it, or a travel blogger they trust calls it an absolute must do.

I could keep going, but you get the gist.

It's a powerful exercise because it gives you clarity about exactly whom you're aiming for. It also gives you much of the direction you need for copywriting, for choosing the interests and behaviours you target in ads, and for most other marketing decisions.

Everything gets easier

Not only does it make it easier to design an experience that aligns with their aspirations. It makes everything else in your business easier. How you describe and position your product. How you train staff to speak to customers. What images you capture. Are you for couples? Then that's what you photograph.

Niching down isn't enough on its own. Your experience, your why and your brand need to line up behind it. But it's the starting point for the clarity you need to make every other decision.

Your homework is to write your Ideal Customer Profile.

One page. One person. Then go and set up your table.