Stop Wasting Time and Losing Money: Define Your Ideal Customer

“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.” – Peter F. Drucker

It took a while to achieve success online, but it did eventually come to me. If you ask me how it happened; one of the first things that come to mind is – “understanding my true customers.”

You may shy away, but you have to learn to overcome your inhibitions, because everything about online marketing revolves around customers. It’s only when you know who they are, is it possible for you to create products that solve their problems and fulfill their needs.

Initially, I went through the rigmarole of placing unending baits around the Web that yielded no nibbles. I threw around product links everywhere and I was discouraged – and worried about not making money as quickly as I expected to.

But persistence and the ability to see where I had gone wrong paid off. I learned all there is to know about online marketing and by understanding my customers, I was able to steer my boat in the right direction.

Finding your specific target market involves knowing exactly who you’re targeting. It’s easy to say you’re targeting married women, but not all married women are the same, not all of them have the same needs and the same buying power.

I have earlier written about what’s involved in getting your target customers to buy, but I believe it’s important to identify those customers first.

Who is your ideal customer?

To get a very clear picture of who you’re targeting, make a detailed note of the following information. Based on the final information, you can create your customer persona that is interested in your product and has the money to buy it. One of the most common errors I see with marketers is their “spray and hope” campaigns. These do not actually target any-body specifically and are destined for failure from the start because a target customer has not been defined.

What Is Their Demographic Profile?

This involves identifying the characteristics of the people who you believe are most likely to buy from you. You know there’s a market for your product. You’re going to take that knowledge further by finding out “who” they are.

* Gender

* Age

* Relationship status – single or married

* Children – gender and ages

* Education level

* Employment status – employed, self-employed or unemployed

* Annual Income

This information can go a long way into giving you an idea of who you’re targeting. For example, if you’re target market is women in their 30s with money to spend on luxury; you’re obviously looking at people who are employed or self-employed, with a decent level of income. If they have 3 kids, their income level should be such that they have extra money to spend on luxury products, after all their family expenses. Writing this down will give you several ideas.

What Are Their Hobbies?

Look at it this way. You’re writing down the hobbies of your ideal “imaginary” customer that will be totally interested in buying from you or being associated with you.

So make a note of the following details:

* Favorite movies/TV shows

* Favorite books/magazines

* Favorite social media sites

* Favorite blogs

* Favorite way of spending a holiday or relaxing

If you’re selling an eBook on “Bass Fishing,” obviously you would want that to be your imaginary customer’s hobby.

What Are Their Needs And Problems?

Only by understanding the needs that your product is fulfilling, can you find the perfect customer. Make a note of what needs your customers might have that makes them interested in what you’re offering, and how your product or service is going to fulfill those needs.

A need is basically when customers think a product or service might be useful for them. A problem is something that has to be addressed as soon as possible. For example, for someone suffering from severe acne, it’s a huge problem they look to rectify. If you’re offering an acne remedy, this would be your ideal customer – someone who has severe acne.

The key here is to understand your ideal customer’s needs and problems and identify how your product solves both.

What Is An Ideal Customer?

I look at the ideal customer as not a whole bunch of people but one person who encapsulates exactly what I want in a customer.

For this to happen, you have to carry out the aforementioned exercise, keeping in mind a single person. Imagine this person as someone actually looking at your product or service. Put yourself in their shoes and see if you’d buy it, if you were that customer. This helps you get into the head of your ideal customer – giving you a better insight.

Once you’re done with the exercise, you may come up with an exact profile of your ideal customer.

For example: “Married women in the age-group of 30-40 who own small businesses and who earn a medium annual income. They have teenage children and they have the money to spend on things for the family, such as the essentials as well as gifts on special occasions. However, they may not be in a position to spend money on very expensive luxury products.”

Attracting People Is Not Targeting

Online marketing activities require us to be as targeted as possible. There’s a general misconception that attracting people amounts to reaching your target customers – THIS IS WRONG!

Even with knowledge of your target market, you could still end up spending time and money targeting people who may not be interested in your product or service. You may be targeting people who lower your profit potential. What use are thousands of visitors, if they don’t have the money or don’t wish to buy from you? Think in terms of profitability from those people, rather than wasting time on people who may not be IDEAL customers.

Every single detail you can obtain beforehand matters.

Have you identified your Ideal customer?