Why do you need an ideal client or customer?

Why do you need an ideal client?  Here's how knowing them is going to help your business!

Do you really need an ideal client?  Can't you just sell to anyone? 

Well you can, but here's why narrowing down your target market really helps, and all the different aspects of your business that will improve when you know lots about who they are...

Firstly, what do I mean by 'ideal client'? 

Your ideal client is known by many names, such as customer profile, customer avatar, ICA (ideal client/customer avatar), dream client, target customer, soul customer, buyer persona, super customer, customer archetype, and probably lots more!

I tend to use client rather than continually say both client and customer, because it's easier, but I also mean customer, it just depends if you’re selling a service or a product to them.

Essentially, it is the person who is the best fit for your business, the person who is most likely to buy from you, and happy to pay what you are worth - and the kind person who you want to sell to or work with.

It's not just one person either by the way: although the term is singular, we use it to mean the kind of person like that, or the group of people who are all your ideal clients/customers.  It's your perfect people, the people who are right for you and your business.

So that’s what an ideal client is.  Now here's why it matters...

"Everyone is not your customer" - Seth Godin 

You don’t need to sell to everyone, and it’s ok that you’re not right for everyone. 

You’re unique! You’re amazing at what you do.  And there are people out there who will love and need what you do - they are your perfect people, your ideal client/customer.

But you will find them more easily when you are talking just to them in everything you say and write, and appealing to them with all your visual stuff and your brand. 

(And doing all that will also put off the people that aren’t your ideal clients, and that’s all good too). 

You need to find your niche too

Your niche is essentially what you do, and your ideal client is who you do it for, so they are very entwined.  

But you need to know what you want too; they both relate back to you, because you need to know what you want to do, and who you want to do it for, in order to decide on them! 

And what you do needs to be something your ideal client actually wants!  Or needs.  So you really need to get to know them and what their desires and wants and needs are, so that you can create your offers for your ideal clients, and direct your marketing towards them.

How your niche, brand and ideal client go together

Working out your niche and ideal client are the start of sorting your brand at the beginning of your business (or to come back to later on if you didn't do this then!).

Then together with your messaging, content, branding, and the rest of your brand, it all helps you stand out, to be you, to be unique, so that your business is recognisable and memorable, ready to get visible, and to help you sell. 

When you know your niche, all your marketing can be directed towards attracting your ideal client for your specific niche.  When your ideal client knows your niche, and you market yourself as an expert in that niche, that’s what will help attract them to buying from you as opposed to someone else.

You need to make sure that you stand out in your specific niche, and show yourself to be an expert in it, so that your ideal clients know exactly what you do, and you become the go-to person in that niche for them.

All ideal client knowledge is not created equal

You don't just need to create an ideal client avatar from knowing their name, age, education and where they live though.  Which is all most people tell you to do!  You can certainly start with that, if naming them and picturing them when you create some content is going to help you. 

That is where lots of people stop - however you need to get to know them a lot more if you're going to be able to use the info for all those things in the section just below and really supercharge your business.

You need to really know them, and understand them.  The better you know and understand them, the easier it will make it to market what you do  to them, and sell to them.  

And you need to know the right things to do that! 

You need to know their problems (and what you do to solve them).  You need to know what they are like, and what they like and don't like.  You need to know what they want.  

But it can also feel really hard to do, to find out more about your ideal client and work out what you need to know about them that is actually going to help you.  I've spent a long time learning about what works, what you actually need to know about them to supercharge your business.

So that's why I created my 'Nail Your Niche & Understand Your Ideal Client' workbook, as one of the first digital products I put together, to help my audience get to know theirs.  And now I've added a course and bonus challenge to help you actually do it, to turn it into the ultimate guide to knowing your perfect people.  So now you can kick-start your business, or uplevel where you're at now, by gaining much greater clarity on your niche and your ideal client, and know how to use that info.  This Guide will walk you through how to do all that, really quick and easily!  (Find out more and grab it here).

So why do you need an ideal client/customer, and how exactly is knowing them going to help your business?

Well, when you know the right things about them, it means that:

- You'll know how to talk to them and write for them, in language they understand, that resonates with them, that shows you understand them.

- You'll know what to talk and write about too, you'll always have content ideas!

- You'll know how to attract them with your branding, website, graphics, photos etc.

- You'll know where to find them, where to market to them, where to target them, where to advertise to them.

- You'll know how to build a relationship with them, to get them to know, like and trust you, to value you, and to want to buy from you.

- You'll know how to be irresistible to them!

- You'll know how to sell to them - and it will be easier, quicker and cheaper to sell to them because you'll know all about them.

Knowing your niche and ideal client is like having a roadmap for your business. It guides your decisions, helps you stand out, and makes marketing and selling much easier.

By focusing on the people who truly need and value what you offer, you’ll build a stronger, more recognizable brand and enjoy greater success with less effort - and that's what we want isn't it?!

Because your business isn’t just about you, it’s about your ideal client and what you can do for them.

Your brand isn’t just about you, it has to appeal to your ideal client too.

And your marketing needs to attract them and get them to want to buy from you.

Knowing who they are, and what they really want, will help you to reach them, and to talk directly to them in a way that they get – and then they’ll get you, and want to buy from you.

It's something you can do whatever stage of business you're at.  Getting to know your ideal client better now is still going to help you, whether you're at the start of your business, pivoting a bit or a lot, or just want to get clearer on yours further down the track.

Meet Gemma, and discover how getting to know her ideal client helped her business

I wanted to share a real life example to illustrate how knowing your ideal client better can completely turn your business around.

Gemma was a VA when we first met online last year, and was feeling rather stuck with her business.  It was just too general and bland to appeal to anyone, and she wasn't standing out from all the other online VAs out there.  But she was thinking about changing what she did to concentrate just on what she loved most - copywriting.  So that was the niche narrowed down! 

Then we talked about who her ideal client would be for the new business, so that she would be able to attract the right people she wanted to work with.  

Gemma's brilliant at finding the right words for other people's blogs, social posts and sales pages, but it was hard to take the leap and narrow down her potential clients, exactly who she wanted to do that for.  In the end she went with what she knows - other equine and country businesses.  And she was really brave and went all in on marketing just to her new ideal clients and writing her new website just for them. 

It was the best decision:

- Now she understands who her ideal clients are, she can really speak to them in her copy - and they know that she understands them and what they do, and so she's the best person to write their copy for them! 

- She can use a whole lot of relevant behind the scenes info to share on her socials that really resonates with them and builds the know like and trust with them. 

- She can write just for them, she knows what to talk about to connect with them, she knows what they need and how she can help them. 

- She can stand out as an expert in her niche.  And it's now much easier to sell her services to them.

>>See how Gemma's website copy now calls out to the people she wants to work with, and shows them she's right for them too: Gemma Knight, Equine & Country Copywriter.

Gemma is in my Brand Plan Membership, where nailing your niche and understanding your ideal client is covered in Phase One of the core Brand & Visibility Roadmap trainings, and you get a weekly zoom for support and chat through any queries you have, amongst other membership benefits.  Upgrade at the checkout and save on both, or you can get just my ideal client and niche workbook with my new course - find out more here:  Find, Attract & Captivate Your Perfect People. 

...If you're feeling stuck with finding or narrowing down your ideal client in the first place too, you being your own ideal client is just one of the many ways I give you ideas for in one of the lessons in my new Find, Attract & Captivate Your Perfect People course.  Along with all the right things you need to know about them that will actually help, AND how to use the info to stand out and supercharge your business!

Ready to get to know your ideal client better?  So you can effortlessly attract them, engage and connect with them, and easily sell to them?  And get a load of content ideas too!  Find it all in my quick and easy workbook and course, Find, Attract & Captivate Your Perfect People.  It's just £37 so you can get started right away.

Next Steps:

- Ready for more personal mentoring, brand, visibility and marketing strategies that work for you, a community of fellow ambitious introverts, training, and accountability to put it all into action?  Come and join my Brand Plan membership, and get support to show up, stand out, and sell more🤩  (£49 a month - or save £10 a month if you sign up when you buy the Perfect People course at the link just below!)

- Ready to get to know your ideal client better?  So you can effortlessly attract them, engage and connect with them, and easily sell to them?  And get a load of content ideas too!  Find it all in my quick and easy workbook and course, Find, Attract & Captivate Your Perfect People.  (£37)

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Blog topics / categories: 

#All Things Brand

#Strategy and Planning