Ideal client profiles that go deeper than demographics are all about relating to the people you want to attract in everything you do.
I’ve been through the process of identifying my ideal client a few times over for various businesses of mine in the past, both Studio Lago and for my wedding cake design business Malarkey Cakes. I have done this with mixed results and with differing amounts of clarity on my part in terms of how much I have nailed who my ideal client really is and more importantly, how to appeal to them and start talking directly to them with my branding and messaging.
More than just demographics
One of the issues I have found though, is that a lot of marketing experts will tell you that you need to identify your ideal clients by demographics. This is such an important part of the process, yes, but there is a hell of a lot more to it than that and you can’t just stop there. The emphasis when identifying your ideal clients is mostly placed on their age, income level, gender and even as specific as pinpointing their education level. I want to help you not identify who your ideal clients are but really digging deep on what makes them tick and how you can actually turn their heads to what you are offering.
First off, it’s worth noting that identifying your ideal client is never going to be one of those tasks you can do and then tick off the list of tasks you have finished. Nope! This will be an ever evolving thing, a bit like your website. Your business should and will always be evolving, changing and growing over time. This means your ideal client profile will also change over time too and this is a good thing. The type of clients you were trying to attract 5 years ago may not be the same ones you are looking at now.
Let’s look at demographics first. Yes, I mentioned that there is much more to it than this, but this is also an important part of the process and can make it easier for you to visualize those ideal clients in your head. Then we are going to branch out and dig deep from here. You can identify your ideal clients and create a profile on them based on demographics, yes, but it’s important to remember that your ideal client will definitely exist in more forms than just one, so it;s important not to limit things here and eliminate people. When identifying your ideal client from a demographics point of view, think about which of the following is important and which isn’t as this all depends on your service and your business.
Demographics
Some of the demographics you can identify in your ideal client can go along the lines of these: Age, gender, relationship status, salary, where they live, where they work, education level and their shopping habits. You might not need to identify all of these and some of them may be important, whilst others may also be irrelevant.
Psychographics
Ideal client profiles that go deeper than demographics are all about looking at psychographics. Next, it’s time to dig a bit deeper and look into the psychographics of your ideal client. This will enable you to connect with your ideal clients in a much deeper and more meaningful way. We can identify your ideal clients through psychographics with answering some specific questions, but I also want to split out psychographics into different categories:
Personality traits
How would you describe your ideal client. Try to think of adjectives to describe their personality and relate these to your product or service where possible. My ideal clients, for example are ambitious, entrepreneurial, talented and creative.
Lifestyle
What kind of lifestyle do they have? Are they out a lot? Do they go to restaurants and bars or cook at home? Do they travel a lot? Are they fit and active? Think about what’s important here and relevant to your service and business.
What interests them?
What are your ideal clients interests? What do they like doing in their free time and what interests them? You can definitely list down a ton of ideas here, but also try to think of interests that will relate to you, your business and your services. You will probably find you both attract and detract people to you with identifying interests and that’s ok. It’s so important to remember that you can’t appeal to everyone.
Their opinions, attitudes and beliefs
Ideal client profiles that go deeper than demographics gig deep into things like opinions, attitudes and beliefs. This is where we really start to dig a bit deeper. What kind of opinions do your ideal clients have about certain things? What is their attitude towards a certain point of view and what do they believe? Try to relate this back to your business and the services you offer where possible. This step will help you a long way to identifying what your ideal clients values are which is a really important part of this process. My ideal clients, for example, take their business really seriously, they aren’t just in it to have an expensive hobby, they aspire to have a six figure business, they have a vision for the future of their business and they understand the level of investment involved. They are also open to being coached and learning and are ready to invest in my service.
On a much simpler and more fun level, I think it’s great to tell your followers on an informal level what you like and what you don’t like so that they will connect with you. In my wedding cake design business, I got one of my highest ever paying clients to connect with me through our mutual dislike of raw onions in salad.
It’s so important to open up, be yourself and connect with your audience online. You never can tell who is going to connect with you and become your next big client.
What are their values?
What are your ideal customer’s values? It’s all too easy here to identify that your ideal clients will be honest and trustworthy. We need much, much more than this and we really need to start trying to relate what values your ideal clients will have that will really help them resonate with you and your brand. What matters to them? Some ideas could be the way that they connect with you through how you express your own values. Is helping the planet important to you and to your ideal clients?
Also, once you do identify your values, it’s so important to actually share them with your audience. My business values are around creating a collaborative process, empowering business owners to take back more time doing the things they love in their businesses and the freedom to edit their own websites, giving them confidence in their branding and message and clarity to move it forward.
What are their pain points?
When creating an ideal client profile that goes deeper than demographics, it’s so important to think about what our ideal client’s pain points are. To identify these, we need to think about why they need a service like ours. What problem do they need you to solve for them? In my business, my ideal client’s pain points come from not having the time to spend creating their own website and their branding holding them back from growing their business. My ideal clients see the need to invest in branding and a website that will help them reach their goals and they are at a point in their business journey where they are more than ready to invest and need a consultant to help them through that process.
Identifying the problem you can solve for your ideal client is probably the biggest part of the puzzle. It’s so important to show your audience why your product or service solves their problem and the transformation it will provide for them. It’s also equally important to remind them how their life will not improve if they choose not to go with you and stick to what they’re doing. Identifying your ideal client’s pain points will help you connect with them on a more emotional level.
So, while identifying your ideal client is so necessary, it’s also so important to show who you are online so people can connect with you. This in turn can then help your ideal client profile grow and you’ll begin to attract more clients you may have never thought of working with before. Remember that it’s a great idea to have an ideal client profile but that person will also exist in any number of shapes and forms. You can even identify your ideal client through people you have already worked with and realized you want more of them.
If you want more help identifying who your ideal client is and particularly ideal client profiles that go deeper than demographics, or with building your new brand to start turning heads, get in touch to find out more how I can help you stand out online and get noticed. I work with ambitious female business owners who are ready to grow their businesses and would love to hear from you.
