Jordan White
You know what you’re selling, but do you know who your customer is? Identifying your buyer persona, also known as your customer avatar, is a crucial part of launching your small business. It will help you effectively market your product or service, and even build customer loyalty.
With that said, more goes into creating a customer avatar than you might realize. It’s not simply making assumptions but integrating data and customer analysis. In this article, we offer a step-to-step guide on how to create a customer avatar for your small business:
1. Write Down Your Customer’s Goals
The first step to creating a customer avatar is determining your customer’s why. What goals does your ideal customer have, and how can your small businesses ensure they achieve them?
Let’s say you’re a yoga instructor, offering classes online. Your prospective customer might be someone with an interest in yoga but enjoys the convenience of practicing at home.
With this person in mind, consider additional qualities or characteristics they may have. For example, they are probably committed to maintaining good physical and mental health. If they’re interested in practicing yoga, there’s a good chance they want to build strength, improve their balance, and maybe even calm their mind. This information is what creates your customer avatar, and helps you make marketing decisions.
2. Ask Your Existing Customers
Creating a customer avatar isn’t as easy as it seems. While some imagination is needed, the information should also be backed up by data. That’s why you should start by looking at your current customer base.
How old is your average customer? What’s their gender? How much do they make a year? Do they have children? Where are they located? Determining your customer demographic will help you create an avatar.
A good way to figure out your customer demographic is with business analytics. Business analytics is the process of using technology to identify trends, customer patterns, and more, to help you make informed business decisions.
There are several business analytics tools available, like Google Analytics. With that said, there are also less expensive ways to gather this information. For example, you could send your customers an anonymous online survey asking the questions above. You could also include additional questions to obtain any useful feedback on your product or service.
3. Name Your Customer Avatars
Chances are, you’ll have more than one customer avatar. That’s because most products and services attract multiple demographics for different reasons.
Going back to the yoga business example, your prospective customer could be someone living in a rural community without access to a yoga studio. They could also be a beginner yogi who doesn’t feel confident practicing yoga in public. Or maybe, your prospective customer has years of yoga experience but is interested in a one-on-one approach.
To keep everything organized, give each avatar a name and identity. For example:
Rural Ruby
Rural Ruby doesn’t live near a yoga studio but is passionate about incorporating yoga into her daily routine. She enjoys hiking and the outdoors but doesn’t spend too much time on electronics. She’s married, with three children, and lives on a farm in Washington.
Beginner Betty
Beginner Betty has always been interested in practicing yoga, but never felt comfortable in a studio. She’s shy and prefers to practice with a private instructor online, rather than in person. Beginner Betty is a 20-something-year-old college student who lives alone in California.
Yogi John
Yogi John is in his mid-40s and has been practicing yoga since he was a teenager. He prefers the intimacy of one-on-one yoga classes, rather than practicing with a big group. Yogi John is a single father of four living in Oregon.
Naming your customer avatars humanizes them and can help you feel more connected. By designing well-functioning avatars, your small businesses will be in a better position to target the right customers.
4. Create a Negative Customer Avatar
You might think it’s counterproductive to create a negative customer avatar. However, it can be beneficial. A negative avatar takes on the persona of someone you don’t want as a customer.
Knowing the qualities and characteristics of the person you aren’t targeting can help you compile a list of who you are targeting. For instance, let’s say you work in auto repairs. Your negative avatar would probably be someone who doesn’t own or know anyone who owns a vehicle. Make sense?
Taking it a step further, you should also include characteristics that could make someone difficult to have as a customer. Let’s say you own small catering businesses. Your negative avatar might be someone who refuses to pay on time or is constantly changing their menu requests.
When creating a negative avatar, think about your experience with previous customers and what qualities created a good or bad relationship.
Conclusion
Your small business customer avatar can make or break the success of your company. That’s why it’s important to figure out your buyer persona before you create a marketing strategy. You want to ensure you’re targeting the right audience.
