5 Steps on How to Find Your Ideal Customers Online
The better you are at describing your ideal customers the closer you are to finding your ideal customer. We have all dealt with time wasters and unprofitable customers. And, usually have figured out who we don’t want as a customer. Here, we’ll walk thru the steps on how you can improve your profitability by knowing and then finding your ideal customer. Check out the topics below.
- Start with knowing the value of what you are offering
- Gather clues on who will likely buy your product
- List and prioritize the characteristics of your ideal client
- Know when the timing is on your side
- Pull it all together to reach your ideal client
1. Start with Knowing the Value of What You are Offering
Before we dive into strategies and tools to uncover your ideal customer, here are a few questions you need to consider answering first:
- What problem are you solving?
- What is the unique value proposition that makes you stand out from the competition?
- Why would they want to buy from you?
After you can confidently answer those questions we can begin with finding your ideal customers.
2. Gather Clues on Who will likely Buy Your Products
Your ideal client will likely be someone that you can easily sell your product, who values it and who wants to buy it again.
Past Customers
Looking at past customers and those most profitable is the first clue what your ideal customer looks like.
Those Engaged in Your Website
Those visiting your site and spending time are more likely to buy your product. There are a lot of tools like visitor queue and sales panel that also provide visitor information.
Social Media Conversations
If you want to find out a little more about the people who are currently looking for your products, services or content, eavesdropping on social media conversations is the way to go!
Using tools like Mention, AgoraPulse or even Google Alerts, you can keep tabs on common questions or problems that come up related to your industry. It will also give you a good idea of WHERE your target audience hangs out online.
Joining industry groups on Facebook and LinkedIn to see WHO is asking questions and what kinds of questions they’re asking is a great way to ‘listen’ to your ideal customer.
3. List and Prioritize the Characteristics of your Ideal Customer
After gathering your clues, you should be able to determine the following characteristics of your ideal client:
- Firmographics: this relates to describing the organization, rather than the individual. Here you would list, employee size, industry, geography, revenue, organization structure (i.e., association, vs non-profit, etc.)
- Demographics: gather the age, gender, education, title, years of employment or other meaningful demographics that describe your ideal client
- Tech Tools: if you are a software company or a service provider the tech tools an organization uses will weigh in on the likelihood they will use or need your product. If they don’t have a CRM or an email platform, they’ll be less likely to acquire marketing automation tools.
- Psycho Drivers: if they are early adopters they may be willing to pay more for the most innovative technology but if you are dealing with late adopters then they will find more comfort in a product established and more commonly used in the market
- Buyer’s Roles: in larger organizations, there may be many decision-makers involved in the buying decision – user, ambassador, champion. Knowing what role your ideal client plays in closing the sale as well as the other contributors helps you map out the buyer’s journey and narrow in on your ideal client
- Avatars: like personas, it’s a great exercise in describing your ideal client, right down to the finest details. Taking all the characteristics you have already identified as part of your ideal client profile, imagine the individual walking into your office. What are they wearing? What’s their conversation style, and what are their interests outside work. And don’t forget to give the person a name.
4. Ensure Timing is on Your Side
Not likely, even your ideal client, will they seek to buy your product all time. There will be triggers when the demand for your product or service will be higher. Being there to answer their questions and solve their problems when they arise will make you the ideal solution.
Examples of triggers can be:
- Seasonality
- Budget/planning phase
- End of a quarter or fiscal year
- New government regulations
- Economic uncertainty
- Costly bill from your competitor
- Age of product
- New Hires
5. Pull it all together to Reach Your Ideal Customer
Once you know who, when and why they’ll buy, it will be easy to answer where they are. There are a lot of sources, including LinkedIn that enables you to search for clients based on a set of criteria you defined as a priority or must-have. There are many timely inbound marketing campaigns that can be executed to pull in your ideal client based on keywords and profiles. In addition, there are events, tradeshows and partnerships to meet and connect with your ideal clients.
If you are looking for a marketing plan to reach your ideal client, contact us and we’ll help provide a roadmap and an actionable plan.
