This post was originally published on October 20th, 2020. I have since updated a few things to make attracting your ideal customer even easier.
Let’s be honest, one of the hardest parts of marketing is convincing someone that your product or service is right for them. It can feel like pulling teeth sometimes to get people to buy.
Unless you know the secret to attracting and persuading your ideal customer right away.
Once you know this secret, sales start flowing in and your business grows fast.
Here are 4 steps you can follow to attract your ideal customer and prove that your product or service is the perfect solution to their problem. (And yes, I’ll reveal that secret. Keep reading.)
Step 1: Research Your Ideal Customer
You’ve heard me say this a billion times before. And I keep repeating it because it’s one of the most important steps when it comes to successfully converting potential customers into paying customers.
Major corporations spend millions of dollars and thousands of hours conducting this research so they can truly know their ideal customers. They run focus groups, surveys, and studies. They create customer avatars with detailed personal histories.
Marketers pour over these details, so they know exactly what their ideal customers think about their problems and the solutions available to them.
You don’t have to get quite so detailed.
But you do have to do the research.
Here is a quick recap of the types of research you need to do.
Find Your Target Audience
To quote Seth Godin, “Everyone is not your customer.”
If you decide that everyone is your customer, you’ll be spending a lot more money than you need to on your marketing. That’s why your first step is to find your target audience. These are the people who will benefit most from your product or service.
Determine the Customer Demographics of Your Target Audience
To “target” someone, you need to know more about them. Customer demographics are the best way to get a snapshot of the people you want to sell to. The more details you can get, the better.
Talk to Members of Your Target Audience
I know this sounds terrifying, but it’s necessary. It’s also a lot less scary than you think. You probably know someone, or several someones, who are in your target audience and would be your ideal customers.
Ask them to join you for a cup of coffee or dinner. Tell them you’d like to ask them questions related to your company and what you sell. Be honest. You don’t want to spring this on someone if they’re not expecting it. And don’t try to sell them anything. Just ask questions and listen. Do ask if you can record the conversation and make sure you take notes. (FYI, I include a target audience questionnaire in the aforementioned blog post. That will help.)
Step 2: Dissect This Research
I know. This sounds more like a science project than a marketing plan.
However, this is where you find what you’re looking for when it comes to using that secret I mentioned earlier.
Delve deep into the answers your ideal customers gave you. Look at their exact words. Pay attention to the phrases they use when they describe their problem and the ideal solution they’re looking for.
And you’re not just looking for general phrases. You’re looking for the deep, emotional stuff too, also referred to as “pain points. You want to know what motivates your ideal customers internally and externally, so you can appeal to them as a whole person.
If you recorded the interview with your ideal customer, get it transcribed. Rev.com and otter.ai are two excellent and fast transcription services.
Seeing your ideal customer’s words will help you understand more about what they’re facing, why it matters so much to them, and what they see as the “perfect solution.”
Write down the phrases that stand out the most to you in terms of your ideal customers’ descriptions of their problem, their pain points, and their desired solution, especially as they relate to your product or service.
Save this document. It is pure marketing gold and you should never let it go. (No, I’m not being overdramatic. I’m completely serious.)
Step 3: Use This Research in Your Marketing
I hear what you’re thinking. “Duh.”
Yep, sorry to be so obvious, but that is the next step.
Are you ready for me to reveal the secret? The super-secret way to attract and persuade your ideal customers to buy your products and services?
Use the exact words your ideal customer used in the interview.
Whenever possible, quote the person(s) you interviewed word for word. You don’t have to use actual quotations and cite their name, but do use the words they use to describe their problem when you’re hitting the pain points in your marketing.
Go out of your way to drive these points home to the person reading your sales page, watching your video, listening to your podcast or reading your email.
Use the words they use to describe their ideal solution when you’re positioning your product or service as the ideal solution.
I know what you’re thinking. “Why would I parrot someone’s words back at them? They already know what they think and how they feel.”
And that’s the point.
Your ideal customer knows what they think and how they feel. They need to know that you know it too.
When you repeat their words back to them, they feel heard. They recognize their own words and know that you understand. You “get it.”
A big part of all successful marketing is showing that you understand your customer. When you use the exact language your ideal customers use, you will have people asking you, “How did you get inside my head?”
That is the kind of reaction you want.
You want your ideal customer to see that you truly do “get them.” That you understand what they’re going through, and your product or service will help them get where they want to be.
This isn’t some “sneaky, psychological trick.” It is doing the research on your ideal customer and using that information to meet their needs.
Unfortunately, a lot of small to medium-size businesses don’t put in this much effort. Speaking from personal experience, it is absolutely worth putting in this much effort. I’ll explain why in the next step.
Step 4: Use This Research to Improve Your Product or Service
One of the wonderful things about hearing directly from your ideal customer is, you may find simple, little changes you can make to your product or service that make it an even more perfect solution.
The person you interviewed may say something that triggers an idea for a change you can make. Or, they may say something that helps you develop another, complementary product or service you add to your line-up, or use as an upsell to what you currently have. They may even suggest a product or service that would be a good fit for you to consider pursuing a joint venture with, you never know.
Your ideal customers are what drive your business. You exist to meet their needs. When you welcome them as co-collaborators (to a limited extent) you both get what you need out of the relationship and everybody wins.
Ready to Find Your Ideal Customer?
The very first module of my course Email List Building Made SIMPLE! takes you through the process of researching your ideal customer, so you can find the words they use and understand the problems they have, related to your product or service. That way, you’re starting from a place of knowledge and understanding as you create your marketing to appeal to these people, so they’re more likely to become actual customers.
The course guides you through the entire process of building a high-converting lead generation funnel, so you can grow your email list, including starting to use your email nurture sequence to grow that relationship with your ideal customer and become that trusted authority figure who they want to buy from.
I include email templates, automation instructions, and unravel the mysteries behind what actually works to get people to click on everything from your lead magnet to the links in your emails.
Click on the button below to learn more about Email List Building Made SIMPLE!