How To Create Your Perfect Customer Persona Template In 15 Minutes

Do you know who your ideal customer is?
Many business owners make the big mistake of targeting everyone.
Everyone!
You might think that’s a wise move: Target everyone and reach the most amount of people possible, right? Well, sorry to burst your bubble but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
In reality, this approach dilutes your message. And the result? You end up connecting with nobody. No-one.

So if you don’t know exactly who your ideal customer is, it’s time to focus that laser beam and figure out exactly who he or she is…

Why Should You Bother Creating Your ‘Ideal Customer Persona’?

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If your marketing message is aimed at ‘everyone’ your message will be diluted and, ultimately, speak to no-one. And if you don’t advertise in places where you customer hangs out, you’re also wasting precious advertising money.
This all stems from not really knowing who your perfect customer is. So, the clearer you are about this:

• The clearer you will be about where you should be advertising
• The more laser-focused your marketing message will be

The result? Your ideal customer will be more likely to respond to you. And that increases your chances of making more sales.
So the most important step of your marketing process is to define who your ideal customer is.
After all, if you want to appeal to a certain type of person, you need to know what really makes them tick.

Be warned! Many owners want to skip this step or don’t think it’s important. Please don’t fall into this trap.
Knowing your ideal customer inside and out will form the basis for the rest of your marketing plan.
In fact, the success of your marketing will depend on whether you know exactly who you’re talking to.
That’s so important that I’ll repeat it:

The success of your marketing will depend on whether you know exactly who you’re talking to.

You need know exactly who your ideal customer is. You can’t just ‘guess’ and hope for the best. Once you know that, you are in a great position to connect with your prospects and convert them into customers.
It is a game changer, no doubt about it. So skip this step at your peril. It’s that important.
Think of the foundations of a house. If you don’t have solid foundations, the house will be shaky and may even fall down. So think of your Customer Persona as the foundation of your marketing plan. It all starts here…

Who Is Your Ideal Customer?

So, who are your best possible customers? Better yet, let’s be even more specific… who is your ideal customer?
It’s time to define him or her. It’s time to get specific.
In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create your ideal ‘Customer Persona’ (also known as an ‘Avatar’). Your aim should be to get to know your Customer Persona as a real person in your mind’s eye. Then you can place that person front and centre of every marketing message you create.
It may sound simple, but this powerful process will make it far easier for you to sell to them.

“But Wait! I’ll Be Leaving Some Customers Out!”

Many business owners are hesitant to pick just one type of ‘ideal customer’ to focus on.

But I have lots of different customers”, they say, “If I focus on just one type of person, I’m leaving the others out!”

Well let’s put it this way: Connecting well with one set of customers is far better than connecting with none at all. And as the saying goes, ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’.
The aim here is to build out a marketing system that talks to one ‘type’ of customer at a time.
Follow the 80/20 rule and start with your most lucrative customer. Your ideal customer. Ask yourself:

• Who will spend the most money with me?
• Who’s bound to return to buy from me time and time again?
• Who’s going to recommend my products and services to others?

That’s your ideal ‘Customer Persona’ or ‘Avatar’. Start there.
Once you’ve got your marketing system in place for that Avatar, you can always move on to address the next best Customer Persona and so on.
Then, it’s just a case of, ‘wash, rinse, and repeat’.

An Example Of A ‘Customer Persona’

Let’s begin with an example. Marketing For Owner’s Avatar or Customer Persona is Mike. Here’s a little about Mike:

Here is the breakdown on our friend Mike —

• Male
• Age 45

Family

• Married with two kids
• His wife works part-time as a nurse

His Daily Life

• It takes him 15 minutes to drive to work
• Outside work hours:
  • Spends most of his time doing paperwork, finishing quotes, invoicing clients in front of the TV
  • Sometimes sees his friends at the pub

His Business

• Runs a local printing business
• He’s been in business for 5 years
• Has 3 members of staff
• Most customers are local
• Prides himself on keeping his customer happy so his retention rate has been good until recently
  • Thanks to a good retention rate, he’s not really had to market his services

His Problems And Worries

• Recently, customers have told him that they can get the same service quicker and cheaper from ‘Solo Press’ and ‘Vista Print’. Some customers have even started doing their own printing themselves. This is affecting business and sales are dropping.
• Declining sales has Mike worried. It’s keeping him awake at night and he just doesn’t know what to do.
• Mike doesn’t want to worry his wife and kids. His wife is understanding but she’s not very business-minded so he feels she wouldn’t understand anyway. He doesn’t know any other business people to share his worries with. So he feels very isolated.
• He’s most concerned that he won’t be able to take his family overseas on their annual holiday.
• Mike wants to do something about his situation. He just doesn’t know what. Occasionally he surfs the internet and comes across Get Rich Quick Schemes. He knows these aren’t realistic so he keeps on searching, hoping to find a reliable answer.

That’s is a short snapshot of our avatar, Mike. I recommend you go into far more detail than our quick snapshot above. In fact, we have created a lot more information about Mike, but you get the general idea, right?

Time To Create Your Ideal Customer Persona…

So now you’ve seen our example, it’s time for you to create yours. Your aim is to create a real person in your mind’s eye. To picture a person that you can talk to, in real life.
Write at least one full page about your Ideal Customer Persona. Write everything about your ideal customer that you can think of. Write his or her full story.
Yes, you may have to brainstorm with colleagues and make some things up. You may need to ‘get inside the mind’ of that avatar by asking similar people, for example, friends, clients and customers, family members.
Whatever you do, make sure you spend time on this and get it right.
One more thing before you unleash your creative skills…
You may scan the list below and think that it’s way too detailed. So let me tell you right now:
The more detailed you can get about your Customer Persona, the better results you’ll have crafted your marketing messages in the future. It’s that powerful.
Below you’ll see a template of questions that will help you craft a detailed description of your ideal customer.
We’ve made it super-easy for you. All you have to do is answer the questions. So what are you waiting for? Grab a pen and some paper and let’s start creating your avatar. Ready?
Describe their appearance

• How do they dress? Casual? Smart? Sporty? Messy? Glamorous?
• Are they fashion conscious?

Health

• Are they healthy? Do they have a disability, long term illness?

Energy

• Are they high energy, sporty, animated? Are they chilled and relaxed?

What’s your avatar’s name?

• Male / Female
• How old are they?
• Where do they live?

Describe their family and friends

• Are they single? In a relationship? Are they married?
• What is their partner’s name?
• What is his or her name? What do they do in the day?
• Do they have kids? Grandkids?
• How old are these kids? What are their names?
• Do they have any pets?
• Do they like animals?

Character

• Are they happy and positive? Or maybe they are shy and lack confidence?
• Are they quick to come to conclusions or thoughtful?
• Are they introverted or extroverted?

Work and education

• How much education have they achieved? Did they get good grades? Did they leave school at 16? Or maybe they studied at University and got a post-graduate degree?
• Do they work? What do they do? Do they have a part time or full time job? Do they have more than one job to help pay the bills? Maybe they go to school or college?

How much do they earn?

• Are they happy with what they earn?
• Are they happy with what they do? Do they aspire for a different career or perhaps a position higher up in the company they work in?
• Do they do any volunteer work?

 Lifestyle

• How far do they travel to work or college?
• Do they drive to work? Take the bus? The train? Walk?
• If they drive, what car do they drive? Do they own it?
• What do they think about on their commute?
  • Do they listen to the radio or podcasts? If so, what stations?
  • If walking, on the train or bus, do they read? What do they read?

How do they spend their leisure time?

• Do they have any hobbies?
• What kind of TV do they watch?
• Do they like playing sports or attending sports events?
• Music?
• Books?
• Magazines?
• Video games?
• Shows?
• Are they in any clubs?
• Do they like dining out? Where?
• Do they like going to the cinema?
  • What genre of films do they like watching?

What kind of gadgets do they have? Phone, tablet, laptop

• Are they an ‘early adopter’ that always has the latest gadget? Middle-of-the road? A late adopter?
• What are they like with technology? Are they a whiz on the internet and with computers? Are they scared of them? Do they avoid it at all costs?
• What social media sites do they hang out at? Facebook? Instagram? LinkedIn? Twitter? Pinterest? YouTube?
• Are they avid users of social media? Maybe they check it rarely or not at all?

Describe a typical:

• Week day
• Weekend
• Holiday

Beliefs And Aspirations

• Are they religious? Spiritual? Atheist? If religious, what religion? How seriously do they take their religious or spiritual beliefs? Does it guide their life choices?
• Do they have any strong political views?
• Are they concerned about issues such as the environment or perhaps humanitarian issues?
• Who do they aspire to be?
  • Do they have someone they look up to? This could be someone they know, or someone in the public eye, alive or dead.
• What are their big dreams?
• What makes them happy?
  • What would be their ideal way to spend a day?

Likes And Dislikes

• Who are their favourite celebrities? Actors, musicians, politicians, chefs, business icons, spiritual leaders.
• Describe any more likes and dislikes they may have.

Finances and Buying Habits

• Are they a spontaneous spender? Perhaps they prefer to research things before they make a buying decision?
• Do they have money to spend? Are they frugal? Are they saving up for something big? Maybe they’re in debt and have to watch the pennies?
• What do they know or think they know about the product or service you offer?
  • In general
  • Specifically about your product / service

Present Situation

• What’s on their mind right now?
  • What are their problems? What are they struggling with?
  • What do they get annoyed about? What do they worry about?
  • What upsets them? What keeps them awake at night?
  • What else can you think of that you haven’t mentioned about your ideal customer?

Why are they your perfect customer?

• The car manufacturer Toyota believe that the ‘real’ answer to any ‘why’ question doesn’t show up in the first answer. They believe it is hidden below many layers and needs to be dug deeper. So they ask themselves the question, ‘Why?’, and then ask the same question of that answer. They do this 5 times before they are happy with their answer. Try the Toyota way and see what you come up with.

What can you do to help them?

Now That You Have Defined Your ‘Ideal Customer Persona’…

Not everyone responds to the same thing, so it’s vital to recognize that your marketing messages, content and offers should be different depending on who you want to sell to.
And if you want your marketing message to resonate with any one particular group of people, it should be your ideal customer. That’s where your focus should lie. That one type of person.
After doing this exercise, you will have an in-depth description of your Perfect Customer Persona. Use this avatar in your marketing from now on.
Make sure he or she is always front and center in your mind when you’re doing any marketing. Talk to your avatar directly in your emails, advertising, and so on. And remember to talk to that one ideal customer and only that one ideal customer.
It all comes down to this:
The more you know about your ideal customer, the better you’ll be at communicating with them.
Once you understand their mindset and can speak directly to them, selling to them becomes much easier. And that, dear Owners, is a real game changer.
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