Why do I need to define my ideal customer profile?
“Who is listening to our messaging?” “Who should we be speaking to?” “How should we be speaking with them?”
Your ideal customer profile (ICP) defines who your perfect customer is and details everything you know about them. Those details should go way beyond demographics (the facts) and include psychographics (personality traits, lifestyle, values, etc).
Psychographics can be a difficult concept to grasp. An example I use in almost all of my presentations is Wrangler® Jeans. You don’t have to have ever worn Wrangler clothing to understand a lot about their core audience. I bet you could correctly guess a lot about the lifestyle they live, the music they prefer, the hobbies they enjoy and even the vehicles they own.
Wrangler has a very profound understanding of their ideal customer and can therefore speak to them in a very value-driven way. This informs every decision they make with their marketing. Sponsoring an event? Sure, if it connects us to our target audience. Time for new creative for the annual content calendar? It won’t talk about high-rise buildings and jobs in IT.
The audience has a profound understanding of WHY they should choose Wrangler. About how that brand directly adds value to their life. Wearing Wrangler makes them more…them. They wear that clothing proudly; like a uniform. In the best way possible.
Your ICP will provide the same focus for your marketing efforts. And, no, you don’t need a Wrangler-sized budget to develop one. In fact, I would argue it’s more important for small- and mid-sized companies to have more defined ICPs.
It’s safe to say that customers are the most important part of any business. Without them, no business succeeds. So stop taking them for granted. Customers go through a decision-making process. They will not buy from you the very first time they encounter your brand.
If a stranger came up to you on the street and proposed marriage what would you think? Would you jump at the chance or would you think they were insane? That’s the same thing as randomly throwing product pricing at an undefined audience who have never heard of you.
Take the time to define them, to understand them and to learn what they need. That way, when you do earn their attention and then their business, they’ll be yours forever more.