You’ve heard that you need to create your ideal customer avatar. Maybe you’ve built one in the past. Maybe you skipped it completely. It was one more piece of the information overload problem in the online marketing circus.
But if you create an avatar that builds Creator/Customer Cohesion… the world opens up.
You change from Walter White to Heisenberg.
“[We] will not make garbage. We will produce a product that performs as advertised.” – Walter White/Heisenberg
Listen. We all know that information overwhelm and insecurity (fear of failure and judgment) makes you feel confused and directionless, afraid of having no customers… or worse… a group of high maintenance customers that demand more and provide less freedom.
After all, as Tony Stark said, “No amount of money ever bought a second of time.”
Financial and lifestyle freedom, that’s what we’re after.
Yet, almost no one understands this about attracting more of your ideal customers than you can count… The concept of Creator/Customer Cohesion.
It’s not building yet another ‘funnel’ for a product no one wants or believes they need. Nope.
It’s creating a product both you and your customers love. Using Creator/Customer Cohesion, you make an incredible transformation. You might start as an obscure, unknown, and unsure online marketer.
But you’ll finish as an admired, confident marketer… one who can attract leads and customers at will.
Like Walter did in Breaking Bad when he transformed into the formidable Heisenberg.
But understand this fact. One Funnel Away is a lie. The truth is, you’re One Customer Away.
Let’s get started learning the right way to create your ideal customer avatar…
Use Pop Culture to Easily Fascinate and Influence Your Ideal Customer
When most people see the “pop” in pop-culture, they think “popular.”
Yet, “popular” means different things to different people. And this is why you rarely see it in marketing.
But, when you see and hear the thousands of marketing messages thrown at you each day… what percentage resonates with you?
Right now, you’re almost 300 words into this post.
If that’s the case, then something has hooked you.
Sure, the headline could be the reason. But I’m guessing it’s something more personal.
That said… when you see POP, I want you to think ‘Personal Over Professional.’
By finding the things that resonate with YOU, you’ll tap into things that resonate with others. The key is to show the world who we are in real life. That’s the secret of attracting your ideal customer.
So when you create your ideal customer avatar, make pop culture references that talk to you.
This does two important things.
First, it humanizes you and your brand.
Second, it magnetizes you.
Remember, in marketing, like attracts like.
This fact is becoming more and more obvious in the polarized world we live in. People want to identify with other people (and yes, products and brands) who like the same things. It’s virtue signaling on steroids these days.
But you can use that to your advantage by making references that shout ‘Hey! I like the things you like. I’m like you. Talk to me!’
I’ll go into a little more detail on how to do that in a few paragraphs. For now, remember that we are shooting for ‘Personal Over Professional.’
The Smart, Powerful 5-Step Process to Create Your Ideal Customer Avatar
This process is one of my favorite pieces to creating an ideal customer avatar that sings!
I’m sure you’ll love it too.
Step 1: A Remarkable Way to Easily Peek Into Your Ideal Buyer’s Mind to Create Your Ideal Customer Avatar
The easiest place to start this process is on Netflix (or a similar streaming platform). On Netflix, there’s a section called ‘Watch It Again.’
Scroll through there.
If there were nothing else on TV tonight, what would you re-watch?
Those are the shows and movies, the plots and characters you resonate with personally. There’s something about them that gives you a glimpse into your own core identity. And a peek into the core identity of your ideal buyer.
What are these shows or movies?
Create a list of them. This list will help you with the next two sections. And I’ll give you a couple of examples to help you get going.
Step 2: People Really Love Remarkable Movie Characters. Can You Use them To Create Your Ideal Customer Avatar?
So let’s start with the movies.
Think of 3 to 5 movie characters that you love.
They could be on movies that show up on your ‘Watch Again’ List from the section above, but they don’t have to be.
Make a list of your favorites. Next, write down 3 to 5 character traits for each one that make them your favorite.
And remember, these can be villains or less than savory characters that resonate with us. For example, how many love the movie Scarface? There are more than a few, I can assure you of that!
EXAMPLE: Captain Jack Sparrow | Playful, Creative, Unorthodox, Shrewd, Calculating, Competitive, Confident, ENTJ | Tony Stark | Wealthy, High-Tech, Badass, Driven, Opinionated, Balances Work and Play, Creative, Competitive, Confident, Playful, ENTP
Step 3: Actually, People Also Love Powerful TV Characters. How About You?
This part is identical to the previous one, only this time you’re going to shift your focus to TV characters.
For me, TV characters are often more realistic and accessible than movie characters. After all, none of us are ever going to captain the Black Pearl or rock a Hulkbuster suit. Or, ever know anyone that does.
Yet, we all might know a doctor, or a teacher, or a lawyer. We can all think of at least one high school science teacher. And you may even know one that slings meth and not realize it!
So think of your favorite shows and pluck out the personalities that resonate with you…
Again, list the traits that attract you to them. These are likely the same traits that you’ll want to include in your perfect customer avatar.
EXAMPLES: Harvey Spector, Walter White, Dr. Gregory House
Step 4: Music Moves Emotion in Fascinating Ways. What Makes Your Playlist?
Now this section is cool. Music is very, very close to my heart.
I have a few songs that hit me right in the soul.
They put me in moments where I was vulnerable. Moments where I was proud. Moments where I’m motivated to move mountains.
Music provides a soundtrack to your life.
So pick a few songs, and if you can, choose a line or two from each song (the lyrics). List how they made you feel.
[EXAMPLE: Kenny Chesney, Somewhere in the Sun]
Step 5: Strong Traits Make the First Cut for Creating Your Ideal Customer Avatar
Now that you’ve listed all those various traits… let’s jumble them up.
We’re going to use something called a pairwise comparison (instructions below). This allows us to use data to figure out which personality traits resonate with you.
Qualitative into quantitative.
We’re going to narrow it down to 5.
Once you have that, you have the foundations of your real, core identity.
When you create content – products, videos, posts… anything – create through this lens.
Over time, if you do this, you’ll start to attract people who resonated with YOU. People that want to be like you (instead of a character on a TV show).
Yes, people who will read everything you write. People who will watch every video you create. And people who will buy every product you sell. True fans.
Also, remember, you’re allowed to evolve. You can adopt new traits over time. But trust me. Start here.
Best Way to Quickly and Easily Rank Traits to Create Your Ideal Customer Avatar?
There’s an amazing tool that turns lead into gold. Straight up alchemy. It takes biased qualitative opinions and turns them into unbiased quantitative data.
We call it Noah’s Ark Analysis.
You remember Noah’s Ark. He took the animals on the ark before the flood. Two by two.
“Celebrate we will, because life is short for sweet but certain, We climb on two by two, to be sure these days continue.” – The Dave Matthews Band, Two Step
In Noah’s Ark Analysis, we compare each trait to the other based on how much more we like it.
We compare them in a Google Sheet using simple dropdowns.
Each trait appears in column A and row 1. You then compare them two by two. And the rankings are simple:
3.0 – I like A a lot more than B.
1.0 – I like A a little more than B.
0.0 – I like A the same as B.
0.9 – I like B a little more than A.
0.3 – I like B a lot more than A.
Each ranking generates a score that shows you exactly how much each resonates. And then you use your top 5 to create your ideal customer avatar.
If you did nothing else but apply those traits to your content creation, marketing, and products… you’d be way ahead of 99% of ‘funnel hackers’ out there.
But we’re going to take it further. We’re going to create magic. So, once you’ve narrowed it down to your top 5, it’s time to create your core values.
And we’ll cover that in a future post.
Last Updated on January 5, 2021 by Benjamin Teal
