Why do you need an ideal customer avatar checklist?
You’ve built them in the past. And because no one either shows you the right way to create one, or they just gloss over it… you shove it in a drawer. Never to be looked at again. And rarely – if ever – used.
Let me ask you this instead…
Have you ever landed on a website and felt like the site created it specifically for you? That there was some sort of synchronicity there? As if the creator had used some sort of ideal customer avatar checklist?
Or are you worried about not knowing what blog posts to write, videos to produce, or products to create?
Let me tell you a quick story…
We were on our bi-weekly call. My client was struggling to grow their business. They had an online fitness info product.
If you’re familiar with the category, it’s red water. Blood everywhere.
So they were having trouble finding any real traction.
They had no trouble getting traffic. The problem was the traffic wasn’t converting. And we threw everything we had at it.
So, little by little, not only weren’t they making any money; they were slowly losing it. And I was losing a client.
And then, I asked about something we’d only glossed over in previous calls.
“Can you send me your ideal customer avatar? I want to see if we’re missing the market here.”
Silence.
“Tell me you have one.”
“No, we built the product. We’re both experts, we know the methods work, we have testimonials,” they explained. “We just thought this appeal to everyone.”
Instantly it became crystal clear to me the way to turn the whole thing around…
I planned to start creating deliberate ideal customer avatars. This would be their secret weapon.
So, after that call, I sat down and hammered out an ideal customer avatar checklist. But I didn’t stop there.
We started filling out this ideal customer avatar checklist religiously. And for the next few market campaigns, the results were jaw-dropping. Chin on the floor. Roger Rabbit eye’s bulging awesome.
After that, we referred back to this customer avatar checklist for every piece of content. Every advertisement. Every social media post.
And now I’m going to share it with you.
Section I | Customer Demographic Information
Begin with your ideal customer demographics. We want to do this so that we understand that we will be targeting a flesh and blood human.
This will be the easiest part of this process. It will also likely be the one you’ve done before if you’ve created buyer personas in the past.
This section has 6 required elements and 4 optional elements.
Required Elements:
1. What is their name? (Yes, give them one!)
2. How old is your ideal customer?
3. Are they male or female?
4. What is their relationship status?
5. Do they have children? How many, how old, and are they male or female?
6. Where do they live?
Optional Elements (these are generally necessary for B2B customer avatars).
1. What is their occupation?
2. What is their job title?
3. How much money do they make per year?
4. What is their level of education?
There are a couple of key things to consider here. First, don’t use an age range. Remember, we’re looking for a single person. This doesn’t have to be perfect, and you can refine it over time.
Also, do not skimp on finding an image of your avatar – use a stock photo if you’re not basing it on a real person. This is a simple but powerful reminder that you are marketing to a human.
Simply put, the more human your persona is, the more value you’ll get from it.
Section II | Psychographics Level 1
If demographics represent who your target buyer persona is, then psychographics detail the reasons they buy.
It includes their values and emotions. It speaks to their current self-identity (how they see themselves).
And not everyone with the same demographics will have similar psychographics. Which is what makes this section important.
VALS stands for value and lifestyle patterns.
I prefer to put them into one of four buckets (based on the Science Research Institutes breakdown) :
Need Driven
Outer Directed
Inner Directed
Integrated
Each of these groups has several subgroups. However, for this checklist, we will only talk about these four larger buckets.
Let’s take them in order…
Need Driven people generally have limited financial resources. They fall into this category because ‘need’ is the driving factor rather than ‘choice.’
In general, they are slow to trust and have little vision of the future. They generally only focus on today and what needs to happen to either sustain (think of the young with little disposable income) or survive (think of the elderly). As a result, they are price-driven.
About 11% (according to SRI) fall into this category.
Outer Directed folks are socially conscious. This is the category the bulk of the people fall into. They move and act in response to signals. They are looking for ‘social proof’ and do everything through the lens of ‘what will others think.’
You can break them down into three subgroups: Belongers, Emulators, and Achievers.
All want to fit in, with those in the achiever category wanting to take it a step further and feel loved. They are in tune with current culture because they create most of it.
67% of the population is in this group*.
Inner Directed people are ego-driven. They have a set of personal values that drive them. Therefore, they focus on inner growth. They are less focused on external displays or success or wealth but more focused on being personally fulfilled. The move along a hierarchy from
“I Am Me” (dramatic, impulsive, and defined by their actions rather than their personal philosophy) to
Experientials prefer experiences over things. They have a lot of resources (money and connections).
Societally Conscious. This group shifts the focus from self to others.
Combined, the Inner Directed population makes up 20% of the population.
The last 2% is the Integrated Group. These are the innovators. They combine the best of Outer and Inner Directed. They have it all together. Yes, they can lead. And they can follow. And they see all sides of an issue. Many (if not most) people believe they are in this 2%, but few are. We’re talking Steve Jobs, not people with jobs.
As a result, you want to identify where your ideal customer falls for section II of the customer avatar checklist. And you also want to understand where your ideal buyer thinks they are.
It’s almost like they read your mind and built it based on your specific needs. Like they crafted it your specific personality. And they delivered the content in the exact way you wanted it.
Section II.V | Psychographics Level 2
If your product is online, there’s another level of psychographics you’ll need.
These are Digital Values and Lifestyles.
There are 6 basic categories here. The source for these was from TNS and their (now defunct) Digital Life microsite.
Influencers. For these people, their life revolves around being online. They are online all the time. Think bloggers, Instagram influencers, and others with big online followings. They want to make sure their personal platforms are as large as possible.
Communicators. They aren’t online as much as the influencers… yet. They want to express themselves online in a way that they don’t believe they can offline. These folks are your ‘sharers’ on Facebook, the repeat commenters on all platforms, and yes, the trolls. They aren’t looking for dissenting opinions.
Knowledge-Seekers. They use the internet for research and education. Whether that is learning the definition of a new word or making buying decisions. For them, the internet isn’t a platform for fame or expression but a tool to make life easier.
Networkers. This group was who Facebook targeted at the beginning and is LinkedIn’s target market now. They used the internet to build and nurture their relationships.
Strivers. These folks are new to the internet and what it’s capable of. They want to learn more and want to move into one of the other categories as fast as possible.
Just the Facts. They have no desire to say anything to anyone online. They want to hit the news sites, get the weather, see the sports scores, and move on. And they will shop online, but they worry about privacy and security.
Section III | Personality
For this section, we’re going to lean heavily on the Process Communication Model, or PCM.
In PCM, there are 6 categories.
Thinker (Logic) 25%
Thinkers are logical and are often leaders. They are great planners and organizers. Thinkers need structure to be efficient. And they seek recognition for their accomplishments.
Persister (Value)
These folks are judgmental. They filter the world through their values and opinions. And persisters will give their opinions to others (unsolicited if need be). Dedicated and observant, they seek recognition and validation for their opinions, convictions, and related work.
In reading this, it’s easy to jump to a political point of view. But I’ve seen persisters in all sorts of arenas. Think about the strong voices and opinions in your niche. Persisters are there.
Harmonizer (Compassion) 30%
Harmonizers are compassionate. They view the world through their feelings. If you can recognize their emotions and provide validation, you win. They are empathetic and are looking for empathy in return. Compassion is what they value most.
Imaginer (Imagination)
Imaginers… imagine all the different possibilities of life. But not in the way you may think. They are gaming things out. If I do x, then y will happen, and if y happens, then z will work.
They are calm and like to imagine the scenarios that will lead them to their desired outcome. And with some degree of certainty and credibility.
Rebel (Humor) 25%
Welcome to the creatives. They see solutions where others see problems. Rebels can turn the mundane into something exciting. And they live for the present.
They thrive on the reactions of others and use humor as their currency.
Promoter (Charm)
Promoters are doers. They are action takers. You’ll find they are likable, find solutions in nearly every scenario they face, and rebound quickly when things don’t go as planned.
Promoters are direct and like to get to the point. Simultaneously, they are both charming and persuasive, and they use that as their currency.
Section IV | Goals, Obstacles, Fears
Let’s talk about the goals that your ideal customer is looking to achieve. Not only do we want to know the actual, tangible goal, but we want to know more. We want to know what intangible effect achieving the goal will have on them.
Once we’ve listed the goals, we want to list the obstacles keeping them from reaching those goals. Again, we want to go farther, and we want to tap into the emotions that arise from those obstacles.
Why aren’t they taking that next step?
Finally, let’s look at why these things are goals in the first place. We know that something good will happen if the customer achieves his goal. But what bad thing will happen if they do not hit the target?
Section V | Influences
Influences provide us with two key pieces of information.
The first is where they get their information from as it relates to your niche and market.
Generally, I recommend you list the following for your avatar checklist:
1. Books they read.
2. Magazines they read.
3. Blogs/Websites they frequent.
4. Conference they attend (or would like to attend).
5. Who are the gurus they follow in the niche.
Make sure you are narrow here. Digital Marketer suggests that you use the ‘but no one else would’ method. So it would go like this…
My ideal customer would follow this guru, but no one else would.
Simple, right?
The second part is what I will call pop-culture influences. One of the cool things you can do is use what I call ‘Loaded Language.’
It’s a little like Michael Scott said in season 6 (episode 20) of the Office…
“Make friends first, make sales second, make love third. In no particular order.”
One of the best ways to make friends is by letting them know you have things in common. And a simple way to do that online is to reference things they already like. Or things that you are nostalgic about.
Like Michael Scott and the Office.
It helps build rapport. It builds synchronicity.
So make a list of pop-culture references your ideal customer would resonate with (here’s how).
1. TV Show/Characters.
2. Movies/Characters.
3. Songs/Artists.
4. Leisure activities.
5. Books/Authors.
6. Anything else you feel might be useful to connect with your ideal customer.
For example, if you start quoting Dr. House, mix in a couple of Jimmy Buffett lyrics, or some baseball analogies, you have a much better chance of getting my attention.
Section VI | Objections
Now, take a step back. You’ve gone through the first five sections of your ideal customer avatar checklist. You’ve nailed every piece of it.
So it’s time to think about the objections. These are the reasons your ideal customer might choose not to buy your products or services.
Why do they think your solution won’t meet their needs?
Base these objections at least in part on your psychographics from section II.
Is your ideal customer looking for value? Are they a loner or do they like to be lead? Are they skeptical about whether things will work for them?
Give this one some thought. It’s going to come in handy when crafting content, advertising, and other customer interaction pieces.
Do this ideal customer avatar checklist right, and you’ll create a real experience. Your customer will have that feeling of synchronicity. That they are in exactly the right place. And that you are exactly the right guide for them.
Think about when it’s happened to you.
How much more likely were you to share the content? To return to it later? To want to dig deeper? How much more likely were you to buy the products? There wasn’t a need to hype their products or ideas—a need to “sell” you.
When this happens, it’s usually not by chance. It means that there was a good marketer somewhere who nailed his buyer persona and was fearless about optimizing their pages for that buyer.
Last Updated on October 20, 2022 by Benjamin Teal
