For any new online marketer, the holy grail is to find a niche market and attract ideal clients. The ideal client represents not only the person with a problem that your product or service solves, but also one with specific qualities and characteristics of a lifestyle, personality and profession.
The idea being that the more we understand the personal aspects of an ideal client, the more specifically we can tailor our products and services to a purchasing customer base. The marketing approach is that we don’t need to try and sell to everyone. By narrowing the focus to our ideal client type, we can have a manageable and profitable business.
The Ideal Client Dilemma
The ideal client dilemma arises when we define and describe this ideal client in detail as a single individual, and then we have to find them to market to.
Most often marketers will start with ideal clients they most identify with as to gender, age, profession and areas of interest. Or, they may idealize a client with a problem or issue they are most suited to work with or would love to help.
The recommendation is be as detailed as possible in identifying our ideal client. It is almost as if we perceive them as a character in a novel, where we would know them so well. The tendency then is to keep this ideal client in mind as we create products and services and develop marketing strategies.
This ideal client can be overwhelming and intimidating when it comes to finding them. Where is she or he on social media, what groups or organizations, what are the identifying analytics, or what joint venture opportunities may there be to others already marketing to them?
How Ideal Does Our Ideal Client Need to Be?
Maybe a better place to start is by asking – how ideal does our ideal client need to be?
The answer lies in what is the product or service being marketed. If you look at your inbox, you have email marketing campaigns coming in every day. Some of those marketers are offering how-to programs. How to write a book, how to do video marketing, how to build your email list more quickly, or how to improve results with this or that tool. From their perspective, the ideal client profile is limited only the person looking to satisfy a need by learning how to do the thing they are offering to teach.
Another type of email campaign is the tele-summit. Usually topics cover major issues and presenters are a mix of male and female experts in the field. They also can be limited to themes specifically related to gender, age or specialized areas of interest. However, because a tele-summit draws from such a large interested population a detailed ideal client profile isn’t as necessary.
Some marketers offer information products only. Topics can be general or more specialized within categories of interest. Here, the ideal client profile becomes a little more specific and focused with the need for more detailed information. The marketer’s ideal clients may be those who are interested in investing in money management funds, college tuitions grants, health and fitness after a heart attack, or travel to Eastern European countries.
Others prefer to market to clients by gender, age or very specific problems or interests. The more specialized the information, the more personalized the service or the more social the engagement, the marketer is better at understanding the expectations and needs of clients having already anticipated them from an ideal client profile.
When the ideal client doesn’t fit.
As great as it sounds to be able to find and attract a niche of ideal clients and be able to narrow your marketing focus, it’s good to remember that ideal clients are first and foremost “ideal.”
Some marketing efforts will suffice with a more general client profile; others will benefit from an ideal client profile when more personalized services are being offered. Most clients will have some ideal qualities, but there will be others who do not.
We may miss wonderful opportunities to work with those who don’t fit the ideal profile. They seem to be certain they want what we offer. Perhaps, our ideal client is not always be as ideal as we think, and maybe it’s time to listen to the market and let it tell us who really needs us.
Let’s chat about your experiences with ideal clients.
Photo Credit: Pixabay 1019871
You Can Find Me At -
As an online marketer, my dream is to come across an ideal client. No luck so far. lol
So long as you have a target market that is responding to your offers, you’ll do just fine.
I get it… I still struggle with the ideal client tho. I would say for my industry, I want a paying client, who understands tech enough to know they need my services, a small biz owner… are just a few… but similar so it really doesn’t trim it down much. Still working on it.
You raise some very valuable points in this piece, Joyce. When I was releasing my book, “Confessions of a Middle-Aged Hippie”, it was “assumed” by many people that it was geared to people who grew up in this era. I am not at all one to pigeon hole and try to pinpoint demographics, and have learned that psychographics are much more important now. As it turns out, I had people in their 20’s enjoy my book as much as people in their 50’s or 60’s. I understand the value of having a focused ideal client base when you have a specific product or service that fits their needs. Now that you’ve read a few of my posts, I imagine you can see that I am all about reaching as broad and as general a market as possible. You never know who might enjoy what you have to share.
You never know is exactly right Beverley. My biggest problem with the idea of an ideal client is that you would be so focused on serving that specific group and miss others that could expand your market reach. Yes, certainly there are topics that are more specialized and limited, but even there you can have an unexpected audience. For those who might not know there’s a good size market for women interested in model trains and cigars. I know, cigars was a big eye opener. I only tripped upon that one when I had to settle a friend’s estate and had to figure out what to do with all her cigars. In today’s marketing it’s a good idea to start by narrowing your focus, but at the same time keep all your options open. Happy to hear you had such a good response to your book by the younder readers. They were interesting times and I’d live it over again in a heartbeat.
Identifying the ideal client sure can be a challenge. Some people encourage us to create an avatar of our ideal client and then speak only to that person – lots of pros / cons here, which lets this conversation continue. Love the points you made – lots of food for thought.
Thank you for raising the point Deb about the pros and cons. I think there is value in starting off by keeping a specific audience in mind rather that trying to market to everyone you think could benefit. This way you have formulated a core of information which you can expand on and direct to others as your business grows. You’ll see this in a lot of marketers who start off with one product and then over time move on to other topics.
Thank you for this. I have been baffled for 2 years. We know our ideal customer. We market to our ideal customer. Create graphics and varied posts on our platforms & have fans & followers, but they don’t exactly seem like our ‘ideal’ customer. Yet I love them, they are real & I hope they will become customers.
Well, Roslyn you may have tripped upon something interesting. Possibly you might want to expand your vision of your ideal customers, or find out what it is that these fans and followers love about you and your site that they would pay for other than your jewelry. Your site is beautiful and I shared your last post because I thought it was so poignant. So, you’re touching a nerve here.
While I do have my ideal client in mind, with their characteristics and qualities and the way they fit with my products and services, I have had many clients who I gladly worked with and continue to do so that don’t fit 100% the prototype.
Good thing there are so many service providers and clients to match up with so that you can always refer someone who you feel is not a great fit to a partner.
Delia, thank you for raising a point that I didn’t include. Yes, even an ideal client can be someone we don’t want to work with. Many times when we start out we’ll take anyone who comes along, and lessons are learned the hard way. It pays to be able refer clients to others more suited or specialized, and it’s also a bonus because you will be remembered for pointing them in a better direction.
For me part of being ideal client is the willingness to do the work. When someone wants to get healthier and is willing to learn and explore, then do the work, that makes me feel she is ideal. Yes, someone with chronic health problems in their digestive tract or hormones are my ideal client, but more importantly, are they ready and eager?
Yes, you are absolutely right. They can be as ideal as you need them to be, but if they don’t want to do the work they waste your time and miss the value which you have to offer. And, that’s what makes those who do the work so endearing and worth it.
I am always thinking about this topic too. Our ideal client is really digging into her persona…what does she read, dream about, do research on, does she watch tv, travel, what are her friends like or what do they talk about, fears, beliefs, etc etc. It can take time but worth it and a fascinating discovery…..
Ideal clients can offer interesting introspections and can play different roles. An early ideal client was based on a friend who was bight and savvy, but questioned everything. I would write with her in mind. I made sure I always explained things clearly and included specific points and reasons. This was a big help I felt in making me a better writer. Having an ideal client profile identifying fears and beliefs is really advantageous when it comes to creating your marketing copy, and that’s something a lot of marketers miss. So, sounds like you got that one covered.
I really like this post! I have been working with several clients over the years and noticed that not all of my ideal clients actually are great clients. So over time, I have been looking for clients that respect what I do and are responsive. That has helped a lot.
Sabrina, that’s the fun of it. We can re-define our ideal clients at any time. By placing respect as one of your qualifiers, it serves your integrity and your business reputation. A hard combination to beat.
Interesting, Joyce! I haven’t really thought of who my ideal client is, so I need to narrow that down first . Thank You!
It a very good exercise to give thought to an ideal client. While they may never walk in the door, the introspection will give you more insight, and it will also tell you more about yourself.
I think it depends on whether you are selling products or services. If it’s products, you don’t really have much contact with the clients. If it’s services and you are working with them closely, you really want to work with people you enjoy and who want and need your help. If you sell books, you probably don’t care who buys them. If you are a coach, it works much better if you can attract your ideal clients.
Beth, you make a good distinction between product and service. Of course the more personalized the service the more you need to understand where the client is coming from and if that is the right client for you. But, even in a product you want to narrow the focus down to those who have an interest and target market them first and then more generalize your marketing.