Talya Beyers

Your Customer Avatar: The Core of Your Digital Marketing Strategy

Mar 18, 2022 Talya
When it comes to digital marketing, it's all about what you have to offer. Right? Wrong. It's all about who you're offering it to.
Your Customer Avatar: The Core of Your Digital Marketing Strategy

1. What is a customer avatar?

A customer avatar is a detailed description of your ideal customer, the one you're aiming all your marketing efforts at.

Keyword: Detailed. 

This isn't a broad, one-line description like "middle-aged women". 

This is a deep dive into their values, dreams, and fears - what makes them tick. 

2. Building your customer avatar

Be inspired by existing customers.

If you're just starting, think about who you had in mind when starting your business. 

When you're being as detailed as possible, you might be afraid of excluding potential customers who aren't exactly like your customer avatar. 

But that's the thing - few, if any, people will be an exact match! 

You're looking for one ideal customer, not a thousand maybe-customers. 

2.1. What to know about your customer avatar

2.1.1. Demographics

Start with:

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Location
  • Language(s)
  • Income
  • Occupation
  • Education level

Also think about their family structure, sexuality, or ethnicity, if it's relevant to your product or service. 

2.1.2. Values

Ask yourself:

  • What is important to them?
  • What content do they consume?
  • What are their hobbies?
  • What do they aspire to?
  • What makes them get out of bed in the morning?

Use this to guide your marketing themes. 

A customer avatar who doesn't care about sustainability won't be impressed by a campaign about your company's carbon footprint. 

2.1.3. Pain points

Time for the juicy stuff:

  • What gets on your avatar's nerves? 
  • What problems do they face? 
  • What are their deepest fears? 
  • What keeps them up at night?

Figuring out what makes your avatar's life difficult is the key to your marketing focus - tell them how you can make their life better by addressing their pain points.

3. Using your customer avatar

Each marketing effort - be it an Instagram post, newsletter, or landing page - must be approached with the question: "Would this appeal to the customer avatar?". 

If not, rethink it. 

However, your customer avatar isn't an unchangeable pillar of truth.

As your business evolves, so might your ideal customer. 

Regularly review your customer avatar to keep your digital marketing strategy pointed in the right direction.

It's all about the customer, after all.