Customer Avatar Alternatives: Skip the Buyer Personas and Do This to Improve Your Marketing Messages | Ep. #24

Why would you want customer avatar alternatives when so many experts swear by this tried and true approach to improving your marketing messages? Because knowing all of those little details about your target market can be overwhelming—maybe even impossible! Can you relate?

Marketers put a lot emphasis on identifying an ideal customer avatar as a way to improve your content and your marketing. But sometimes figuring out the demographics and characteristics of your perfect buyer holds you back.

If you’ve put off creating your own customer avatar, then you’re going to love the two alternatives we’re talking about in this episode.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[01:11] What is a Customer Avatar and Why Create One?
[04:04] The Problem with Defining a Customer Avatar
[07:30] Two Customer Avatar Alternatives
[16:02] Combine the Two Strategies for a Stronger Marketing Message
[21:55] Should You Abandon the Customer Avatar Approach?
[25:25] Bloopers

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

The Persuasion Revolution
Social Triggers

What is a Customer Avatar and Why Create One?

[Meghan] Today’s topic is a common marketing roadblock for many business owners. I struggle with it, my clients struggle with it, and I know you’ve struggled with it too, Theresa. And that roadblock is identifying a customer avatar.

Just in case you’re wondering…when we talk about a “customer avatar” we’re referring to the profile or the persona that you create to represent your ideal buyer. A customer avatar defines who you’re selling to.

The reason you create an avatar is to really understand the characteristics of the person who is buying your stuff. Understanding more about your prospects enables you to craft more effective and alluring marketing messages. In the end, that’s going to make selling easier. Or, at least, that’s the concept behind the customer avatar.

[Theresa] Oh man, yes, I have certainly wrestled with coming up with an avatar. I know how important it is, though, which is why I devote time to getting clarity on it. But it’s still hard for me.

[Meghan] The concept of a customer avatar isn’t a bad idea. It’s got a purpose. Knowing who you serve is really important.

When I’m writing for a client or working on their content strategy, I always ask who their ideal customer is. Identifying the person who is your target market is one of the very first steps you do when you start marketing your business. Actually, it’s one the first steps you do when you’re starting your business!

[Theresa] That’s right. Your “who” does have a major impact on your overall business. You need to know who you serve and their struggles to create a profitable business. And, of course, that affects your marketing too.

[Meghan] Yes, exactly. Who your customer is and what they want very much directs your marketing and the content you create.

For example, are you going to target prospects of a Gold’s Gym the same way you talk to potential residents of a retirement community? No, of course not.

Your target market or audience defines your marketing. It could even define your mission and the reason you’re in business. The point is that knowing your customer avatar makes it easier to target your marketing efforts and achieve more success. So, that’s why there’s this pressure to figure out who it is you’re talking to.

The Problem with Defining a Customer Avatar

[Theresa] And that’s exactly what I’d call it too: pressure. Your avatar should be something that helps you down your path to lead generation and selling.

Instead, you focus on defining all of these aspects of your “perfect buyer.” That creates pressure and stress to get it right.

[Meghan] It is pressure! There’s so much emphasis on this perfect buyer persona. Does this perfect prospect even exist? I don’t think so.

A customer avatar is meant to be a tool to direct your marketing. But I’ve grown to cringe at those two words, customer avatar. It’s like that annoying pebble in your shoe, okay? And I think that’s because of the advice we get from some experts on this topic. This is definitely one of my marketing pet peeves.

[Theresa] I don’t believe that there is one perfect prospect. And I think that is why I have such a hard time with that type of exercise. I know I’ll never get it “right,” so I always walk away from it feeling unaccomplished.

[Meghan] The avatar exercise focuses on the smallest details of your customer’s habits, demographics, beliefs, preferences, and even physical appearance. Like where your buyer lives, how many kids they have, what they read, what they eat, where they shop, their values…and so on and so on. Marketers are obsessed with this idea of defining an avatar in this way!

Now, assuming that you can actually accurately gather all of this data about your ideal customer—which you probably can’t (I know I can’t)—so what? Is that data really going to move you forward in your business?

[Theresa] Exactly! It’s the question I mentioned in episode 21 about achieving your goals: “Will this get you there?” Is spending hours on end trying to identify the perfect prospect really going to move you forward or is it something that keeps you stuck?

[Meghan] Don’t get me wrong. There is value in knowing more about your customers. And, if you know those minute details about your customers, great!

However, in my experience, most people don’t know that information. So where does that leave you?

[Theresa] It leaves you confused, frustrated, and no closer to your goals. You know I don’t like that!

[Meghan] I know it! You’re all about setting and achieving goals!

The problem with trying to figure out your ideal customer in this manner is that it’s overwhelming to most business owners. It’s difficult to put your finger on this fictitious person. And, I’m not even convinced that knowing ALL of this information assists you in a way that moves your business forward.

So, I think what happens is that you search on Google for “customer avatar,” find over 723 million results—most of which tell you to answer all of these extraneous details about your customers—and you abandon this exercise.

[Theresa] That busy work that kills your productivity. It’s so frustrating to set out to complete a task and get nowhere. Like I said earlier, it leads to feeling unaccomplished.

Two Customer Avatar Alternatives

[Meghan] I’ve got good news though. In reality, you don’t need all of that customer information to start taking action.

I’m going to share two strategies with you that will blow your mind. And you’ll see that you don’t need to answer 200 questions about what your avatar eats for lunch or when they poop to be able to write more targeted content and improve your marketing.

[Theresa] Well, thank God for that!

[Meghan] I just took a major weight off your shoulders, am I right?

I love these different approaches that you can do instead of defining your customer avatar. This is what I use for clients when they have no clue about their avatar. And, these approaches come in handy for blogging, sales copy, emails, video scripts–plus so much more.

[Theresa] Okay, you’ve piqued my curiosity!

[Meghan] I think you’re going to love this, Theresa!

First off, I need to emphasize that the strategies I’m mentioning in today’s episode are by two marketing geniuses, Bushra Azhar from The Persuasion Revolution and Derek Halpern from Social Triggers. Both are experts in the psychology of marketing.

[Theresa] Fair enough! You gotta give credit where it’s due.

[Meghan] These are two separate strategies that you can use alone or together to improve your marketing immensely—even if you haven’t been able to define your customer avatar yet. I’ll talk about each strategy and then how I combine them for marketing.

I admit, though, I may have modified the strategies a bit to fit my needs and my business. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I encourage you to do the same.

[Theresa] There is absolutely nothing wrong with using other ideas to come up with what works for you! There is no one size fits all. Find what works for you and keep moving forward.

1) Bushra Azhar’s Strategy: Focus on Your Prospect’s WTF Moment

[Meghan] Okay, the first strategy is to define your customer’s specific moment of worst struggle. Instead of focusing on defining your avatar, hone in on their “WTF moment.” That’s what Bushra labeled it.

Focus your marketing messages on your customer’s “WTF moments” rather than on their demographics.

Theresa and I are a couple of sailors when it comes to swearing, alright? But since we don’t swear on the podcast, we’ll say that WTF stands for “what the fudge” okay?

[Theresa] That works! Chocolate is always the right answer!

[Meghan] And if chocolate isn’t the right answer, then you’re asking the wrong question!

Okay, let me start with a visual to accompany this strategy.

Picture yourself driving down the interstate highway. You see your exit, you put on your right turn light, and move into the off ramp. You’re driving on the ramp away from the highway, and suddenly, without any warning, see that the road you’re trying to access from the highway is closed. There’s no place to go. You can’t back up because there are cars behind you. You can’t move forward since the road is blocked. You’re stuck and in a total panic. There doesn’t seem to be a way out! What are you going to do?

I’ve just described a WTF moment. It’s a “what am I going to do right now to get out of this pickle?” kind of moment. That’s the point where you customer feels like there’s no way out, they are flipping out. There’s urgency to resolve the dilemma at hand. What will provide relief?

The answer, of course, is your product or service, which gets your customer out of the moment and into a better place. Which is exactly why you focus on the WTF moment and not the avatar. Because that moment is the same across the board for whatever your customer avatar or persona is.

No matter who you serve, the WTF moment is nearly the same for each person in terms of emotions and transformation. I mean, think about the visual I just used. It’s irrelevant who I am when I’m driving on the exit ramp and the road is blocked. My demographics don’t matter. And that’s the point.

You solve a struggle for your target market. And you know that struggle really well. Which means that if you know nothing else about your avatar, you know how it feels before, during, and after their struggle. And what your avatar cares about most is solving their problem.

That makes the WTF moment a simpler, stronger method to craft your copy and direct your marketing.

[Theresa] Oh wow. I love this. Why have you not shared this with me before now? This is absolutely brilliant in it’s simplicity. And it certainly is easier to identify those WTF moments than to figure out what type of magazine my avatar reads.

This strategy sounds like it’d be a much better use of my time than answering a bazillion questions that don’t really help.

I can’t wait to hear this next strategy.

2) Derek Halpern’s Strategy: Focus on Your Prospect’s Level of Awareness

[Meghan] Alright, onto the second strategy.

In Derek’s model for creating marketing messages, there are three different stages in the buying journey that people are in—informed, afflicted, and oblivious.

The premise is that you market to people based on their level of awareness of their struggle. In other words, you adjust your marketing messages based on how much your prospect knows about the problem and the available solutions. You put aside the customer avatar and use the three stages of awareness instead.

Let’s talk about the three stages a bit more.

The Informed Buyer

These are the people who are hyper-aware of the problem. They know they have a big problem, they know you, and they know your competition. They’ve done their research, and they’re an educated consumer.

The Afflicted Buyer

Those who are afflicted know they have a problem, but they don’t know how to solve it. These people are actively looking for answers. They want help. They’re searching for the solution. They are the ones clicking on ads and typing questions into Google.

The Oblivious Buyer

Okay, the third group of people have a problem, but they don’t realize it. Now obviously, since these people are unaware they have a problem, they’re not looking for solutions. They aren’t open to buying because they haven’t come to realize there’s a need to solve anything. According to Derek Halpern, this is usually the largest segment of most markets.

I love this approach! Because instead of marketing to the demographics of your target market, you’re marketing to specific problems. And like I just said, you understand your prospects’ problems better than their demographics. So, this sets you up for success more so than using that customer avatar method.

Think about it. While your prospects and customers may share similarities in their demographics, they are at different stages in their mind. These buyers have the same pain point or problem; it’s just that some are ready to make a buying decision and some aren’t.

So, marketing based on these stages means creating different messages for different buyers. That gives you a huge advantage over the “one size fits all” marketing that’s common with using a customer avatar.

[Theresa] I’ve never heard this concept before. But I can see how this strategy makes it easier to create your marketing messages.

Combine the Two Strategies for a Stronger Marketing Message

[Meghan] Either one of these strategies gives you an advantage over what others are doing. Together, they are the one/two punch. That’s why I use both of them.

First, identify the WTF moment.

Then, create content and marketing messages that address that WTF moment for each level of awareness.

[Theresa] That seems simple enough! The concepts sound really effective, but it’s still a lot to take in. How about a real life example to see the strategies in action?

[Meghan] Okay, yes, I’ll give you an example.

Let’s say you’re a chiropractor who specializes in relieving back pain in men over 50. Let’s say you’re offering a free adjustment to get people in the door and more familiar with chiropractic care. You know that people who take you up on your free appointment turn into patients 50% of the time, so it’s a solid offer.

The WTF moment is lower back pain. More specifically, when your prospect bends down to put on his shoes, he suffers debilitating lower back pain. Because of the pain, he has to take sick leave and he can’t pick up his grandbaby. The heating pad, ice, and ibuprofen aren’t working anymore. He misses doing the things he used to do before his back pain began.

[Theresa] I see what you’re doing there. You’re identifying the problem and giving it some context. And even if the person reading this isn’t a man over 50, they’ll probably be able to relate to those descriptions of the problem.

[Meghan] Exactly. The more description and context you give your problem, the more persuasive and influential your content.

Alright, now for the buyer stages of awareness. For the sake of brevity, I’ll create a headline that could be used for a blog post title or the subject line of an email around this WTF moment.

(Disclaimer here: I’m not sure these statements are accurate since I’m not a chiropractor, and this is for example purposes only.)

For an Informed prospect:

• Why Choose Chiropractic Instead of Yoga for Relieving Your Back Pain

Remember that an informed buyer knows he has back pain and he’s researched solutions. So, you’re very specific about both the problem and solution. The WTF moment is back pain. The solutions are yoga and chiropractic.

For an Afflicted prospect:

Now, an Afflicted prospect knows they have a back problem, but they don’t know how to solve it. They don’t necessarily know about chiropractic care. You catch an afflicted buyer’s attention by talking specifically about the problem and more generally about the solution.

That headline or subject could be:

• This Joint Movement Improved My Back Pain in a Week
• Improve Your Back Pain Without Expensive Drugs or Invasive Surgery

Again, the WTF moment is back pain. The solution is “joint movement.” Then I fancied it up a bit in the other headline by mentioning a solution that isn’t used.

[Theresa] Right! Because that appeals to a possible objection the buyer has. They may not want to use drugs or surgery, but then don’t know what a chiropractor does.

[Meghan] Yes! Spot on!

For an Oblivious prospect:

The Oblivious prospect knows he experiences back pain, but he doesn’t believe he has a back problem. His back pain is not front and center in his mind and neither is chiropractic care. In fact, he may never have heard of a chiropractor. So, you broaden your message even more to avoid any objections the potential buyer may have.

The headline or subject could be:

• Do This One Thing to Eliminate Your Back Pain
• Improve Your Back Pain with These Five Movements

[Theresa] Genius! So the WTF moment stays the same but the reference to the solution changes based on where the person is in their journey…so whether they’re a hot, warm, or cold prospect really.

[Meghan] Yes! You change the language based on who you’re targeting.

Now, I mean, these are just headlines. So, you don’t really get to see the WTF moment in all of its glory. If you’re writing longer content, like sales copy or a blog post, you can incorporate more of the WTF moment into the language. But hopefully these examples give everyone a little piece of what could be in the grander scope of their content and marketing.

[Theresa] I do think those examples were helpful to understand the strategies better. It probably takes some practice to get used to thinking in these terms though.

[Meghan] It does take practice. But these strategies give you a beginning framework or a process for content creation that’s fairly straightforward and not nearly as complicated as the avatar model.

You can jump right in today to create your content and marketing messages without having to come up with your perfect customer avatar. And that’s the magic here!

Should You Abandon the Customer Avatar Approach?

[Theresa] It is a little magical!

I like that there’s an alternative to a customer avatar. Businesses get to move forward in their marketing without the burden of understanding every little aspect of their potential buyers.

I also like that these strategies concentrate on problems and solutions rather than on demographics. Like you pointed out, all of your prospects could be very different demographically, but their problems and struggles are similar. You can use that to your advantage.

Incorporating the levels of awareness into your marketing seems like you could deliver more customized content and messaging. And more targeted marketing means more effective content and higher conversions or sales.

[Meghan] Very well said. I think marketing is easier with these strategies and your results will hopefully be better.

[Theresa] The big question is: should you forget about creating your ideal customer avatar?

[Meghan] No, I don’t think that you want to completely abandon the customer avatar exercise. Those little details help you attract more targeted prospects and talk to them. And, knowing some of those demographics help your advertising, so there is value in setting some parameters around who buys your stuff.

But, if you’re struggling with figuring out who your target customer is, then the strategies we discussed today are effective alternatives. You can revisit defining your customer avatar later if you choose to.

How do you feel about it, Theresa?

[Theresa] I think if you’ve been procrastinating around identifying your customer avatar, you now have no excuses. So block out an hour or two and spend some time brainstorming those WTF moments to get started. Then come back and work on applying those to each level of awareness. Don’t overthink it. Just start!

[Meghan] Okay, that’s it for this episode! A big shout out to Derek Halpern and Bushra Azhar for sharing their brilliance with the world.

If you feel like being a kind, generous human being today, please share this episode on social media or leave us a positive review.

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