At the onset of starting your own digital agency or if you’ve already done the hard work and are now in a settled situation, there may be one thing you have overlooked; that is, your customer avatar.

Successful agencies and businesses share a common element, which has differentiated such successful businesses from mediocre ones. What is this something and can you implement it right now?

The answer comes in the form of a customer avatar, and it can indeed impact businesses very positively.

Why create a customer avatar?

Since you, the agency, are more or less responsible for your clients’ lead generation and sale prompts, you must insist on having a detailed discussion with your clients regarding their customers.

Creating a customer avatar, as you will understand later, is an essential task you can do for your clients because once you have helped your customer identify the audience, the marketing expenditure will drop dramatically. Let’s take a simple example to help you convey the importance of this to your clients.

 

The example

Sally Smith was a salesperson at a wholesale spice warehouse. She knows a lot about spices and wants to sell spices at retail. She has a great plan for her design, which will comprise a small glass, wrapped with ribbons. She offers every spice imaginable.

What you should ask Sally are these questions first before she starts spending money on wasteful marketing strategies.

When you ask these questions, both you and your client will have a uniquely clear understanding of who this spice company will most likely be selling to.

The questions

The questions are vital in order to come down to the nitty-gritty of the exact profile (avatar) of the most-likely-to-be customer.

Since these are somewhat bespoke spices, neatly packed, would the market be B2C for those in poor areas or would the product be more likely enjoyed by middle-class women between 35 and 50? Would a buyer of these spices need to have a bit of extra income to become a customer? Your client will answer these questions one-by-one, and at the end of it, you will have the avatar, as follows, per example:

Catherine Smith (46) is from a middle-class area and her hobbies include inviting people over for dinner and a glass of wine. She’s likely married with two children. Her greatest distraction from the mundanity of life is shopping, gym and, for a middle-ground percentage of the Catherine Smiths out there, spending time with her family after work. She has an independent income.

Now what?

Now that your client’s customer avatar has been created, you can help with the marketing strategy far more effectively. What’s more, you can start working within the budget and cut down on unnecessary costs.

By knowing who the client base is, your clients’ campaigns can be particularly geared to that demographic only. Now, of course, your client will want to sell to “everyone” – and indeed, in time they may be able to do so. However, starting with a smaller, more direct and targeted approach to marketing management, your customer will receive far more quality leads.

If you suggest offering samples to the public, ensure that your clients’ products are placed in the right area in order to generate a far more effective and purposeful result. Offering samples to small income families or men who couldn’t be bothered to buy spices, would be an utter waste of your client’s marketing budget.

Finally, having an avatar, it will also benefit your actions because you can always refer to the avatar before creating any content or wasting your time on Twitter when the target market strongly suggests Facebook.

For more information, or if you want a deeper discussion about creating an avatar, please feel free to contact us today. As you know, we service many agencies in South Africa, offering comprehensive wholesale and white label digital marketing services.