How to find and target your dream clients
Imagine this.
Your client roster is chocka-full. And not with those annoying, wont-leave-you-alone, undermining-your-knowledge, thinks-you-work-24/7 clients.
It’s the clients you’ve dreamt of working with, ever since you dreamt up the idea of your biz!
The ones that respect your time, pay you what you’re worth and tell their friends all about you. You know the ones.
Sounds nice, doesn’t it?
But is it unrealistic?
NO. WAY.
You just need to know who your dream clients are, how to find them and then win them over! Ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom!
Sounds daunting, I know. But it’s really not as hard as you think! So, let’s get stuck in.
Step one: Know who your target audience is
This is something that stresses a lot of people out. But, it’s pretty simple really!
I’ve said this once, and I’ma say it again! This is a super important part of ANY sort of marketing. So, let’s go through it again.
Your target audience is a group of peeps that we’re gonna make a bunch of generalisations about. So, make a list of traits that your dream clients have.
Gender
Age
Income
Household makeup
Where do they live?
Think of some basic interests, attitudes and challenges.
But here’s the kicker: Make sure this info is about the clients you want to have. If you don’t have any of these clients right now – this is where we can have some fun! Dream big. Say your dream clients are celebs like Beyoncé and Kim K-West. Give these people a little online stalk, then write down their traits, demographics, interests and challenges.
Step two: Make your dream client persona
We’re gonna take your target audience and break it down into some specific dream client personas.
Think of it this way: If your target audience is a crowd of people, we’re now focussing in on different parts of that crowd. Here, we’ll break it down to a few ‘models’, of people who are keen to buy into different aspects of your business.
Doing this gives you insight into what kind of people need what sort of services and, most importantly, helps you decide what kind of words will motivate them to choose you over someone else.
Give each persona a name, age and job title
Get specific (you can get as specific as what they have for brekkie, and what brand shoes they wear)
Give each one a background, goals and challenges, mannerisms and think about the language they use
Now for the cool bit. How can your brand and your services help them achieve these goals, and overcome their challenges?
Step three: Get to know them… intimately
I seriously can’t stress enough how important this step is! If you wanna sell to these people, you need to know them. Intimately. So, let’s get inside their head!
- Follow them on socials
- Engage with them
- Build relationships with them
- Send them questionnaires
- Check out the feedback they’ve left you on FB and Google, and look for similarities
- Go through emails, social posts, messages and find out what they’re asking for
- Do discovery calls and take note of the challenges they face and the language they use.
This isn’t creepy Joe Goldberg stalking. It’s marketing, people! We’re finding out how they speak, the tone they use and the emotions they relate to.
Step four: Talk to them
Now – we’re gonna collate all this info, jot down common words/slang/colloquialisms and create a tone of voice guide which all leads to writing magical words that speaks (ie. SELLS) directly to YOUR. DREAM. CLIENTS.
Make a content strategy based on: the language your target audience and dream client personas use on the daily, the problems they have and how you solve them, your specific brand voice and your specific brand strategy.
Get started by asking yourself questions like this:
- Do they use slang and colloquialisms? If so, which ones?
- Do they use lots of industry-specific language, or are they more casual in their communication?
- Do they inspire and motivate others, or are they searching for answers themselves?
- Are they funny? Rebellious? Cheeky? Flirty? Sweet? Kind-hearted? Stern? Structured? Easy-breezy? Jokey? Nurturing? Motherly?
Now, answer their questions. Help them achieve their goals and jump over the hurdles they face. Talk to them like they’re your best friend, you care about them, and you want them to succeed. Solve their problems by using emotions they relate to, and language they use.
Before you know it – you’ll find yourself forgetting all about those annoying, wont-leave-you-alone, undermining-your-knowledge, thinks-you-work-24/7 clients, and working with more and more of the clients your dreams are made of!