Marketers frequently choose reality over the utopian. We set realistic objectives. Expectations are gradually reduced. Rather than aiming for the moon, we frequently aim for the more likely, yet still worthwhile, stars. This is frequently what distinguishes excellent marketers: we understand how to maximise gains while minimising losses.
However, there are times when idealism can benefit us. Consider creating an ideal consumer profile when planning a marketing campaign. An ideal customer profile is a tool and exercise for better understanding your target audience and marketing activities.
In this RisePath blog, we go over the basics of creating an ideal customer profile.
What does a perfect client profile look like?
An ideal customer profile (ICP) is a detailed description of the ideal customer for your business. Account-based marketing (ABM) and targeting enterprise customers require ideal customer profiles.
In B2B marketing, ideal client profiles are frequently employed. They enable marketers and stakeholders to comprehend their target market’s institutional demands. Marketers can adapt programmes to better fulfil these needs using an ICP.
Why utilise a client profile that is ideal?
If you ask any B2B marketer in the world, they’ll most likely tell you that it’s a firm of a specific size, in a given region of the world, with a demand for their product.
What’s the issue with that? Some of the businesses that suit this criterion are great customers, while others are less so. When planning your digital marketing budget, you want to prioritise the best match.
An ICP can help B2B marketers understand the entire customer experience and find a better product-customer fit.
What makes a consumer ideal?
Assume you have one tremendously profitable customer. They are dedicated and pay you the same as 50 smaller consumers. Isn’t it fantastic?
However, they consume 80% of your server’s bandwidth. They have a half-dozen account managers on staff. They require 24-hour customer service.
Is this the perfect customer for you? Would you wish to have 100 copies of this customer? Is your ideal customer more controllable, allowing you to develop and grow your business?
When you think about your ideal consumer, it’s easy to see dollar signs in your eyes. It’s crucial not to confuse the largest invoice with the best value in this scenario.
A profitable, scalable, and long-term fit for your business growth is an ideal customer.
How do you put together an ICP?
To construct an ideal consumer profile, follow these six steps.
Collect consumer information
Begin with your existing knowledge. Examine data from your CRM, customer data platform, and other analytics programmes. This will give you a good idea of the quantitative trends in your target market.
To layer your customer data, you might want to utilise a spreadsheet or a business intelligence (BI) system. This will allow you to spot patterns and keep track of your “top” consumers.
Find ‘ideals’ in your customer information.
Take note of some of your greatest clients’ characteristics as you go through your data. These could be linked to revenue, customer acquisition costs, and/or the length of the sales cycle.
Get specific once you’ve identified the categories. Is your highest-earning customer worth $10,000 or $100,000 per year? Were they costly to obtain? Were their sales cycle the longest or the shortest?
Answering these customer engagement questions firmly will generate a picture of the ideal customer, not just a customer.
Keep track of customer characteristics and demographics.
Identify the characteristics of your ideal consumer that you can perceive. These are possible characteristics that you need to look out for:
- industry
- location
- major decision-makers
- number of employees
- corporate structure
- annual revenue/price per share (if applicable)
- board structure
Investigate the ‘unknowns’ about your ideal client.
You understand how your customers interact with your business. That is, however, only a minor part of who they are.
When creating an ideal customer profile, ask your top customers the following questions:
- What was the problem that prompted you to look into our product?
- What other issues or imminent demands does your organisation have?
- Who gets the most from our product at your company?
- What other B2B tools does your firm employ?
- What is your company’s and industry’s forecast over the next few years?
Describe how your business assists your ideal customer.
You’ve already established a fantastic ideal target account profile. What’s the best way to turn that into an ideal customer profile?
Make a list of how your product benefits your ideal buyer. This activity should be clear based on your new understanding of their business. How does your product address their problems, and how will this be maintained in the future?
Create a client profile to keep track of your findings.
Combine your results into your final client profile once you’ve finished your investigation. It should provide a vivid picture of the type of organisation you’d like to see using your product. This will help your digital marketing and sales teams target the right people.
Buyer persona vs. ideal customer profile
Buyer personas, or fictitious depictions of potential clients, are used in modern marketing initiatives. Your buyer personas for a manufacturing product can be ‘Project Manager Pam’ or ‘Budget Owner Bob.’
When employing buyer enablement marketing on a personal level, buyer personas are helpful. XYZ Manufacturing isn’t going to read your blog post or click on your LinkedIn ad, but Project Manager Pam might.
Buyer personas are zoomed out to create ideal customer profiles. They take a broad view of the company as a whole, rather than focusing on the pain points of a single decision-maker. The best way to use ideal customer profiles and buyer personas together is to use them together.
What can you do with an ICP?
A true grasp of the target market is essential in the modern B2B marketing and sales process. These revenue plans can be influenced by an ideal client profile in numerous ways:
Increasing your account-based marketing effectiveness
A target account list for account-based marketing (ABM) is created using an ideal client profile as a template. An ICP can be used as a template for locating potential clients by your account-based marketers.
MQLs and SQLs should be improved.
To qualify leads, use your ideal customer profile. You can remove leads from your funnel if they are less than 50% similar to your ideal consumer. You may also compare leads to your ICP using a rubric. This allows you to concentrate on passing along prospects who have the potential to become your top customers.
Make your product more marketable.
Your ICP may have revealed that you are not meeting the needs of your ideal customer. This profile might help you uncover product-market fit issues. These flaws can be used to improve your product. This may result in more positive, long-term consumer relationships.
Conclusion
Your digital marketing and sales emphasis can be refreshed by creating an ideal customer profile. You can renew your focus on bringing in the greatest customers for your company’s success by completing this activity.
Check out RisePath‘s unified platform for sales and marketing if you’re seeking systems and tools to manage customer data, coordinate your sales and marketing teams around the customer journey, and develop enduring customer relationships.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.