How to Create An Irresistible Customer Avatar Your Target Audience Can Relate Too— Like looking in a mirror.

Are you ready to elevate your marketing strategy to the next level? Say hello to your Ideal Customer Avatar.

Also known as a buyer persona or marketing persona, a semi-fictional representation of your customer is a game-changer in personalized marketing.

Crafting your Ideal Customer Avatar (ICA) is the cornerstone of effectively targeting your unique audience and will boost your brand's success through:

• Focused marketing budget and efforts

• Tailored messaging and content

• Increased relevance and resonance

• Personalized interactions

• Higher customer satisfaction and loyalty

Getting Started with Your Ideal Customer Avatar

Before creating an Ideal Customer Avatar, you'll need to investigate to understand your audience deeply. A sample group or an existing customer base would be an excellent place to start. Begin by reviewing the information you have and collecting data on their demographics, preferences, behaviours, pain points, and motivators. If you don't have an existing customer base, you'll need to conduct customer research through surveys and interviews with a focus group of willing participants.

This information will form the foundation for building a well-rounded ICA that reflects the needs and desires of your target customers.

Now you have the facts, it's time to breathe life into your ICA by creating a detailed persona. This is where you can give your avatar a name, age, occupation, hobbies, goals, and challenges. The more specific and vivid you make your ICA, the easier it will be to tailor your marketing strategies to 'click' with them.

Getting to Know Your Ideal Customer Avatar Further

When you aim to understand your target customers so you can tailor your messages accordingly, there are four main areas to consider.

Age:

It's no surprise that different age groups have varying communication styles. For example, you wouldn't want to use Gen Alpha slang like "rizz" to reach a Gen X audience. You'd use relevant terms and also cover relevant information. One powerful tip here is to be mindful of nostalgia's role in your marketing efforts. For example, using music, movies, commercials, foods, and candies from your target audience's era will go a long way in creating an emotional bond with the audience you want to help.

Location:

Knowing where your audiences are based allows you to personalize promotions and offerings to suit their geographic needs.

Knowledge of Certain holidays, seasons, and weather can all help you decide what you'll promote and when and assist in your product creation.

For example, if your audience is based in regions celebrating Christmas, you can personalize promotions and offerings with Christmas-themed products and discounts. Understanding local weather patterns, such as promoting warm clothing during winter in colder climates, can significantly enhance the relevance of your promotions and product offerings.

Hobbies, Interests, Passions:

By aligning your offerings with their interests, hobbies, and passions, you can deepen their emotional connection and loyalty to your brand.

For example, if you ICA loves mountain climbing, why not use relevant imagery to get their attention when creating new social media posts

Pain points and challenges:

When it comes to connecting with your audience trust is key, and you can build trust by showing empathy for their unique pain points and challenges.

For example, if your audience suffers from anxiety, providing resources like guided meditation apps, stress-relief workshops, or supplements targeting stress can demonstrate empathy and a commitment to supporting their well-being.

Tip: Having identified your ICA's pain points and challenges, you can now draft an ideal outcome opposite each point; this exemplifies the benefits of applying the solution you offer.

The Power Of Personalization

Crafting your ICA is not a one-time task; it's an ongoing process that evolves with your business and market trends. Regularly revisit and refine your ICA to align with your audience's changing needs and expectations. Personalization is the key to fostering meaningful connections with your customers and creating long-term loyalty.

In conclusion, your Ideal Customer Avatar is a hypothetical representation of your audience, but MORE importantly, it is a strategic tool that guides your marketing efforts toward success. By investing time and effort in creating a detailed ICA, you set the stage for targeted campaigns, improved customer engagement, and, ultimately, business growth.

So, if you are ready to transform your marketing and offer impactful, personalized customer interactions that resonate deeply with your audience, why not start crafting your Ideal Customer Avatar today?

Remember, your customers are the heart of your business, and with your ICA in mind, they'll be the centre of your marketing strategy, too!

Did you get something good out of this article? If so, feel free to share it with others and demystify what it means to create an ICA.

Cheers to your success!

Five Wellness Copy "Icks" That May Cost You Meaningful Connections—And What To Do Instead.

It's no secret that the wellness space is alive and thriving—just like the wheatgrass growing at your favorite ‘juicery’. In fact, the wellness economy is valued at 1.8 trillion dollars in the U.S. alone.

That means you have a ready-made market for your products and services.

Avoiding these five common copy mistakes will aid in your efforts to convert more wellness browsers into buyers.

Ick # 1: Overusing Jargon and Buzzwords

Please don't shoot the messenger; I come in peace.

As a wellness provider, you have a lot of information to convey about your industry, expertise, and solutions. A common mistake is to write your marketing copy assuming that your reader knows “wellness” buzzwords or jargon, like “container”, ''hold space”, ''holistic, ''your best self”, ''wound”, ''vibration”, and “alignment”. Words like these are familiar to you and your peers, but it's important to consider that they may alienate the everyday gal or guy who needs your help if they don’t know what they mean or if they give them the "ick".

For instance, instead of 'holistic, 'you could use 'complete' or 'broad.'  

SOLUTION: Review your copy. Do you use many of those words?

Consider whether another choice would be clearer, simpler, and more accessible to your wider audience. A free app like Word Hippo may assist you with finding a suitable replacement word.

Ick # 2: Making Unrealistic Claims

Ooof... this problem alone is a doozy and is the very thing that has given the wellness industry a bad rap.

The reality is that making unsubstantiated or exaggerated claims not only has reputation-damaging legal implications for you but can also create a tidal wave of consumer skepticism and paralyzing buyer mistrust, which could lead to a loss in sales and brand reputation.

SOLUTION:  Build trust with your audience by providing evidence-based information and being honest about the benefits and limitations of your products and services. Imagine how much more trust YOU'd have in a wellness professional if they were upfront about the limitations of their products and services alongside the MANY benefits. Create a list of and use only reputable sites for research, and give a list of those sites to anyone who writes for you.

INSIDER TIP: Use your FAQ sections to address limitations and buyer objections.

Ick # 3: Not Addressing a Specific Target Audience

It's Marketing 101. Yet identifying and addressing the needs of a single target audience to the possible exclusion of "somebody" may leave you second-guessing your decision. However, without a well-planned buyer persona(s), you'll have a weak message that fails to connect with anybody.

SOLUTION: Create and or refine your buyer persona(s); take the time to research and understand your ideal customer to find out which problems they need help with. Then, investigate their buying patterns and the thought processes that led them to make a purchase.

 If you have an email list, you can ask them to complete a questionnaire, or you can join groups where they hang out, and online forums around related topics can often be a gold mine of information.

In addition, you can find out more information about creating a buyer persona, aka Ideal Customer Avatar (I.C.A), here!

Doing the work will give you insight into their unique problems and how your solution can help. By doing so, you're showing your audience that you truly understand and care about their needs.

For example, if your wellness brand targets busy professionals, your buyer persona might be a 35-year-old working woman who values convenience and stress relief.

Ick # 4: Lack of Emotional Connection

It's safe to say that health and wellness consumers trust you with the deepest parts of themselves—their wellness. Without emotional connection, your reader may feel you have nothing in common or don’t understand their struggles when nothing can be farther from the truth.

Instead, humanize your brand through emotional connection and foster the loyalty and trust you need so they feel safe working with you.

SOLUTION:  Add emotional connection builders throughout your marketing copy through things like:

• Storytelling: It's an age-old art for a reason. When we read or hear a story, we paint a picture in our mind, activating parts of our brain that go beyond words, reinforcing the message and making it more memorable.

• Social Proof: Reviews and testimonials to help build trust. When we see people just like us getting the results we want, it is a powerful motivator. Be choosy when selecting your reviews to reinforce the right message.

• Relevant Images—A picture paints a thousand words, as they say. Use images that help reinforce the feelings you want your reader to have. Choose a happy, smiling face or images of success when in doubt.

Ick # 5: Poor Structure and Clarity

Unclear and overstructured copy can confuse your reader and reduce the effectiveness of your message. A confused reader is much less likely to buy from you.

SOLUTION:  Edit your copy with the following tips in mind:

1.   Write your copy at a Grade 8 reading level— use a free online app like the Hemingway Editor to ensure your readability is on point.

2.   Write for skim readers. Use headings, subheadings, crossheads, and bullet points to grab your reader's attention. The reader should be able to glean your content's main points without reading all the nitty gritty details.

INSIDER TIP:  Before you press “Publish” on your next marketing copy, have a text-to-voice reader read it back to you. I use a Microsoft Word “Read Aloud” feature for this.

It's surprising how going this extra step can help you identify dry, dull, or run-on sentences and highlight errors, such as spelling and missing words, that you may not have seen upon initial editing.

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And there you have it, 5 common "Icks" that could keep you from the sale. Now it is time to review your copy for:

• Jargon and Buzzwords

• Unrealistic claims

• Lack of Emotional connection builders

• Too vague a target audience

• Poor Copy structure and Clarity

Apply the suggestions here for "ick"-free copy that connects with, builds trust with, and effectively engages your audience.  

A quick reminder from your copywriter Ally: Great copy can impact your ability to sell, but it will only reach its full selling potential when combined with a sound marketing plan built on a firm foundation of customer and market research.

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Do you have time to review your copy in depth?

Do you need help applying the suggested solutions?

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Create An Online Course Like You Know What You're Doing, even If it's Your First Time—Here's what to consider.

Free Course Readiness Assessment

The benefits of creating and selling an online course include the opportunity to personally engage your audience, offer them great value, and turn them into lifelong repeat buyers. 

That's because...

Your audience is looking for quality content; they need your help with the problems they're facing. An online course will help you establish a reputation for your expertise. It's your opportunity to impart knowledge about your niche to your audience personally and effectively, with little effort and desirable results, such as turning them into loyal brand advocates who tell their friends about you.

Who doesn't want that!?

While setting up an online course doesn't have to be complex; it involves several steps and moving parts. In this blog, I'll cover the basic steps to help facilitate your planning with a focus on the following:

1. Knowing your audience

2. Picking the perfect topic

3. Choosing a course format

4. Creating an outline

5. Choosing a platform

6. Pricing your course

7. Adding more value

8. Planning your marketing 

9. And setting a launch date

10. Should you get help?

Bonus: At the end of this blog, you'll find a link to a free downloadable course readiness assessment tool, just for you!

Know Your Audience

For your online course to succeed, it must be interesting and relevant to your audience. The best online courses tackle people's current problems and offer an immediate solution.

To create an effective and efficient course, you must know your audience well to target the kind of help they need. Solve a problem your audience is facing and assure success.

Before planning your course, you'll want to review and update what you know about your target audience. 

Pick the Perfect Topic

The topic you choose will greatly determine the success or failure of your online course. Spend time brainstorming and trying out different ideas, then narrow your choice to the optimal one.

Here are three key factors to consider when selecting the best topic for your course.

Your Passion. You know, the thing that lights you up and you could go on and on about. The energy and enthusiasm you bring by sharing your passion will undoubtedly have a positive ripple effect on the participants.

Your Area of Knowledge. Choose something you know well. The whole point is to impart your expertise to the participants so you can help solve an issue they are facing. Think, what do you most often help people with? What topics were your best-performing content about?

Useful for Your Audience. The most important thing is that it's useful for your audience. What things you can teach them to do? They should leave your online course feeling empowered and mastering a new skill. 

Choose Course Format

Now that you know your audience well and have chosen a topic, it's time to determine how you'll deliver this knowledge. 

When choosing a format, first consider your audience's tastes. What do you know about their preferences? If you're unsure, you can test your ideas by asking them using a simple questionnaire or survey.

There are no cookie-cutter formulas you must adhere to, but here are further considerations when deciding on your format:

• Will you offer a mini-course with just a few sessions or a longer course that stretches over weeks or months?

• How much content will be online and in person? Or will it be a blend of both?

• Will your course live vs. pre-recorded work be content at your own pace, or will it be a bit of both? 

• Will the coursework be done during sessions, or will there be workbooks and other outside assignments for participants?

• Finally, consider adding some form of final assessment. This could be a test at the end of the course to demonstrate that participants have mastered the material, or they could receive a certificate of completion.

Tip:  Want to make the learning experience more interactive, engaging, and enjoyable? Consider gamifying your course. For example, add points or fun sounds to reward participants for completing each module. Studies show that gamification significantly reinforces learning because it engages our brain differently by fuelling our feel-good hormone dopamine. Let's face it: who doesn't like a reward for completing a task?!

Create an Outline

With your chosen topic and format in mind, now's the time to sketch out an outline for your course. You don't need to have all the content ready right now, but it's a good idea to break the topic down into parts to plan the course further.

Tip: Once your outline is complete, you can use it as a handy reference when creating marketing materials to tell people what's included.

If your course will teach people how to do something, find a logical way to break it up into bite-sized pieces and identify the significant steps along the way.

One way to accomplish this is to include a learning activity at the end of each module or session. With the end in mind, you can work backward, filling in the content the participants need to know and what they need to do to reach their goal. This will also help you decide what additional learning materials, such as templates or worksheets, you'll need at different points during the course. 

An excellent tip for breaking up a topic is to find books about your chosen topic on Amazon. Look at the table of contents to see how the authors organize the information and let that help guide your layout.

Choose a Platform 

If tech isn't your thing, don't let this step scare you. You can offer an online course without a great deal of tech hassles. Choose a platform that's easy for everyone to use and test it so you're familiar with it ahead of time.

The best place to start is to consider the platforms you and your customers already use. For example, suppose you communicate with them through Zoom or a social media site like Facebook. In that case, consider those platforms a viable/affordable option.

If you want a more robust platform with features like ongoing technical support, payment processing, analytics, and insight reporting, check out Thinkific, Kajabi and Udemy.

Ease of use matters most, so skimping on features is okay as long as everyone can easily log in, attend sessions, and communicate through the platform. 

Pricing Your Course

The first decision when pricing your course is whether to charge for it or offer it for free.

Offering a free course has benefits. More people will sign up and receive the value it provides, which means more exposure and brand recognition. In addition, consider the principle of reciprocity, meaning that because you've offered something for free, they may be more likely to buy a product in the future.

Lastly, you can use a free course as a lead magnet to get people to sign up for your list and nurture them. 

However, there are reasons to consider charging for your online course. 

When people invest their own money into a course, it increases its perceived value. And can create a sense of ownership and responsibility. Although fewer people may sign up, they'll be more engaged and invested in getting the biggest bang for their buck.

To determine how much you charge, consider conducting market research to discover at what price points your target audience will pay. This doesn't have to be complicated. A little market research in the form of a simple survey or Google form questionnaire to existing clients can give you all the information you need to make an informed decision. Further insight can be gained by looking at what similar courses are charging.

One last pricing consideration would be the position of your course in your sales funnel. For example, your offering may be a reasonably priced course in the middle of your sales funnel to qualify leads or a high-ticket item packed with value at the end of your funnel. 

Add More Value

If you plan to charge for your online course, consider adding some value to increase your charge. Most of the time, value can be added at little cost to you.

To determine what to add, put yourself in your participant's shoes. What extra material would help you master the course? For example, a cheat sheet or a resource guide might make the task easier and cost you nothing but a bit of time.

Plan Your Marketing

Your marketing plan is your strategy for engaging right-fit clients; here are three key factors to consider as you formulate your plan:

1. Determine where your course fits into your sales funnel. Will you use your course as a lead magnet to attract new leads or as a low-ticket offer to qualify them? Or is this course your final high-ticket offer?

2. Identify the marketing channels you'll use depending on where your target audience hangs out. Now, formulate the message you'll use to explain your course's benefits, unique value, and, most importantly, results. Remember the advice marketing guru Seth Godin shared in his book Purple Cow: "People don't buy paint; they buy painted walls." 

3. Decide how you'll build expertise through helpful content posted elsewhere. For example, you might have a blog or an active social media presence where you're already building your brand. If people there see you as an expert authority, it will be easier to get them to sign up for your course. 

Other elements of your marketing plan may include creating YouTube videos, seeking speaking engagements, and leveraging social proof—hello testimonials, reviews, business credentials and more!—

Set Your Launch Date

The final step is to set a launch date for your course. Over time, you'll figure out when your audience is most receptive. But if you're starting out, one tactic is to align with a holiday or significant event, such as Spring cleaning or New Year's goals. Be sure to set the date a few months out so you have time to build buzz and promote your course.

The goal should be progress over perfection. After your first run, reflect and assess what worked and what didn't so you can improve. Trial and error are often the best teachers when mastering online courses, so feel free to hurry up and get started. 

Should You Get Help?

Here are a couple of points for consideration:

Your time is valuable, and spending your limited time on the details of creating and launching your first online course can significantly bog you down, keep you from doing what you are best at, and keep you from bringing your course to completion because there simply are not enough hours in a day to get it all done.

Your reputation is important to your business's growth and longevity. A poorly designed course and a bumpy delivery will diminish your audience's trust in buying from you again; no one wants that.

Your bank account. It goes without saying that professional help requires an initial investment before you ever make a dime. That can be a hard pill to swallow, but it's important to remember that with professional help, you'll get a polished finished product, and you'll be generating revenue from your course potentially for years to come with little to no additional time, effort, or investment. And that is, as they say, 'priceless.'

The only question is, how ready are you to create and sell an online course?

Click the link below to get your FREE downloadable .pdf readiness assessment.

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