I completely screwed up when I first met my husband’s family in El Salvador. One of the bilingual teenagers taught me a greeting that’s the casual American equivalent of saying, “wassup?” with an upward nod of the head. I was just learning Spanish and eagerly using the only five words I knew, and I ended up essentially saying “wassup?” while meeting an older matriarch figure in the family. She looked stunned. The room went silent. Suddenly, she – then everyone else – howled in laughter. Man, I got lucky!

This kind of thing could be happening in your business, too, where you’re not communicating in a way that acknowledges who your ideal customer is, so they choose to ignore your marketing efforts and move on. In the case of my family, Doña Estela knew she was stuck with me and made the best of it. But in business, people have many choices and go where they feel there’s a genuine connection.

Getting specific, your ideal customer is the type of person you enjoy serving and who your product or service totally satisfies. Knowing how to communicate with them and knowing what to communicate about allows them to relate to you enough to consider buying from you.

1 - Your ideal customer wishes you understood who they are as a person.

You should be able to describe this person so well that you can easily step into their shoes. Think age, income, gender, marital status, family, race, industry of work, skills and abilities, worldview, values, beliefs, character traits, lifestyle, hobbies, and anything that helps you understand the details of their life.

Take some time to really think through these aspects. Write them down, and always keep them in mind so they can influence your communications and approach. Sure, everyone is welcome to be your customer, and to some extent these traits are assumptions and generalizations, since not everyone is exactly the same. But if you actually make an avatar of your ideal customer, they become a living person with a name and a face. Then what you’re doing and selling becomes more real, meaningful, and filled with empathy and understanding. You're being relatable.

2 - Your ideal customer wishes you would clearly connect what they need with the benefits of your product or service.

You know what they need because you’ve done the work of knowing who they are as a person.

Here's an example. One of our clients is an attorney specializing in guardianship, elder law, and estate planning. Her clients are often making incredibly hard decisions about people they love, are sometimes in conflict with other family members over what to do about an aging parent’s health, confused about how to protect a disabled child with special needs, or in financial distress due to lack of estate planning. These people are overwhelmed. They’re emotional and stressed. They need help right now.

Imagine that the content of the attorney’s website captures who their ideal customer is and clearly matches their needs and feelings to the services being offered.

• The Home page talks about advocacy: An overwhelmed client finds relief at the idea of having someone fight for them.

• The Services page clearly outlines the same scenario they are facing: A stressful situation starts to feel more hopeful.

• The site has several testimonials of other clients that have already walked this path: This painful moment in time starts to feel more temporary.

• Multiple contact methods are easily visible: The lawyer answers the call and says, “I’ll be by your side every step. I know exactly what to do here. Here’s what you can expect to happen next. Your mom is lucky to have someone that loves her this much.”

That’s the very moment a stranger – the attorney - becomes a trusted advocate and lifeline.

3 - Your ideal customer wishes you would communicate in a way that’s authentic to you but still relatable to them.

Perhaps your business doesn’t involve something so emotionally charged or life-altering as the law firm example. However, to honestly and ethically engage and persuade others, you have to understand the audience you’re trying to reach with your website, emails, marketing, and social media efforts.

It’s through your communication style and interactions that you show you really “get” where someone is coming from. Only when they feel you understand their point of view will they have enough trust and basic interest to hear how the benefits of your product or service meets their needs.

We specialize in website design, SEO and relatable copywriting and blogging. All of these elements help you reach your ideal customer in a way that’s authentic to your brand.

Contact us for a free analysis and consultation. We will make an honest recommendation based on 15 years of experience. Need more social proof? Check out one of our 150+ Five-Star Google reviews.