How to Connect with Multiple Ideal Customers

We've talked before about the importance of clearly defining your ideal customer.  The more specific you are on who you help, the better you can communicate HOW you help them. Because when we try to speak to everyone, we end up speaking to no one.

Clearly defining your ideal customer is more than just smart business. It's critical for targeted messaging.  Different customers have different problems, so the messaging you create should be specific to that reader's biggest challenges.

And if you're like most businesses, you probably have more than one ideal customer.  Your ideal customer may vary based on a particular product or service or time of year. Or perhaps you're running a specific marketing campaign designed to reach a certain audience you want to grow.

Whatever the reason, you always need to be re-evaluating your different customers and how you're connecting with them.  And more importantly, how does your message vary from customer to customer.  Think about your own business for a moment.  Just as you write different descriptions for the various services you offer (because they aren't the same), you also need to adjust your messaging based on the customer you're trying to reach.

I have a new client for website copy. He's a financial advisor and has offices in two very distinct communities, which means the clients he serves are also very different.

Community A: This is where his business began. It's a small, more rural community where everyone knows everyone.  His ideal customers aren't looking online for a financial advisor but asking their neighbor, family, or friend for a referral. And instead of doing Zoom calls, they’re meeting in person.  The most critical criterion in selecting an advisor is trust, and if they don't use a financial advisor, they're likely not investing.

Community B: This is a much larger community and a suburb of a major metro market with many financial advisors to choose from.  Word of mouth is still important, but referrals are confirmed with online research.  Do the advisor's profile and website match the description of the referral they received? And researching one advisor online leads to information on several other equally qualified suggestions.

When we create his new website copy, it needs to be focused on the ideal customer in Community B because that's the one who will be visiting his website most often and the segment he is looking to grow. Well-written copy will appeal to more people than just your ideal customer, so don't worry about alienation. But for it to be most effective, it needs to focus on who you want to connect with most and their greatest pain points.

Here's another example: Jim is the owner of a start-up tech company that specializes in virtual meeting platforms. He's trying to expand his reach beyond the mid-sized company that uses virtual meetings to keep their internal teams engaged and sell to external customers. Organizations that host in-person events (such as hotels and meeting centers) might be seen as competitors but are, in fact, potential customers who can use his software to increase attendance by including guests who only want to attend virtually. Jim will need to be thoughtful with his messaging to ensure his product doesn't come off as a competitor but instead a potential partner to these organizations.  Otherwise, he’ll shut down conversations before they ever start.  Same product.  Different customer.  Different problem. Customized message for each.

Many business owners serve more than one client.  And to effectively sell to them, they need to make sure their messaging speaks to each client's unique problems.  If they are generic in their messaging and try to talk to all their customers at the same time, they'll end up speaking to no one. The best sales copy understands who the ideal customer is and what are their true pain points.  Then they position their product or service as the solution.  The saying "one size fits all" never applied to making more sales.