Internet Marketing

Mini-Case Study: Avatar = $1,000 in 24 Hours

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Noah Kagan of AppSumo is known for starting several companies and growing them to 7 or 8 figures in revenue.

Recently, while participating in a 24-hour business challenge to prove that anyone can start a business today, Noah asked his followers what business he should start.

The answer? Believe it or not, the answer was beef jerky.

One day later Noah reached the goal of earning $1,000 in 24 hours. In fact, his total revenue in the first day was $3,030.

Here’s how he did it:

  • He located a source for his jerky.
  • He made a basic budget to work out how much he needed to sell to clear $1,000.
  • He made a customer avatar to determine who he needed to target.
  • He sought out people who fit the customer avatar.

Yes, it really was that simple.

The question is, what action did Noah take that most aspiring marketers fail to do? Did you catch it?

The avatar. Noah made a customer avatar so he would know who to target. Once he knew who his customers were, he looked online to see where they could be found and he reached out to them.

Knowing who his ideal customer is has been a cornerstone of all of Noah’s business success stories. And creating the avatar, crafting personal messages to the avatar and then finding people that match the avatar has enabled him to be successful in just about any business he starts.

If you don’t know who your target audience is, then it’s nearly impossible to find your customers or create an effective marketing strategy.

“But I don’t need an avatar for my little business, right? Noah is a big time marketer, so that’s fine for him. I just want to sell my stuff, not waste time with some silly marketing exercise.”

If that’s what you’re thinking, you’re not alone. You want to get busy making money as fast as possible and I totally understand that.

But creating an avatar for your business will actually SAVE you time and MAKE you more money, I guarantee it.

First, what is a marketing avatar?

Simply put, it’s a fictitious person that represents your ideal customer.

And your ideal customer is the person most likely to repeat buy from you, be loyal and recommend your product or services.

Naturally, your ideal customer is the one you want to attract with your marketing.

And before you can create an effective marketing campaign to attract your ideal customer, you must first know who that is. In other words, know your avatar so that you can locate and accurately engage with those most likely to buy from you.

Simply targeting anyone and everyone doesn’t work because it’s too general and not cost effective.

Imagine if you target everyone: You might reach a thousand people before you stumble on one buyer.

But by targeting your perfect customer, your advertising costs will plummet and your conversion rate will soar.

Once you have your avatar then the conversations you design will address your audiences’ wants and concerns. You’ll know where to reach your customers and you’ll know how to make offers they naturally respond to.

When you create a customer avatar, you’ll…

  • Be more effective in your advertising
  • Learn which social media platforms your customers follow
  • Won’t waste advertising budgets on the wrong platforms
  • Create branding that specifically appeals to your ideal audience

Entire books and course have been written on how to create your customer avatar, but for now let me give you a few pointers…

First create a name and physical description.

Think of a loyal customer who champions your products and is quick to leave a stellar review. What will you name this person? What do they look like?

Next, zero in on demographic details

Create a well-rounded vision for your avatar. Determine demographics such as:

  • Age
  • Income
  • Amount in assets
  • Geographic location
  • Job
  • Homeownership status
  • Marital status
  • Parental status
  • Pet ownership
  • Educational status

Finally, flesh out their humanity

This is a (nearly) real person, not a robot. Add the emotional elements of personality that will come into play when they are deciding whether or not to purchase your product. Figure out:

  • Their pain points
  • Their personality characteristics
  • Their fears
  • Their desires
  • Books, movies, music, tv shows and websites they consume
  • Their hobbies
  • Their favorite celebrities

When you finish this exercise, you should feel like you’re friends with your customer avatar. You should be so connected with this imaginary person that you’re inspired to work just for them.

This is the person you will aim all of your marketing, all of your advertising and all of your product creation towards.

This is your ideal customer; the one that – if you play your cards right – will make you rich.