Where to Find your Ideal Client Online

One of the most important factors in effective marketing is “talking or writing” to your ideal client.

Whether you are blogging, writing newsletters, creating images for your marketing, lead magnets or social media posts… all of it needs to speak to your ideal client.

This means you need to know who your ideal client is. You really should have a document that outlines a profile of this ideal client so you can put yourself in his/her/their shoes and know who they are. What they are feeling and what do they want in life? This will help you create the content that will attract and engage them.

Most business owners never consider this to be as important as it really is. But it is… you need to have this profile sheet at the ready and updated. This way you can easily think about that ideal client for your services or products and make sure you write to them as you prepare your content for your marketing.

Today I am going to share with you some places you can look to in order to do research on your ideal client.

The online world has opened up so many opportunities for business owners when it comes to marketing. The ability to get into that marketing funnel and engage with those prospective clients as they make their purchasing decisions can really make or break whether they do business with you. As small businesses know, it can give you an edge, too!

Getting into their head and knowing who they are is important. All of this will help you speak to them in your content and marketing.

The online world also offers the opportunity to do some research on these clients and find out as many demographics as you can that will help you learn more about them. You can also find out how they feel and think when you are doing this type of research.

Below, you’ll find three places you can check online to find your audience/ideal client and then use these sites to dig deeper. Look at their posts and see what words and phrases people say in their online chatter; how do they talk; what are they looking for. There is a lot you can learn from this kind of research.

3 Places to find your ideal client online:

1. FACEBOOK GROUPS – Look through Facebook’s lists of Suggested Groups, Local Groups, and Friends’ Groups, many of which will be geared toward your interests and activities. Or find ones that fit your ideal client.

Depending on the group’s settings, you may be able to see the content – or you may need to join the group to see it (this can be trickier as you have to fit the group profile to be in there and look around without arousing suspicion or bad feelings).

You can look at what people talk about, what they are saying, what they are complaining about, their ups and downs. This can be the best way to get this background info on these potential clients.

2. LINKEDIN GROUPS – You can do the same with these groups as you can with Facebook ones. The LinkedIn ones can be more difficult to get inside and to see activity. These days many have stagnated, but they can still be helpful, so never discount them as a way to get some of the info you are seeking.

3. INSTAGRAM AND TWITTER FEEDS – These two social media channels are filled with hashtags and you can search for anyone posting information using those hashtags. This can be a powerful way to see directly what people have to say about those topics. You can often get right into their heads by seeing what they are posting online. The words they use, the struggles they have, what they are seeking. What they want.

A BONUS RESEARCH HOTSPOT

LOCAL EVENTS AND MEET-UPS – Potential clients may be right in your local area and meeting at networking events or workshops. Meetup and Eventbrite are two websites online that many people use to host events as well as search for ones to attend. Check them out and see if you can do your research without looking like you are doing research. If so, go for it! Sometimes hosting your own event is the best way to do this as well.

Once you have these details and this information, make certain you take the time to create a profile for your ideal client.

Some of the main questions I like to see on a profile like this are as follows:

Prospect Name (give them a name – especially if you have more than one ideal client for different services):

Age:

Occupation:

Marital/Family Status:

Household Income:

Net Worth:

Location Base:

Hobbies and Interests:

Personality Traits:

Buying Habits (related to your business services):

Subscriptions to Magazines/Papers (whether free online or paid):

Websites/ Online Communities they follow:

What is His/Her/Their Unspoken Question:

What is the Need/Problem/Opportunity they have:

How is the Need/Problem/Opportunity defined by this potential client – what words do they use:

The more you can detail about your ideal client, the easier it is to relate to them and speak to them in your marketing.

Try this exercise and when you start planning your next blog, newsletter or even creation of a new product or service, then write to this ‘person’ and speak directly to them in that content!

When you are marketing you want to speak to your ideal client, your marketing content needs to be as effective as possible.  Check out this guide that shares how your content is seen by search engines and people searching online so you can create content that attracts more of your ideal client.