Creating an ideal customer avatar aka ICA is essential for running a successful business. An ICA is a made-up character who is an ideal customer for your brand. The purpose is to outline an extremely detailed description of this consumer and figure out exactly who you are targeting. You want to target people like your ICA, so it’s important to know what you’re going after.

How to Identify your Ideal Custom Avatar

We dive deeper into how to identify your Ideal Customer Avatar in our podcast, but in simple terms, the first step you need to take is finding out who your dream consumer is. After discovering your perfect customer, create a bio for a person that would fit this role. You can ask yourself many questions to design this detailed description. Some questions you can ask yourself are, Where do they live, What do they drive, What would they order at a restaurant, What is their income etc. The point is to get creative and know every little thing about who this person is.

Why it’s Important to Create an ICA

Again, your Ideal Customer Avatar needs to be extremely detailed for it to be an effective tool for your brand. This is because the more you know about your audience, the easier it is to convert them into customers. You can’t be all things to all people so it’s important to really define your target audience and get the most out of your marketing. By creating an ICA, you can think like a consumer. When you put yourself in their shoes, you can better understand what you need to promote and how you need to get your point across.

Creating your Ideal Customer Avatar

The first tool you need to create an ICA that holds value is a good template. This can help you stay on track and ensure that you are not being too broad, yet also honing in on details that make sense for your brand, you’ll find a sample ICA here to help you stay on track.

notebook with gold pen and Mac keyboard on white desk with gold glasses

You can also start by writing out questions that you find most helpful for knowing your audience. Some companies, like us, have more than one ICA and that’s ok! If you have multiple ICA’s, just create separate descriptions and target your individual products/services to the matching ICA. By doing so, you will be on your way to increasing your customer base and your revenue.

By understanding, identifying and creating your ICA, you will be able to clearly get your message across to the people you want to receive it. With this you can cut through noise and clutter, becoming a stronger and more influential brand.