Can your business use a customer avatar?
A customer avatar is a fictional character used by businesses that represents the ideal customer. Also called a buyer’s persona, an avatar helps businesses understand their customers’ buying decisions. Such demographic information as gender, age, level of education, income and interests make up a customer avatar. Let’s take a look at how businesses can use a customer avatar.
An Avatar is:
- A fictional person with a name, a picture, a personality and a life
- A persona used to attract customers
- Not supposed to be a real or specific person
- Made up of the characteristics of an ideal customer
Why Use an Avatar
Customer avatars are used in order to connect with customers on a more emotional level. The avatar is meant to speak to the ideal customer that a business wants to reach out to. These would be the customers that are most likely to use the product or service on a fairly regular basis. This will help the business get to know their customers better.
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Creating a Customer Avatar
In order to create a customer avatar, it is important to be as specific and detailed as possible. The focus should be on the customers that are the most likely to come back all the time. This means bringing all the facts together from watching, listening and thinking about the customers that the business already has. It is important to not be too broad or generic because the focus should not be everybody, just the customers who are most likely to use the business’ products and services.
The first thing that needs to be done when creating a customer avatar is to list all the common traits of the ideal customer. The avatar needs to be given a full identity – name, age, occupation, family, hobbies, etc. It is important to try and step into the shoes of the avatar and see the way that life is through their eyes. The best way to achieve this is to try an exercise that involves writing a story from the point of view of the avatar. Try to explain how the avatar came across your product or service and why they are using it.
A Customer Avatar Involves:
- Thinking about who the ideal customer for the business would be
- Coming up with one individual in particular to be the avatar
- Giving them a name, age, occupation, family, hobbies, etc.
- Thinking about their thoughts and feelings
- Writing out a story from their point of view
- Explaining how they came across the business’ product or service and why they are using it
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How Businesses Can Use a Customer Avatar
- Connect with the customers on an emotional level
- Reach out to new customers
- Helps the business get to know their customers better
- Improve online sales
- Improve online shopping experience
- Improve customer loyalty
While most businesses only have one avatar, it is possible to have more. If a business is going use more than one, it has to make sure all of their avatars remain as specific and personal as possible.
