Free guide: Customer Persona Checklist

Knowing your customers is the key to effective, efficient marketing. Without this understanding, your marketing won’t deliver a good return on investment because you’ll attract the wrong people or not enough of the right ones. Plus, you'll struggle to figure out which marketing channels to use and how to use them because you won't know where your customers hang out or how to reach them. This uncertainty also makes it tough to come up with messaging that resonates.

Inconsistent marketing breaks trust and turns people away. You'll also face issues like objections from people around your buyer, like their spouse or business partner, which can kill the sale. You might end up with customers who aren’t a good fit, which can be a disaster for small businesses. Plus, you’ll get requests for services you don’t even offer because your marketing is attracting the wrong crowd.

To nail your marketing, create an "ideal customer persona" or "ideal customer avatar". Here's my checklist of questions to make sure you've covered everything.