Here are 11 key questions to ask to create a customer avatar

1. Gender – even if your product is aimed at either sex or one specific gender, who actually makes the purchasing decisions?

2. Age – again, a product or service might be for a particular age group, but not necessarily bought by them such as children’s products.

3. Location – targeting a particular region/ will make your marketing activities more effective.  for example, The General has offices across much of the country but these are in are very specific locations and therefore their marketing is not targeted at all areas.   

4. Education – Understanding someone’s intellect will help you communicate with them effectively. How do they process information? Do they want statistics and models to make a buying decision? Or will these make your product or service appear inaccessible to them?

5. Income – how much money someone has will obviously influence their buying habits, similarly, if you operate in a B2B environment the size of your client companies and their turnover will be part of your customer avatar.

6. Occupation – for B2C businesses understanding what your customers do can help inform your marketing, do they have a stressful job and therefore will be receptive to products that will help them relax? For the B2B companies, you need to identify the person who will engage with your business, not necessarily the Managing Director. With this information, you can better understand how your product or service will help them, as well as their company.

7. Interests – while interests might be relevant because your business services them, they’re also useful because they help you communicate better with your customers. It allows you to talk to your customers in a language they understand, using references that will resonate strongly with them. Consider everything from hobbies and leisure activities, what they watch on TV, what they like to eat, what music they listen to – anything that can get you closer to them.

8. Motivations – what makes your target customer get out of bed in the morning? Understanding what drives them, their values and goals will help you align your offering with these aspirations.

9. Challenges – similarly, and especially if you provide a solution to a particular issue, you should also identify the challenges they face. These can range from significant ‘problems’ such as financial issues to seemingly more minor problems like finding the time to shop. However, whatever the scale of the challenge these should be very important to you as they allow you to present a solution, whether that’s affordable products, the convenience of online shopping or any other factor that can influence buying decisions.

10. Why do they buy your products? Taking into account all the points above, you should try to explain exactly why customers buy your product or service. Cost, quality, resell value, functionality, flexibility, convenience, localism, customer service, brand awareness etc. can all come into this. You need to know what it is that makes people choose to do business with you.

11. Shopping habits – what other products or services does your ideal customer buy? Are they online shoppers mostly or do they still shop at the mall?  What kind of car do they drive? Where do they go on holidays? How often have they moved in the last 10 years?
     

• Avatars help in establishing a single identity across different platforms. With the help of Gravatar, use it across forums, social media and tie a unique identity to your avatar.