Today's post is a case study of how Esty sellers can find their perfect customers. Having just done a workshop last week, I was thrilled to hear that one of the big questions was making sure that the sellers knew who was most likely to buy their products.
This is a big turnaround from the days of when we made something and then just hoped the people would show up to buy it!
Your Customer Avatar
One thing this kind of assessment is called creating a customer avatar. Functionally what you do is to find out things about people who buy your products and then make up a person to represent them as your buyer.
For example, this is the customer avatar for my Etsy shop, Paperly People is:
My ideal client's name is Lizzy and she is 42. Her friends describe her as fun and interesting, she is a hoot to be around and very big on telling people what to do (in the good way!) She spends the weekends enjoying Badger Football, hanging with friends and tailgating. She dresses pretty casually, cute jeans and boots are her favorites. Lizzy is married. She got married in her 30s after being single for a while. She knows that she can take care of herself, but right now she is doing her business with her husband’s help for the household bills because she gets to take care of their 3 kids when they are not in school. Lizzy LOVES Marie Forleo and Elizabeth Gilbert (the best day ever was when they did an interview together!) She needs tools to help grow her business, but doesn't want to keep buying those $297 courses that are too much to even get through. My products are perfect because they solve her problem simply and get her back to work with the few precious moments she has around the kids and her other commitments.
Pergamo Paper Goods
One of the gals in the workshop, Gianna, was nice enough to give me the MOST AMAZING "cat fish" sticker.
I immediately went gaga and thought, wonder what kinds of people buy these and what else does she have to sell?!??!
Check out her store, Pergamo Paper Goods before you watch the video!
How To Find Out About Her Perfect Customers
There are some amazing ways to find out more about her perfect customers! Here are a few practical ideas:
Etsy - 5 Star Ratings
We are so fortunate to easily get direct feedback from our buyers through Etsy's rating system. Let's take a peek and see what some of the buyers said..
Okay, this tells us a couple of things. First off, we know that Melo224 is a little techy (laptop case) and that she likes fun and different stickers. Clicking through to her profile, there isn't anything filled out so we have to keep on trying (often if they don't have a picture they aren't big Etsy users).
Etsy Buyers - What Else They Favorite
Next I banged around and found a review, clicked through to the buyer's "favorites" and found out she had a whole board of favorite stickers! Whoo whoo!
From the stickers she has favorited we can tell she is outdoor-sy, likes the earth and animals and and maybe is going on holiday to an island to drink mai tais and soak up the sun.
This is killer information for Gianna, she can use it to design new products, set backgrounds for her pictures and create her customer avatar!
Facebook Business Page - Reviews
Next I headed over to her Facebook page and found a great review from a gal who seems to be an artist. Clicking through to her profile we see...
- She is posting Democratic news
- Supported Bernie Sanders in the last election
- Worked in the healthcare industry
- Buys locally grown vegetables
One thing about doing a customer avatar that worries business owners is that they will be elminating people who might be buyers.
But based on everything I have seen of the people who buy Gianna's stickers, I would say that they are tending to be Democrats, who are concerned with environmental issues and are in caring or nurturing professions (teachers, nurses or doctors, social workers, etc.)
Pinterest - People Who Follow Your Boards
Last but not least, let's head over to Pinterest and see what kinds of people are following Gianna there.
I think that Pinterest is the BEST way to spy on your buyers. This gal follows Pergamo Paper Goods and gives us even more information about Gianna's perfect customer.
She likes:
- Animals
- Bright colors
- Eclectic design
- Has kids (birthday party)
- Owns her own home (yard stuff)
Scoping Out Pergamo Paper Good's Perfect Customer
With all that we have found, I think we can make a good stab at doing a perfect customer avatar for Gianna, owner of Pergamo Paper Goods!
Stacy is 32, a mom and wife and has a new beagle puppy named Wally. Her kids are in kindergarten and 3rd grade so she finally has a little time for herself during the day to get back to doing artwork again. She loves Dyan Reaveley who has tattoos and is from England because she is unapologetically a "weirdo" and super creative. Stacy is a little worried about how thing are going in the world, but tends to be on the hopeful, happy side thinking that things will work out for the best in the end. She loves to do special things around her home to let her family know she cares, but every once in a while splurges on something just for her (like that cool Pergamo Paper Sticker she just ordered from Etsy!)
Figuring Out YOUR Customer Avatar
It is funny, just a little bit into the research for this post I already knew what Stacy would turn out to be like. I have done LOADS of these for business owners over the years and it is amazing how easy it is to figure these things out once you start really thinking about who would want to buy what you are selling!
Hopefully this post will help get you on the right track, but if you would like a little more help, my marketing buddy, Rebekah and I did a mini course where we walk you through how to do this yourself!
We kept it super affordable so you can buy it today and get started right away!
