How to Build an Ideal Client Profile that Helps You Win Better Clients

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As a business leader, one of the most important things you can do to ensure the success of your marketing is to build an “ideal client profile.”

An ideal client profile (ICP) is a description of the type of customer who is the perfect fit for your business based on a combination of data, research, and experience. Understanding your ideal client profile clearly can help you focus your marketing efforts and create a more effective sales strategy.

In this post, we will explore how to build an ideal client profile for your business, emphasizing using actual customer data to isolate the factors that predict great fit clients. We will provide a list of attributes that should be considered when developing your ideal client profile and some ideas on collecting and analyzing the data. We’ll also provide some examples and a link to download a free worksheet to collect and analyze your client and develop your ideal client profile based on your findings.

What is an Ideal Client Profile?

An ideal client profile is a description of the type of customer that is the best fit for your business. These customers that have dealt with the problems you solve and the benefits from your unique solutions are profitable for your business and are easy for your team to work with. It may sound unrealistic right now to only work with great-fit clients, but if you work to isolate the factors that make a great-fit client and focus your marketing on people that match that profile, you will get more clients that are a great fit.

Building your ideal client profile involves identifying common, measurable traits, such as the customer’s industry, business size, location, budget, and specific needs. It also includes demographic factors such as age, gender, and job title, as well as psychographic traits like key pain points, values, goals, interests, and buying habits.

It’s important to note that your ideal client profile should not be based on assumptions or generalizations about your target market. Instead, it should be based on actual data and research about your existing customers.

For example, if you ran a third-party logistics company that serves e-commerce clients in the Mid-West region of the United States, your ideal client profile might look something like this:

  • Industry: Focus on e-commerce businesses operating in the e-commerce sector, including online retailers, direct-to-consumer brands, and online marketplaces.
  • Business Size: Target mid-sized companies that range from small startups to mid-sized enterprises. Typically, annual revenue may vary from $1 million to $100 million.
  • Geographic Location: Located in the Mid-West Region of the United States
  • Pain Points: Challenges in managing e-commerce logistics efficiently and effectively. Handling fluctuating order volumes and seasonal demand spikes. Streamlining order fulfillment and shipping processes for timely deliveries. Managing inventory accuracy, SKU proliferation, and stockouts. Dealing with complex logistics requirements, such as international shipping, customs clearance, and fulfillment for multiple sales channels.
  • Desired Solutions: Comprehensive 3PL logistics services tailored to e-commerce. Warehousing and inventory management, order fulfillment, shipping and delivery, returns management, and supply chain optimization. Integration with e-commerce platforms and technologies, such as order management systems and inventory management software.
  • Expected Outcomes: Improved operational efficiency, cost savings, and scalability through a reliable 3PL partnership. Access to expertise in logistics technology, network optimization, and industry best practices.
  • Other Criteria: Value strong partnerships and customer-centric service. Clients who prioritize responsiveness, transparency, and proactive communication from their logistics service provider. Clients who are innovative and open to embracing new technologies and industry trends. Willingness to adopt automation, analytics, and data-driven decision-making for logistics optimization.

Why is an Ideal Client Profile Important?

Creating an ideal client profile is a crucial step in any digital marketing strategy for several reasons.

First, it can help focus your marketing efforts on the prospects that are most likely to convert. This can save you time and money by targeting your marketing efforts more effectively.

Second, it can help you create a more effective sales strategy by better understanding your customers’ needs and pain points. This often leads to higher-value clients.

Third, it can help you improve your customer service by tailoring your approach to the specific needs of your ideal clients. This approach helps to improve client retention.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it can help your business make good decisions on who NOT to serve. Imagine having the freedom to avoid difficult accounts that you know will not be a good fit for your business!

By creating a specific ideal client profile, you can empower your business to target the right prospects with solutions tailored to their needs resulting in happier clients that are a better fit for your business.

Typical Challenges When Creating an Ideal Client Profile

Over-generalization: Broad profiles dilute marketing effectiveness by failing to target a specific niche or address the unique pain points of their ideal clients.

Lack of Specificity: Failing to clearly articulate the specific traits and characteristics of their ideal clients leads to difficulty in targeting the right audience

Insufficient Research: Inadequate research may lead to overlooking important factors that influence their ideal client’s preferences and needs

For an ideal client profile to make a difference, you must move beyond broad assumptions about your target audience to an ideal client profile that helps you win more great fit clients.

Attributes to Consider When Developing Your Ideal Client Profile

When developing your ideal client profile, you need to move beyond the typical attributes of industry and company size to include relevant attributes that are predictive of leads that will make a great client. We have listed several common attributes to consider below but feel free to expand your list to match the factors that make sense for your situation.

Here are some examples of attributes to consider:

1. Industry

The industry of your ideal client can have a significant impact on their needs and pain points. Consider the industries that are most likely to benefit from your services and the specific challenges that those industries are facing.

For example, if you are a marketing agency that specializes in SEO, your ideal clients may be businesses in highly competitive industries such as finance or healthcare that are looking to improve their online visibility.

If you aren’t sure how to categorize the industries of your clients, you can use their own classifications by looking their company profile up on LinkedIn or Google Maps.

2. Company Size

The size of your ideal client can also be an important factor to consider. Small businesses may have different needs and budgets than larger enterprises.

For example, if you are a web development agency, your ideal clients may be small to medium sized businesses that need a new website or help with website maintenance.

Company size is typically measured by annual revenue or employee headcount. If you don’t know these facts for your clients, you can usually find estimates on company profiles on LinkedIn or ZoomInfo.

3. Purchase Budget

The budget of your ideal client can also impact the services you offer and the pricing structure you use.

For example, if you are a public relations firm, your ideal clients may be mid-sized businesses with a specific budget range that allows for a comprehensive PR strategy.

4. Company Location

The location of your ideal client can also impact the services that you offer and the marketing strategies that you use.

For example, if you are a logistics company that specializes in international shipping, your ideal clients may be businesses that operate in specific regions of the world.

5. Key Pain Points

Understanding the pain points of your ideal client is crucial for creating a targeted sales pitch and developing effective marketing strategies. For example, if you are a software company that specializes in project management software, your ideal clients may be businesses that struggle with managing complex projects and need a solution that can simplify the process.

6. Desired Outcomes

Customers may have various types or categories of desired outcomes they seek from a solution they are looking to purchase, and that influence why they purchased from you vs. a competitor.

7. Core Service Values

Clients may have various core expectations or categories of expectations from their vendors. Common examples include quality, reliability, communication, responsiveness, cost-effectiveness, etc.

8. Key Purchase Criteria

Several key factors influence client purchase preferences. These factors can vary depending on the individual client and the specific context, but examples of common influences include price, quality, brand reputation, product features, etc.

The Process for Creating an Ideal Client Profile Based on Data

Creating an ideal customer profile based on data begins with conducting research, analyzing the data, and finally deciding upon your ideal client profile based on the data. What follows is a detailed outline of each step along with examples and screenshots where relevant to help.

Step 1: How to Conduct Ideal Client Profile Research

Review Your Existing and Past Customer List

The best way to build your ideal client profile is to look at your existing and past customer base. Analyze the data you have on your customers, such as their industry, company size, location, and budget. Look for patterns and commonalities among your customers to help you identify your ideal client traits.

For example, if you are a software company specializing in accounting software, you may find that your ideal clients are small to medium-sized businesses in the financial services industry. They may have a specific budget range and need software to handle complex accounting tasks.

Consider Your Sales Data

Your sales team and the systems they use likely contain a wealth of information that may be useful in developing your ideal client profile. If your sales team utilizes a CRM such as HubSpot or Salesforce, you can likely pull relevant data on your clients quickly. Other sources include any database where you store client information, such as estimates, proposals, etc. If you happen to keep data on your prospects, you may be able to isolate traits that make a company more likely to convert into paying customers.

For example, if you are a consulting firm specializing in IT services, you may find that your ideal clients are businesses in the financial industry with a specific need for data security and compliance. By analyzing your sales data, you can identify the specific pain points that your ideal clients are experiencing and create a targeted sales pitch that addresses those pain points.

Incorporate Internal Data and Feedback

Your financial reporting systems may contain valuable customer-level data such as the total number of orders, revenue, and client profit.

Your internal team can also help shed light on important factors, such as customer or company info, as well as qualitative information, such as the current level of client satisfaction or an assessment of the difficulty or ease of working with each client.

For example, a company we work with observed that some of their largest clients were also their least profitable. After interviewing people doing the work, they learned that those clients required significantly more devices than had been built into their contracts. This led to restructured agreements, increased prices, and severing relationships in a few cases. Things didn’t change overnight, but year-over-year profitability increased by 30%.

Use Available Website and Social Media Analytics

Most business websites use web analytics software such as Google Analytics to measure website traffic and user behavior. These tools can provide useful information about your website visitors, such as age, gender, location, and the channels they use to reach your website.

Social media analytics can also be valuable for gathering data on your ideal client. Look at the demographics of your followers and the types of content they engage with. This helps you identify commonalities among your followers that help you build your ideal client profile. You can also learn about the companies and contacts you work with by looking up their social media profiles.

If you serve a B2B audience, there are third-party Visitor ID solutions such as Factors.ai that can tell you information about the companies and people visiting your website. Tools like SparkToro can tell you things about your audience, such as what topics they search, what podcasts they listen to, what websites they frequent, and what influencers they follow on social media.

For example, if you are a digital marketing agency that specializes in content marketing, you may find that your ideal clients are businesses in the healthcare industry that are interested in educational content related to healthcare topics. By analyzing the engagement of your social media followers, you can also determine the types of content that your ideal clients are most likely to engage with.

Conduct Customer Surveys or Interviews

If you have difficulty identifying specific traits for your clients using the above methods, another way to gather data on your ideal client is to conduct customer surveys or interviews. This can help collect information about your customers’ needs, pain points, and preferences. You can use this information to create a more accurate picture of your ideal client.

For example, if you have a large customer base, you could survey your existing customers, asking them to rate the importance of various features in your software. You may find that your ideal clients place a high value on features related to automation and integration with other software tools. If you have a relatively small customer base or want to dig deeper into the results of your survey data, you could conduct one-on-one interviews with a select number of customers.

Compiling Your Client Data

Before you can analyze your data, you need to get it into a format where you can see the information in one place.

One way to do this is to assemble your collected data into a spreadsheet. While every client is unique, when you look at the collective data and consider the information, you will likely uncover common traits that apply to most or at least many of your clients.

For example, here is an excerpt of client data for an outsourced bookkeeping firm:

Ideal Client Profile - Client Data Example
Example of client data for an ideal client profile analysis; click here for more on this template.

Step 2: How to Analyze Your Ideal Client Profile Data

Once you have compiled the data, you can get down to analyzing the data and deciding upon your ideal client profile.

One way to do this is to assemble your collected data into a spreadsheet. While every client is unique, when you look at the collective data and consider the information, you will likely uncover common traits that apply to most or at least many of your clients.

For example, here is an excerpt of client data for an outsourced bookkeeping firm:

Based on the provided data, here are some key trends that can be identified to develop an ideal client profile for the outsourced bookkeeping firm:

  • Industry Category: The majority of the clients are from the technology sector (55%)
  • Company Size: Most clients they work for have employee headcounts of 200-500 employees (60%), none that fall below 50, and only 1 with more than 500 employees.
  • Location: The majority of clients are located in Washington (WA), as well as nearby states Idaho, Oregon, and Montana. There are only a few clients outside of the Northwest region.
  • Job Title: The majority of primary client contacts were CFOs or CEOs.
Ideal Client Profile - Client Data Charts Example
Example of client data charts from an ideal client profile analysis; click here for more on this template.

A comparison of the Technology industry category of clients to all others showed the following:

  1. Education Level: Most clients in the Technology industry have Master’s degrees or Bachelor’s degrees, indicating a higher education level than clients in other industries.
  2. Pain Points: Quality challenges seem to be a more prevalent pain point for Technology clients than in other industries. This suggests that technology companies may have more complex financial transactions and require meticulous bookkeeping services. Improved quality was also a commonly cited desired outcome and service expectation for this category of clients.
  3. Desired Outcomes: Improved quality and reliability were the most often cited desired outcome for clients in this category.
  4. Service Expectations: Trustworthiness was the most often cited purchase criterion for clients in this category, likely related to the pain point of quality challenges and the desire for improved quality and reliability. Given the high satisfaction levels for this category, it seems the company is well-positioned to demonstrate trust for future prospects.

The data indicates that this company would benefit by targeting mid-sized Technology companies focusing on CEOs and CFOs with higher education levels. The company should prioritize addressing quality challenges while demonstrating its high customer satisfaction track record.


Step 3: How to Decide Upon Your Ideal Client Profile

Using this information, you might build an ideal client profile that looks like this:

Ideal Client Profile - Profile Example
Example of a completed ideal client profile; click here for more on this template.

In conclusion, building an ideal client profile is essential for any service business owner. Using actual customer data and considering important attributes such as industry, company size, budget, location, pain points, and preferred communication channels, you can create a detailed and accurate description of your ideal client. This can help you improve your marketing efforts, refine your sales pitch, and ultimately attract more clients that best fit your business. Review and update your ideal client profile regularly to ensure it remains relevant and effective.

Practical Applications of Your Ideal Client Profile

An ideal client profile should significantly impact various areas of digital marketing. By leveraging the insights gained from the ideal client profile, businesses can effectively tailor their digital marketing strategies to target, engage, and convert their desired audience.

Here are 8 key areas of digital marketing that an ideal client profile should influence:

1. Targeting and Segmentation:

The ideal client profile helps identify the target audience’s specific demographics, interests, behaviors, and preferences. This information guides businesses in segmenting their audience effectively and targeting their digital marketing efforts toward the most relevant and valuable customer segments.

2. Content Strategy:

Understanding ideal clients’ pain points, goals, and interests allows businesses to create relevant, engaging, and valuable content. The ideal client profile influences the topics, formats, tone, and content style that resonate with the target audience, driving higher engagement and conversion rates.

3. Messaging and Communication:

The ideal client profile shapes digital marketing campaigns’ messaging and communication strategies. It helps businesses craft compelling and persuasive messages that directly address the ideal clients’ needs, desires, and motivations, leading to better communication and connection with the target audience.

4. Channel Selection:

Different ideal client profiles may prefer specific digital marketing channels or platforms. The ideal client profile guides businesses in selecting the most appropriate channels, such as social media platforms, search engines, email marketing, or content syndication platforms, to effectively reach and engage their target audience.

5. Advertising and Promotion:

The ideal client profile influences design, placement, and targeting of digital advertisements. It helps businesses determine the ad formats, messaging, visuals, and platforms that align with the preferences and behaviors of their ideal clients, maximizing the effectiveness and ROI of their advertising campaigns.

6. User Experience and Website Optimization

Understanding the preferences and expectations of ideal clients allows businesses to optimize their websites and digital platforms for an improved user experience. It influences website design, navigation, content organization, call-to-action placement, and overall usability, ensuring a seamless and engaging experience for the target audience.

7. Conversion and Lead Generation

The ideal client profile informs the strategies for lead generation and conversion optimization. It helps businesses develop lead magnets, landing pages, forms and offers that specifically appeal to the ideal clients, increasing the likelihood of capturing leads and converting them into customers.

8. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

The ideal client profile contributes to managing and nurturing customer relationships through digital marketing efforts. It informs the development of personalized and targeted CRM strategies, including email marketing campaigns, customer loyalty programs, and personalized recommendations, fostering stronger customer engagement and retention.

By integrating the ideal client profile into these areas of digital marketing, businesses can create highly tailored and effective campaigns that resonate with their target audience, drive engagement and conversions, and ultimately achieve their marketing objectives.

Ideal Customer Profile Template

Now it’s your turn to implement this tool for your business. If you’d like to use this approach to work on your ideal client profile, we have a spreadsheet to help our clients compile their client data for analysis. Click here to request your copy, and we’ll send the template to you by email.

Ideal Client Profile Worksheet Promo

Ideal Client Profile Application Success Stories

We have observed the power of applying an ideal client profile firsthand.

Here are just a few examples:

Analyzing our own customer data and using that info to refine our approach to client work has had a profound effect. The first time we did this, we realized that clients who valued marketing strategy enough to invest in it before deploying experienced significantly better results. We began requiring a Growth Road Map and have a much higher track record of success. Another round of analysis revealed that certain business segments were more than 2X profitable than all other segments. This led to a greater focus on developing new clients in that segment, significantly increasing our average monthly recurring revenue and profit.

One of our clients is a commercial flooring installer. They were getting a lot of leads from their marketing, but only 45% of the leads were qualified. After updating their ideal client profile, we made several changes to their website that led to improved lead quality, such that 70% of the leads are now qualified.

Early on in our journey, we worked with a high-end landscaping company. Not fully understanding how to apply their ideal client profile at the time, we drove a lot of leads from their website, but because the ads we were running were not targeting their ICP, they received many leads that were not a good fit and didn’t get the ROI they expected. Fast forward a few years, and we had the opportunity to work with another high-end landscaper in the same market. Having learned the power of ICP, we had led their campaigns very differently. As a result, this client received a lot of great fit leads each month, and their business has grown. We just conducted a new audit of their leads against their refined ICP and are working towards a new level of lead quality as a result.

Get Help With Your Marketing Strategy

Prefer to have help building your ideal client profile? Building an ideal client profile is step 2 of the Growth Road Map, a 9-step process we use to help our clients develop an inbound marketing strategy designed to meet their revenue goals. We offer a free 45-min strategy call to review your revenue goals and assess where you are with your marketing strategy to determine if a Growth Road Map is the right fit for your situation. Click here to book your free strategy call today.

How to Build an Ideal Client Profile that Helps You Win Better Clients

Frequently Asked Questions

How many clients should be studied to get enough data to determine the ideal profile?

The number of clients that should be studied to get enough data to determine the ideal profile depends on the size and complexity of the business. In general, it is recommended to study at least 10 clients to gather enough data and identify common patterns in their attributes.

However, for larger businesses or those with more diverse client bases, a larger sample size may be necessary to get a representative sample of the ideal client profile. It is also important to periodically revisit and update the ideal client profile as the business evolves and new trends emerge in the industry.

How often should I review and update my ideal client profile?

You should regularly review and update your ideal client profile, as your business and target market may change over time. It’s a good idea to check your ideal client profile at least once a year and make adjustments as necessary.

A business should consider changing its ideal client profile when they notice that the profile no longer aligns with its business goals or when they encounter clients who are not a good fit for its business. Here are some specific instances when a business should consider changing its ideal client profile:

When the business has evolved: As a business evolves, its goals, values, and services may change. If the current ideal client profile no longer aligns with the business’s evolution, it may be time to update the profile.

When the business is not meeting its goals: If a business is not meeting its goals despite targeting its ideal client profile, it may be time to reevaluate the profile and consider making changes.

When the business encounters a high number of bad-fit clients: If a business is consistently encountering clients who are not a good fit for their business, it may be a sign that the current ideal client profile is not accurate or effective.

When the market changes: The market is constantly evolving, and a business’s ideal client profile may need to change to adapt to these changes. For example, if a new market segment emerges that is more profitable or aligned with the business’s goals, it may be time to update the ideal client profile.

When the business has expanded its services: If a business has expanded its services or entered new markets, the ideal client profile may need to be updated to reflect these changes and target the right clients.

Overall, a business should regularly evaluate its ideal client profile to ensure that it is accurate, effective, and aligned with its business goals. If a change is needed, the business should take the time to gather data, analyze it, and make informed decisions about how to update the profile.

What are some problems to avoid when creating your ideal client profile?

Don’t assume that your ideal client is your biggest client: While it may be tempting to assume that your biggest client is your ideal client, it’s important to remember that size doesn’t always equate to profitability or alignment with your business goals. Consider other factors such as profitability, ease of communication, and potential for future growth.

Look for similarities across clients, not just differences: It’s easy to focus on the unique characteristics of each client, but it’s important to also look for similarities across clients. These commonalities can help you identify trends and patterns that may be indicative of your ideal client profile.

Consider the client’s values and mission: The values and mission of a client can play a significant role in whether or not they are a good fit for your business. If your business values sustainability, for example, it may be beneficial to seek out clients who also prioritize sustainability.

Avoid making assumptions based on demographics alone: While demographic data such as age, gender, and location can be useful, it’s important not to make assumptions based on these factors alone. A client’s behavior and psychographic data can be just as important, if not more so, in determining whether or not they are a good fit for your business.

Keep an open mind: Developing an ideal client profile requires a willingness to be flexible and open-minded. Don’t be afraid to revise your profile as you gather new data or as your business evolves. The goal is to find clients who are a good fit for your business and who will help you achieve your goals, so remain open to new possibilities.

Avoid focusing solely on the short-term: While short-term profitability is important, it’s also crucial to consider the long-term potential of a client. A client who may not be the most profitable initially may have the potential to be a long-term, high-value customer.
Avoid making assumptions about a client’s needs: It’s important to take the time to understand a client’s needs, goals, and pain points before making assumptions about their needs. This can help ensure that your business is providing the right solutions and services to the client.

Avoid overlooking the importance of communication: Good communication is key to building strong relationships with clients. Be sure to consider a client’s communication preferences and style when developing your ideal client profile.

Avoid assuming that all clients want the same things: While there may be commonalities among your clients, it’s important to remember that each client is unique and may have different goals, needs, and priorities. Take the time to understand each client individually to ensure that your business is providing the best possible solutions and services.

Avoid ignoring negative feedback: While it may be tempting to ignore negative feedback from a client, it’s important to take this feedback seriously and use it to improve your business processes and services. Negative feedback can help you identify areas for improvement and ensure that you are meeting the needs of your clients.

Can I have more than one ideal client profile?

Yes, it is possible to have multiple ideal client profiles. Depending on your business, you may have different types of clients that require different marketing strategies and services. It’s important to create a separate ideal client profile for each target audience to ensure that your marketing efforts are as effective as possible.

How can I use my ideal client profile to improve my marketing efforts?

Your ideal client profile can be a valuable tool for improving your marketing efforts. By understanding your ideal client’s needs, pain points, and preferences, you can create targeted marketing campaigns that resonate with your target audience. You can also use your ideal client profile to develop personalized messaging, improve your website’s user experience, and refine your content marketing strategy.

How can I get help building my ideal client profile?

We offer a free training video and template to help you apply the process outlined here to your own business. You can get access to that video and template by clicking here. We help our clients develop their ideal client profiles as part of developing their overall marketing strategy. If you’d like to talk to us about helping you craft your marketing strategy, click here to book a free call to determine if we are a good fit to partner with you.

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