“Define your ideal client” is one of those phrases thrown at every business owner who’s new or struggling to make sales, and it’s often advice that we let go in one ear and out the other (no judgment).
The truth is, knowing your ideal client is a foundational step of marketing, but it’s often overcomplicated when really it just comes down to knowing exactly what your ideal clients want.
No, you don’t need to spend 3 hours mapping out an ideal client persona that includes everything from the city they live in to their go-to coffee order.
BUT having an understanding who you’re targeting, what they desire, and how you can help them get it is a key part of converting visitors and making sales in your business.
When You Speak to Everyone, You Resonate With No One
The problem with not knowing your ideal client is how it shows up in your marketing. If you’re unclear on exactly WHO your offer is designed to help, your copy often ends up sounding broad and generic.
Specificity in copy is hard to achieve when you’re trying to appeal to everyone—but specificity is what makes visitors feel like you’re talking directly to them.
By getting clear on who your ideal client is, you’re able to hone in on exactly what they need and speak specifically to that.
Specificity is also a way to bring in specific results, feelings, and experiences that further distance your copy from “commodity” copy (or content) and closer to “non-commodity.” This differentiation is a must for optimizing for Google’s generative search!
How to Identify Your Ideal Client
If you’re an established business owner with lots of clients under your belt, identifying your ideal client might be easier than you think.
Think about your favorite past clients—the projects where every step of the way things just “clicked.”
What was their problem or situation before they started working with you? Why did they decide to hire you (what was their breaking point for finally pursuing a solution)?
Consider the things they said before, during, and after working with you.
Even if you’re new to business or haven’t worked with many perfect-fit clients yet, you can think about the same things to help define your ideal client:
- What’s the problem they’re struggling with (that your offer solves)?
- How is that problem impacting their business and life?
- What’s holding them back or stopped them from fixing the problem in the past?
- What kind of solution are they looking for? How will that solution improve their life?
For example, as a website copywriter, here’s what I know about my ideal client:
→ The problem: They’re not getting clients because leads keep dropping off on their website.
→ What they want on a deeper level: They want more clients, but what they really want is to make more $$$ to regulate their nervous system and stop worrying about the feast-famine cycle. They want to stop feeling like they have to say “yes” to bad-fit clients because they never know when their next lead is coming.
→ What’s stopping them from fixing it: They don’t know the right words to get their ideal client’s attention and make people want to buy consistently. And even if they did, they don’t have the time or mental capacity to try and fix it themselves.
→ The solution they want: A website that attracts more dream clients, so they can focus less on marketing and make more sales.
Basically: focus less on arbitrary characteristics (exact age, geographic location, favorite nail color or coffee order) and more on defining what your people desire on an emotional level.
Pssst… if you’re struggling to connect your ideal client’s problem with the solution you provide into words, you might just need to rent a marketer’s brain for an hour. 😉
How to Attract Your Ideal Client Once You Know Who They Are
Your website is one of the most valuable assets you have to attract more ideal clients, because it’s often someone’s first impression of you OR their last touchpoint before deciding to work with you (or someone else).
When you know exactly what your ideal clients want, you can tap into sales psychology in your messaging to convert them.
Conversion-focused website copy takes your ideal clients’ lived experiences, struggles, and wants into account to better appeal to their desires and emotions. It’s not about shaming them or bullying them into saying yes, but rather meeting them where they’re at.
Your website copy should:
- Empathize with your ideal client’s specific struggles and how it’s impacting their lives (not just vague pain points)
- Appeal to their deeper desire—for example, my website copywriting clients want more leads, but what they really want is to make more money in their businesses
- Anticipate and address their objections before they ever reach out to you (there’s a reason they haven’t yet fixed their problem)
- Establishes your credibility and positions you as an expert so they feel safe working with you
Your website should make your ideal client feel like you just GET them. Get this right, and you’ll drive more conversions without any other changes to your marketing.
BUT you can also apply this to your broader content strategy. Understanding what your ideal clients need help with means you can anticipate what they’re typing or speaking into search engines or their LLM (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini)
Then you can create content that speaks directly to those questions. Every piece of SEO- and AEO-optimized content relevant to your audience’s current needs gives you another opportunity to show up in search results exactly when they’re looking for the solution you provide.
Beyond those things, think about what makes you unique in your industry and use that to build stronger connections with your ideal client. Not just your quirks, but the things that make you stand out in your industry and things your audience can relate with.
Uniqueness is what makes your business feel human and makes your ideal client choose you over your competitors.
What Happens When You Speak Directly to What Your Ideal Clients Want
You’ll start having more conversions in the DMs with potential clients, automatically filter out unqualified leads, and start seeing a higher website conversion rate.
When you know exactly who your people are and what they want, everything about your marketing and sales strategy gets easier—and more effective.
And yes, that’s still true even if you decide to hand over aspects of it, like your website copy. If you’re ready to outsource, check out my copywriting services here.
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