Customer Avatar

9Aug2009

Summary:

Customer Avatar is a pattern that helps to create developing marketing communications and the products better targeted to your prospects.

Name of the pattern:

Customer Avatar

When to use this pattern:

When creating a new marketing campaign or a informational product.

How to use this pattern:

Imagine a collective image of your target prospect with great details. Does your prospect has family? Where does he live? What are his daily problems? Get to know that virtual personage, befriend him or her in your imagination. Then keep that friendly attitude when creating your message, whether it’s written text, audio or video.

Imagine that you come to his or her house every day or every week trying to sell your product face to face. What would be their objections? Questions? Fears? Reasoning? What would they look for in your product?

What objections, questions, fears will arise after a week of conversations? Two weeks? A month?

If you have a series of marketing messages or a product that is delivered in parts (mini-course, training) time messaging the same way as you anticipate those questions and fears. If you are writing a long sales letter also arrange them in the same order. Address all objections, fears, questions that you can.

Attribution:

I’ve heard it from Eben Pagan and elements of it from Michael Rasmussen. I think all great copywriters use it in some extent.

Related patterns:

None.

Related anti-patterns:

None.

Comments and details:

We evolved as social animals, when empathy and ability to understand what other people feel and think was essential to survival. Our empathy ability is so advanced compared to other species that, in sense, we become “weremen”. We can turn into other people by simply observing them or even imagining them. We have a special spare neural circuits called “mirror neurons” to achieve that. When you are using this pattern, you engage those circuits and have the advantage of a million years human evolution on your side. Use it.

If you want to read more about mirror neurons, here are two books, I can recommend. Most other books are written in deeply academic style and much more expensive ($100 or more). These two are more appropriate for the general public both in style and price range. In my opinion, the second one may be still a bit too academic for most readers, although it seems to be deeper. It's a translation from Italian. The first one is probably best to start from.