Who should my target customer be?

I know I should hone in on a specific target customer, but I don’t know how to figure that out.

Figuring out your specific target customer, often referred to as your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), is crucial even for small indie startups. The challenge in identifying your ICP lies in balancing specificity with reach. Here’s a process that might help you hone in effectively:

1. Understand the Market Size and Dynamics: If you’re aiming for a sustainable business, having a clear picture of the size and nature of your market is vital. For B2C, you might need a large pool—potentially around 10 million individuals with the problem your product solves. For B2B, targeting industries with 100,000 potential businesses might suffice due to higher conversion rates and willingness to spend on solutions. Starting with an over-specified ICP doesn’t mean limiting your market; rather, it allows you to tailor your messaging effectively, hence expanding your reach in a well-defined direction. More information here: Plausible: Do 10M people or 100k companies have the problem?.
2. Describe Your “Carol”: Create a vivid and detailed description of your ideal customer—a person who embodies the typical needs and challenges your product addresses. Describe where she works, what her problems are, and why your product is the perfect solution for her. This exercise helps sharpen your focus on who truly benefits most from your product. Remember, targeting an ICP brings 10x more customers than you expected.
3. Focus on Specific Problems: Like Carol, your perfect customer should have all the problems your product solves, know about these issues, and be actively seeking solutions. When identifying these problems, engage in customer interviews to discover the language your potential customers use to describe their challenges, what they would pay to resolve them, and where they typically go for solutions Here’s how.
4. Market Positioning and Channel Selection: Once your ICP is clear, communicate directly and exclusively to them in all your marketing materials. Great strategy requires specific, firm decisions. Pick one marketing channel that intersects where your customers already are and what you can excel at. Expanding across multiple channels comes after securing your presence in an initially well-chosen platform. Here’s how to select your first marketing channel.
5. Avoid Trying to Please Everyone: The temptation to cast a wide net and appeal to everyone can dilute your message. Use specific messaging that truly resonates with your ICP. This approach doesn’t exclude others; instead, it crafts a compelling narrative that indirectly attracts a broader audience who shares similar needs or values. Selling to everyone means selling to no one.

Remember, the clearer your focus on your ideal customer, the more your messaging and product development will resonate with them, setting you up for expanded growth as you systematically incorporate adjacent markets and new customer segments.

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