Who Are You Creating For: Your Target Customer Profile (+ FREE CV Template)
The most important person in your business? It’s not you - it’s your customer.
There’s a reason why ‘understanding your target customer’ is the first step in pretty much any business or marketing related activity. They are the key person in your business - the hero in the story your business is telling.
Did you know that in some countries, businesses are required to submit a customer profile in order to register as a legal company? Yeah, that's how important it is.
Why is customer profiling so important?
Without understanding who your customer is, it’s nearly impossible to communicate your business and market your products and services. Having a clear idea of your target customer, including their demographics, preferences, personality, background etc., means you can know:
What publications they read so you can advertise to them
Which social media platforms and website they spend most time on
What types of design feels familiar and attractive to them
How they like to be spoken to that makes them respond best
Which events to attend to show up and sell to them
How to tweak your products & pricing to fit them and solve their problems
Enter, the target customer cv!
What should you know about your target customer?
Business owners vary in how in-depth they do their customer profiling; I’ve seen people with barely any customer specifics, and I’ve seen people write 4-page essays on their customer’s back story. My personal recommendation would be to use detail, but many people prefer to keep target customer information on one page so they can quickly digest the information - hence why I have created this Target Customer CV template!
Yes, it’s quite fun to imagine a real life person with a name, back story and a favourite movie, but it’s more important that you’re able to recall the details about your target customer on your own at any time so that you can apply it to your business and marketing activities! Below are some things I like to include, and have added to the Target Customer CV template:
Basic demographics (age, location, gender)
Home (marital status, family size/ages, profession, household income)
Decision-making priorities (low price vs quality, social reputation, convenience etc.)
Personality traits
Media & online behaviour (visited websites, social media platforms, magazines, time spent online)
Favourites & preferences
Why do the little ‘silly’ things matter?
You may look at that list (and the fact I mentioned ‘naming’ them!) and wonder why all those small, seemingly unimportant/irrelevant details matter to your business. And yes, you can go over the top with it. However I think having some small is important because it helps you to really think of your customer as a real person, making it easier to be empathetic and understand their needs, problems and preferences.
I personally think pinning this Target Customer CV up at your desk space is a great way to always make sure you are keeping mindful of who you are creating and marketing for.
In your download you’ll receive the CV template as an editable PSD (Photoshop) template file, AND a link to a Canva template if you don’t have Photoshop. You will also receive a quick video tutorial in your download that shows you how to edit each element on the PSD template too! I hope you have fun creating :)
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