Do Course Creators Need Buyer Personas? How to Create Your ICP

1. Ideal Customer Profiles - Just The Facts

As I shared above, a good ideal customer profile starts with the facts. You can break these facts into two groups:

2. Ideal Customer Profiles - Their Pain

When your potential students experience pain, they are more likely to move from the pain into your course. If you understand their pain, their frustration, and what it means to overcome it, then your course is more likely to resonate with them.

Sometimes pains are called struggles or challenges. Whatever your audience calls them, you need to ensure that you know what they're feeling and how your course changes that.

Imagine for a moment you have a teenage daughter, and she has a boyfriend with a car. They often go for drives. You worry that something might happen, such as a flat tire, and they'll be stranded somewhere with no phone signal. Your daughter takes daily medication and needs to have that with her, but sometimes she forgets. If she knows how to change a tire, she can help her boyfriend with the car and get home for her medication.

Now, not all pains are that complicated. Sometimes, the pain might be that the person is on a budget, and car maintenance is an expense they're struggling with. The ability to check and replace their tires could allay their fears and save them money.

Both pain scenarios are valid, but which one applies to your audience?

Think about your ideal customer and their pain, and then complete step two by writing it out on your ICP Snapshot bonus.

3. Ideal Customer Profiles - Their Wants

In the pain scenarios above, your ideal customers have different wants. 

One is a parent who worries about their daughter, while the other is a person looking to save money and stay safe. It’s important to identify exactly what your target customers want because then you can position your course as the answer to their needs. 

Knowing what your ideal customer wants is extremely powerful. It’s easy to get lost when writing copy, but having the wants of your customers gives you a guidepost for framing your content so that it resonates with them. More importantly, it shows you understand them, and because of this, your course will work where others didn't.

4. Ideal Customer Profiles - What Matters The Most to Them

What matters the most to your students isn't the skill they're looking to gain. 

In the examples, what matters to the parent is that their daughter's health isn't compromised when she's out in a vehicle. What truly matters to the person on a budget is whether they can save for their first home, a better vehicle, or some other life-changing experience.

Don't underestimate the power of giving someone peace of mind. When you lift a worry from their shoulders, like an expensive medical intervention, it doesn't matter if the daughter never changes a tire. It just matters that she knows how. 

5. Ideal Customer Profiles - Objections

Every prospective student has objections. The best way to deal with objections is head-on. But you can't deal with them if you don't know what they are. 

Once you know your ideal customer's objections, you can answer them in FAQs on your course sales page, in your videos, or in your emails.

Again, when you understand your ideal customers' objections and discuss them with them, they'll love you that little bit more than all the other course creators out there—because you truly understand them, and it shows. 

Write it like a story.

Jot it down in a note or create a visual representation and tape it to your computer screen. How you use it is down to you, but find a way that ensures you use it all of the time.

Include it in your content.

Once you have your ideal customer profile, you can start to include it in your content. Begin with your blog content. Can your ideal customer identify herself in the first paragraph? Do you show you understand how she feels about her struggles? Do you lead her to the next natural step? When you know your ideal customer, writing content becomes effortless. You'll never be stuck for ideas again! 

Incorporate it in your emails.

Next, look at the emails that promote your course. Is the ideal customer obvious on the opt-in or subscribe page? When you change the wording here, something magical happens... Your subscribers go down, but your conversions grow. Your email list becomes filled with your dream customers.

The emails that you send are important, and they become more relevant when they talk about the struggles that your ideal customer is experiencing. You can show off your expertise here, and it will be appreciated and valued. 

Have it guide your sales copy.

Finally, look back over your course sales page and ensure that your page fits your ideal customer profile. Ensure her pains and challenges are presented, along with any sales objections. Sprinkle the demographic and psychographic data through the page. It's as simple as saying, "This course on changing tires is perfect for teenage girls with their first vehicle."