When it comes to developing branding and marketing strategies, it helps to put yourself in your future customers’ shoes. But doing so is easier said than done. What can help you along the way is creating a client avatar, also known as a customer avatar in the sales world. This involves creating a “fictional” character that best represents the clients you are hoping to target in your business and thinking about their desires, wants and needs. Here are a few tips for creating your own real estate client avatar.

Basic profile

To begin building your client avatar, imagine you are writing a novel or screenplay for a story that features an individual or couple that is hunting for a home. How old are they? What might they do for work and how do they spend their free time? Do they own pets? What are their hobbies and interests? Some marketing professionals find it helpful to give their avatars a name like “Jason” or “Amy” and reference these characters as they hone in on their branding and business.

Housing wants and needs

Now that you’ve built up the basic profile of your client, you can start adding in more details about their housing search. Are Jason and Amy looking for a condo or a detached home? What is their maximum budget? If Jason and Amy are a young couple, perhaps they are currently renting and will be first-time homebuyers, which is something to take into consideration. Your avatar might also be a young family of four looking for a great school district and more backyard space for the children to play. Or perhaps they’re a retired couple that is downsizing after their children have moved out of the home. Filling in these details helps bring your avatar “to life”.

What are the challenges they face?

Zeroing in on your client’s challenges helps you focus your efforts on solutions that best support them during their housing journey. If your client is a first-time homebuyer, you might want to develop some brochures or handouts on rules for withdrawing from their RRSPs to help fund a down payment. If, however, the greatest hurdle of “Jason” and “Amy” is decluttering a four-bedroom detached home into a one-bedroom-plus-den condo, you can work on building a reliable roster of downsizing experts and home organizers to refer when necessary.