An “ideal customer profile” describes a company’s most valuable prospects, those who find a product or service seemingly perfect for their needs.
Ideal customer profiles help merchants:
- Select marketing channels,
- Create ad copy and design,
- Narrow outreach,
- Build email sequences,
- Produce how-to, problem-solving videos.
AI platforms have vast databases of businesses and their audiences, helpful for defining an ideal customer. I tested three platforms for this article.
Custom GPT: ICP Generator
“ICP – Ideal Customer Profile Generator,” a custom GPT (available for ChatGPT Plus subscribers), creates profiles based on a URL. I tested it on Smarty Marketing, the site I launched last year. The results were useful, although lacking specifics. My company’s ideal customers per the custom GPT are:
- In the growth phase: Companies aiming to expand their online presence, increase website traffic, and enhance brand visibility.
- Digital forward: Businesses that understand and value digital marketing’s impact on growth and are ready to invest in innovative SEO strategies.
- In competitive markets: Enterprises in industries where online competition is fierce, making them more likely to benefit from unique and effective SEO and link-building strategies.
- Content creators: Organizations that produce valuable content and can leverage infographic marketing and social media to engage and expand their audience.
- Seeking long-term results: Businesses focused on building lasting brand awareness and not just short-term gains, aligning with Smarty Marketing’s emphasis on long-term outcomes.
I could continue prompting the custom GPT for the best keywords in organic and paid search campaigns, the best social media platforms, helpful Facebook audience targeting, and so on.
Lemlist
Lemlist builds free ideal customer profiles based on a URL. The profiles are personas with names, demographic details, goals and objectives, and their potential outreach strategies. The reports are useful for ideas and brainstorming. The most helpful sections are:
- An ideal customer’s responsibilities and pain points,
- The most effective marketing channels (“touchpoints”),
- Risks to customers of not achieving goals.
Lemlist builds free ideal customer profiles based on a URL — with names, demographic details, goals and objectives, and potential outreach strategies. Click image to enlarge.
For example, Lemlist identified my company’s ideal customer as a marketing director (spot-on) with these pain points:
Struggling with understanding organic search strategies, underperforming marketing campaigns, and lack of unique digital content.
And the risks to my ideal customers of not solving problems are:
Continued decrease in online visibility, inability to compete with competitors’ online presence, loss of potential leads and sales.
M1-Project
M1 Project offers various AI-powered marketing tools, including generators for an ideal customer profile and a marketing strategy. Input your URL and M1 Project will:
- Create a product description,
- List the problems your products solve,
- Segment your target audience.
Edit the AI-generated descriptions, problems, and segments to your business. Then choose your preferred segment, and the tool will create an ideal customer profile. The downloadable document costs $99 and includes the ideal customer’s:
- Position, income, and pain points,
- Tools or platforms (potential partners for your business),
- Publications,
- Channels frequented,
- Followed social media accounts.
