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Building Your Client Avatars: A Step-by-Step Guide to Attracting the Right Clients

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Building Your Client Avatars: A Step-by-Step Guide to Attracting the Right Clients

Let’s be real: not every lead is your ideal client. Some are a perfect fit, some are “meh,” and some make you wish you could hit unsubscribe on life. That’s where Client Avatars, also known as Ideal Client Profiles (ICPs), come in.

At RB Consulting Agency, we’ve learned through decades of experience that the businesses who accelerate growth the fastest are the ones who know their best-fit clients inside and out. If you don’t know who you’re talking to, you’ll waste time and money chasing the wrong audience with generic marketing that doesn’t land.

So let’s fix that.

This guide will help you think deeply about your ideal clients—who they are, what they value, how they buy, and what challenges keep them up at night. It’s not a rigid checklist. It’s a framework to spark conversations, uncover insights, and document the profiles that matter most. The more clearly you understand your clients, the more powerful your marketing, sales, and business growth strategies become.

Here are a few “insider moves” we recommend when building your Client Avatars or ICPs:

  • Jobs to Be Done: Think about the job they’re hiring you to perform. Spoiler: it’s rarely “buying your product.” It’s solving a bigger business problem.
  • Behavior Beats Buzzwords: Forget labels. Focus on actions. Are they early adopters, price-sensitive, or community-driven?
  • Emotions Drive Decisions: Fear, pride, relief, and security all influence buying decisions. Know what’s really behind their choices.
  • Know Who’s Not Your Client: Document your “anti-avatar.” Saying no to the wrong fit saves time, budget, and sanity.
  • Meet Them Where They Are: Capture how they like to communicate. Is it email, phone, text, Zoom, or even face-to-face events?
  • Visual One-Pagers: Condense each avatar into a simple, shareable sheet your team will actually use. And if you want a shortcut? Snag the one on our Free Resources page.

Think of your ICP as a story, not just a spreadsheet. Here’s what to capture:

1. Basic Demographics & Background
Give your avatar a name (like Marketing Mary or Tech Tom) so they feel real. Note details like age, career path, industry, role, budget, and whether they’re a decision-maker or influencer.

2. Mindset & Motivations
This is where it gets interesting. What are their goals? What keeps them up at night? What objections do they bring up in sales calls? What motivates them emotionally—status, relationships, security, innovation?

3. How They Learn & Who They Trust
Are they scrolling LinkedIn in Indianapolis? Reading Forbes during lunch? Listening to industry podcasts on their commute? Knowing where they spend their attention tells you where to meet them.

4. Pain Points & Needs
What’s frustrating them right now? What gaps do they need filled? And what happens if they don’t solve the problem? (Hint: urgency fuels action.)

5. Messaging Insights
What proof convinces them? Do they prefer a data-driven case study, a client success story, or a heartfelt testimonial? Capture what resonates — and what falls flat.

6. Buyer’s Journey
From “just realized I have a problem” (awareness) → “what are my options?” (consideration) → “who do I trust to solve this?” (decision). Align your content, messaging, and outreach to each step.

7. Prioritization
Not all clients are created equal. Decide which avatars drive the most revenue or impact for your business — and which ones to politely pass on.

Here’s the truth: client avatars aren’t just a marketing exercise, they’re a growth accelerator.

When you define your ICPs, you:

  • Stop wasting resources marketing to the wrong people.
  • Build content and campaigns that actually resonate.
  • Shorten your sales cycle because you’re not convincing the unconvinceable.
  • Attract more of the clients you love working with.

And it works across industries, whether you’re in technology, professional services, healthcare, education, or nonprofits. We’ve helped clients from Indianapolis to Chicago, Charlotte to Oregon, refine their ideal client profiles and watch conversions skyrocket. Every time, the pattern is clear: speaking directly to your ideal audience creates real results.

This isn’t about perfection. It’s about clarity. The more you can describe your best clients, the more your marketing stops feeling like a shot in the dark and starts working like a magnet.

At RB Consulting Agency, we call it People First. Strategy Always. Success Together. That starts with knowing exactly who you’re trying to reach and why they should care.

So grab your team, pour some coffee, and start mapping out your Client Avatars. And if you’d like a partner to help sharpen the strategy and build messaging that attracts your right-fit clients, we’re here to help.

Let’s connect about building your ICPs (and your growth strategy): Schedule time to talk.

Rebecca Bormann
Rebecca Bormann
About the Author
Rebecca Bormann is the Founder and CEO of RB Consulting Agency, a strategic marketing and business development firm that empowers organizations to clarify their brand, elevate visibility, and accelerate growth.
 
With over 20 years of leadership experience in sales and marketing, Rebecca blends emotional intelligence with data-driven strategy to help clients connect authentically with their audiences, align marketing and business objectives, and build sustainable pipelines for growth.
 
Under her leadership, RB Consulting serves clients across Indiana and nationwide in sectors including technology, professional services, healthcare, education, retail, and nonprofit. Guided by its core philosophy—People First. Strategy Always. Success Together.—the agency is recognized for its people-centered, data-informed approach that transforms brand presence into measurable business results.
 
Rebecca’s leadership and impact have earned numerous honors, including 2025 NAWBO Women Business Owner of the Year, Indianapolis Business Journal’s Women of Influence (2022), Hope Magazine’s Hope 25 Honoree (2022), AOTMP® Insights Women in Tech DEI Advocate (2022), and Junior Achievement’s Indy’s Best & Brightest Finalist (2020, 2021).
 
She holds Executive Education Certificates in Business Strategy, Financial Management, and Marketing & Sales from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, along with a Bachelor’s Degree in Management and a Certificate in Communications from Indiana Wesleyan University.
 
RB Consulting Agency is certified as both a Women Business Enterprise (CWBE) by NAWBO and a Women-Owned Business (WBE) by the Indiana Department of Administration.
 
Connect with Rebecca on LinkedIn.

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