How to Nail Your Ideal Client Pain Points (9 Strategies)
Getting a handle on your ideal client pain points can feel like a never-ending challenge.
If you’re wondering how to tap into what your clients are struggling with, you’re in good company. Tons of women services entrepreneurs share this frustration.
Women tell me they want to craft content that’s both appealing and relevant to their client audience. Yet they feel uncertain; how do they really know what ideal clients are going through? No worries.
In this post, I’m laying out nine practical strategies to help you stay updated on your ideal client pain points and so much more. These steps will help make your content creation process flow like honey (and be super effective).
Bonus: understanding your clients’ issues means you can stop guessing about topics and start delivering content that lands. That way, you can do your best work, share your message, and add value to your audience’s lives.
That said, if you’re ready to get a clearer picture of your clients’ needs and create content that genuinely connects, keep reading.
You’re busy …
I know your time is limited and your calendar is already bursting at the seams. And since this is nine strategies (I don’t want you to miss any of your research choices) here’s a recommendation…
…If you haven’t already, I strongly urge you to implement strategies 1 – 5 that follow. The other four strategies are nice-to-haves, can be added later, and won’t take as much time.
9 Strategies to Understand Your Ideal Client Pain Points
1. Clarify your ideal client
Before developing your marketing, blog, and content strategy–or business plan–it’s vital to understand exactly who you are serving. Likely, you can serve a variety of clients. Since it’s your business, you have a choice.
Women say to me, “But why must I choose? I can help so many different types of people.” No argument there! Especially when you’re over 50. You’ve done, accomplished, learned, and experienced heaps of amazing things. I see you.
Still, by separating your ideal client from everyone you could serve, you ensure that every message, content piece, service, and product you develop is aligned with their specific needs and dreams.
Choosing your specific ideal clients gives you multiple advantages. For starters:
- You’ll naturally talk to “The One” in your content
- It’s easier to focus your services on a one-of-a-kind group of folks
- Your messaging, headlines + email subject lines will stand out to “The One”
Picture this: when you take a purposeful approach to talk directly to your ideal clients, it fosters a genuine connection. It shows your audience that you’ve walked in their stilettos. That you care about their success and well-being. That’s what you want, right?!
Pro-tip: Update your ideal client pain points and backstory at least once a year to keep up with their changing needs.
Are you overwhelmed by constant content creation? And, unsure if your topics connect with your ideal clients? You’re not alone. I’m here to equip you with the skills and clarity you need. Through personalized one-on-one training, I’ll teach you how to conduct client interviews, create effective surveys, and analyze responses so your content hits the mark. Don’t let uncertainty stop you. Schedule your free clarity call today. Let’s elevate your approach and boost your business. Click here to get started.
2. Review past client conversations
Your past client onboarding conversation notes, plus client emails, and texts reveal a treasure trove of valuable insights.
Reflecting on previous interactions reminds you of the heartfelt challenges your clients face. This insight allows you to create content about your ideal client pain points more personally and powerfully.
For example, when you began working with your successful clients, how did they describe their pain points, problems, challenges, and goals?
Later, how did past ideal clients describe their results?
- What were they happiest about?
- Can you recall the exact words they used to describe their successes?
- What else changed in their life or business after working with you?
Pro-tip: Keep an updated folder of notes from client and prospect conversations for handy reference when planning and creating both content and offers.
Here’s a popular post that dives deeper into Why You Want To Know Your Ideal Client.
3. Conduct 1:1 client interviews
The #1 best way to gather your ideal client pain points is via one-on-one conversations. This data is pure gold because you get the deepest understanding of your ideal client pain points, frustrations, desires, goals, and dreams.
The beauty of a 1:1 conversation: you can dive deep into your client’s thoughts, attitudes, and experiences by asking follow on questions. According to Drive Research, “This results in a more detailed and nuanced understanding of the participant’s perspective than other research methods such as online surveys.” Source
For the record, email and online surveys are a close second. (See Strategy #4.)
The marketing industry calls conversations, interviews, and surveys with your current and past buyers Voice of Customer (VoC) research.
Be sure to interview all client types–potential, current, and past clients. Responses from each one give you insights it’s hard to get any other way.
With the deep, unique answers you uncover in VoC conversations, you’ll have amazing knowledge to build solutions and content that resonates. You’re now even better prepared to make a meaningful difference in your clients’ lives.
Since we’ve talked about how much juicy insight you can gather with a bit of VoC research, wondering how to get started? Here are some guidelines:
- Take time to understand your dream clients’ hidden struggles. Be patient and dig deep to uncover the unspoken pain points that they might not easily share on social media, for example.
- Be persistent. Ask your ideal clients open-ended questions. This allows them to freely express their thoughts and concerns, giving you richer, more detailed insights into their needs.
- Encourage them to share their most pressing issues whenever possible. Every interaction is your opportunity to understand their urgent challenges better.
- Listen intently. Paying close attention to their words and expressions gives you even more gold to use in messaging and content.
- Remain empathetic to the issues your clients are passionate about.
Don’t forget, showing genuine care and understanding for the problems clients face builds trust and strengthens your relationship with them.
Pro-tip: If your client interviewees agree, record the conversations for later review.
4. Survey your email list
If you want to get started collecting client insights right away, where’s an outstanding (and speedy) place to start your VoC research? Your email list is because they’ve already expressed interest in what you offer.
They have the problems you help people solve, right? They’ve signed up to receive your expertise in the form of messages and links to your website, blog posts, podcast episodes, or videos because they’re working to solve the specific problems that you help with.
Not only that, you’re also signaling to your email community that you care about them, their progress, and their input.
Surveys are a wonderful way to engage with your email community, giving them a chance to tell you in their own words what’s holding them back. Survey responses not only guide your content strategy but also make your clients feel seen, heard, valued, and understood.
Pro-tip: You may discover new ideas for not only content, but also for new services.
5. Ask AI to analyze your research
Let’s say you’ve conducted an email survey with your subscribers, and now you have, well, a pile of responses. Yay you!
You may ask, what’s the best way to identify the major themes and pain points your people shared? Tap into an artificial intelligence app.
Ask ChatGPT (or other AI tool) to analyze your research responses and survey findings. AI will quickly identify common themes, problems, and feelings within your research.
Pro-tip: While you could analyze your findings yourself, happily AI analysis saves you a boatload of time.
6. Check out your competitors’ social media presence
You can broaden your knowledge about your ideal client pain points by reviewing the social media profiles of others who offer services similar to yours.
You could uncover helpful insights about how your ideal client audience feels about their challenge and solutions they’ve already tried that did not work.
Additionally, you may determine…
- The types of content are other providers in your space post
- Nature of the comments on competitors’ social media profiles
- Which kind of posts get lots of engagement
Pro-tip: Keep a list of links to other experts’ social media profiles for quick review, so you can stay on top of emerging areas your audience is talking about.
7. Analyze blog post comments
Are you up for a bit more sleuthing to better understand your ideal client pain points?
By paying attention to blog post comments from audiences of other experts who provide services like yours, you should find new aha moments. These insights help you tap into sentiments from a broader audience, while you also identify common frustrations.
Pro-tip: Amazon book reviews for your industry are another source of insights for problems and frustrations your audience expresses online.
8. Make customer research a regular part of your marketing
Staying attuned to your clients’ changing needs shows that you care about their long-term success and happiness. Ongoing feedback about ideal client pain points is essential for adapting and growing with your people. It’s going to ensure you continue to create relevant and appealing content and serve them the best you can.
Pro-tip: You’ll enhance your strategic thinking about marketing messages and content creation by doing consistent customer research.
9. Be curious. Ask research-y questions when networking
Networking is a great opportunity to gather more VoC research!
Because your genuine curiosity about your ideal clients’ needs shows that you’re not just in business to sell, but to solve real problems. This helps build trust and establish lasting relationships with those you aim to serve.
I asked ChatGPT to give me 5 ideas for questions you could ask potential clients in a networking situation. I told it to write curious, engaging questions without sounding intrusive.
Here’s ChatGPT’s reply:
1.) “What are some of the biggest challenges you’re facing in your business right now?”
– This question invites the person to share their current pain points and challenges, providing you with insights into their needs without making them feel pressured.
2.) “How do you usually find solutions for the issues you encounter in your business?”
– This question helps you understand their problem-solving methods and preferences, which can inform how you present your own services as a potential solution.
3.) “What aspects of your industry do you find most exciting or inspiring?”
– This opens up a positive conversation about their interests and passions, giving you a sense of what motivates them and where they see opportunities for growth.
4.) “Are there any tools or resources you wish you had to make your work easier?”
– This question allows them to express their unmet needs and desires, giving you a clearer picture of potential areas where you could add value.
5.) “What trends do you think will have the biggest impact on your business in the next few years?”
– This forward-looking question encourages them to think about the future, providing insights into their strategic priorities and potential long-term needs.
Pro-tip: Design a few VoC questions you’d like to ask and have them ready for networking conversations.
Conclusion
There you have it! Nine powerful strategies to help you understand your ideal client’s pain points better. Implementing these tips will make your content creation flow smoother and be more impactful, so you can connect deeply with your audience. And do more of the work you love.
Remember, understanding your clients is not a one-and-done deal; it’s a journey, and each step brings you closer to serving them better.
Are you feeling overwhelmed by the endless demands of content creation and unsure if your topics resonate with your ideal clients? You’re not alone, and I’m here to equip you with the skills and confidence you need.
Through personalized, one-on-one training, I’ll teach you how to conduct insightful client interviews, craft effective surveys, and analyze feedback so your content always hits the mark. Don’t let uncertainty hold you back. Schedule your free clarity call today. Let’s enhance your approach and elevate your business. Click here to get started.
What if you could finally create content consistently?
If creating your marketing content has felt like a chore, a time-suck, or a massive mystery, you may have given up on content entirely.
But the truth is:
Content is key to attracting ideal clients and filling your programs. So don’t give up!
If your content ideas are buried in your beautiful brain, you want a process to help your words flow.
You want specific actions to implement so that the content you create stands out to your dream clients.
When you schedule a free Clarity Call, together, we’ll uncover your personalized marketing content actions. That way you can impact more clients. Click below to set up your FREE Clarity Call.
