How to choose customer avatar in college admissions market?
I work as a private college admissions consultant.
One thing I noticed is that although many college applicants (high school students) visit my website and enjoy my copy, this audience does not convert into sales. (They're just consuming free content and leaving.)
My copy is currently written with students as my "customer avatar" because I thought it would be more relatable.
And my traffic is mostly high school students, but includes some parents as well.
It seems I have two options if I want to generate sales:
* Option 1: Write content in a voice for both students AND parents. *
* Option 2: Write content in a voice for parents, specifically. *
Option 1 is more inclusive, but would have a vague customer avatar. Might be hard for audience to connect emotionally.
Option 2 leaves out a lot of my current audience, but might help me BUILD an audience that actually converts into sales.
How would you create a customer avatar in this market? What tone of voice should I write in?
Should I write for parents exclusively in a more focused manner, or should I write in a way that would be more accessible for students as well?
For example:
* Learn how to write great college essays.
vs.
* Learn how your child can write great college essays.
I'm worried that writing for both parents and students doesn't really give me a "you" to talk to.
"You" is very different for a 40-something parent vs. a 17-year-old student.
***
Friends suggested having two sections on my site one for parents, another for students.
However, I'd like to have only ONE autoresponder list / sales page for each relevant item (at least for now) to keep things simple.
It'd be tricky to constantly have two different options / call to actions when trying to get people to sign up for email list
My intuition, based on experience so far, is that I get more leads/conversions from parents in general - students email me for free advice, but the paying clients I've gotten have almost all been parents emailing me.
If I should make parents the focus, should I still try to "talk to both"? If so, how would I do this effectively?
Thanks!
One thing I noticed is that although many college applicants (high school students) visit my website and enjoy my copy, this audience does not convert into sales. (They're just consuming free content and leaving.)
My copy is currently written with students as my "customer avatar" because I thought it would be more relatable.
And my traffic is mostly high school students, but includes some parents as well.
It seems I have two options if I want to generate sales:
* Option 1: Write content in a voice for both students AND parents. *
* Option 2: Write content in a voice for parents, specifically. *
Option 1 is more inclusive, but would have a vague customer avatar. Might be hard for audience to connect emotionally.
Option 2 leaves out a lot of my current audience, but might help me BUILD an audience that actually converts into sales.
How would you create a customer avatar in this market? What tone of voice should I write in?
Should I write for parents exclusively in a more focused manner, or should I write in a way that would be more accessible for students as well?
For example:
* Learn how to write great college essays.
vs.
* Learn how your child can write great college essays.
I'm worried that writing for both parents and students doesn't really give me a "you" to talk to.
"You" is very different for a 40-something parent vs. a 17-year-old student.
***
Friends suggested having two sections on my site one for parents, another for students.
However, I'd like to have only ONE autoresponder list / sales page for each relevant item (at least for now) to keep things simple.
It'd be tricky to constantly have two different options / call to actions when trying to get people to sign up for email list
My intuition, based on experience so far, is that I get more leads/conversions from parents in general - students email me for free advice, but the paying clients I've gotten have almost all been parents emailing me.
If I should make parents the focus, should I still try to "talk to both"? If so, how would I do this effectively?
Thanks!
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Benjamin Farthing -
Thanks - 1 reply
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mabbas123 -
Thanks
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Benjamin Farthing -
Thanks
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