Every great strategy starts with the customer you choose. On a recent call, a women-led commercial real estate firm told us they wanted to grow beyond referrals. Before we touched a line of copy, we defined their Ideal Customer Profiles—plural.
One ICP was a master-broker partner. Another was the inherited asset seller who needed a high-touch, trusted guide. Without this clarity, any marketing looks busy but lands vague. The ICP process made their positioning precise—and their next marketing move obvious.
The Two-Part Filter: Profitability × Enjoyability
Your ICP isn’t just who you can help. It’s who you can help profitably and enjoyably.
Most Profitable
These are clients who deliver real revenue, real margins, and repeatable opportunities. You know the projects—they’re scalable, not custom one-offs that drain time.
Most Enjoyable
These are the people you like working with. They respect your process, communicate well, and pay on time. That mutual respect fuels energy, referrals, and great case studies.
The overlap of these two groups is your core ICP—the group you should design your marketing around.
If you’re expanding to a new ICP, do it without alienating the one that feeds you today. Growth doesn’t mean abandoning your base—it means clarifying who gets your next best version.
Where to Find Them (So Your Marketing Isn’t Guesswork)
Once you’ve identified your ICPs, the next question is: Where do they spend their time?
For each ICP, answer these four questions:
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Where do they hang out?
Conferences, associations, niche LinkedIn groups, or private Slack/Discord communities. -
What do they read or watch?
Industry journals, podcasts, YouTube channels, or newsletters. -
Who do they already trust?
Partners, platforms, or master brokers. Align with their trusted sources to borrow credibility. -
What’s their “moment”?
The trigger that starts their search—expiring leases, sudden inheritances, business expansion, or funding rounds.
Once you know the where and the moment, your marketing becomes proactive instead of reactive. You’re showing up where they already are.
One-Page Ideal Customer Profile Template (Steal This)
Use this quick format to lock in clarity for every ICP you serve:
Name:
“The Master-Broker Partner,” “The Inherited-Asset Seller,” “The Multi-Location Franchisor.”
Context Now:
What changed in their world this quarter?
Top 3 Wins:
Hard outcomes—time-to-lease, price achieved, deal velocity, or cost savings.
Top 3 Fears:
Risks you remove—compliance, time loss, bad deals, reputation hits.
Channels & Events:
Where you’ll meet them—trade shows, roundtables, associations, or online communities.
Message:
One sentence that makes them say: “That’s me.”
This one-page snapshot becomes your north star for copy, campaigns, and offers. Keep it visible and refine it quarterly.
Map ICPs to Offers (and Pages)
Every ICP deserves its own landing page, its own proof, and its own stories.
If the same website page tries to sell everyone, it sells no one.
Tailor your:
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Proof: Show logos and testimonials from similar clients.
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Offers: Create relevant packages or service tiers.
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Messaging: Match tone and priorities. A corporate client wants efficiency; a first-time seller wants reassurance.
This approach transforms a generic website into a conversion machine. See how we structure segmented site pages in our guide to building your own page.
A 14-Day Ideal Customer Profile Sprint
You don’t need months of research. You can clarify your ICP in two weeks with this workflow:
Day 1–3:
List your top 10 clients by lifetime value.
Day 4–5:
Mark the five you loved working with. These are your “enjoyable and profitable” overlap.
Day 6–9:
Interview three of them. Ask:
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Where did they first hear about you?
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Why did they choose you over a bigger or cheaper competitor?
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What hesitations did they have before hiring you?
These insights are marketing gold.
Day 10–12:
Draft one ICP page. Include:
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2 short case studies
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3 direct quotes from happy clients
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1 headline that makes the right people nod
Day 13–14:
Publish the page. Then run a week of warm outreach targeted only to that ICP.
You’ll see immediate clarity—and often, immediate leads.
Create Content Your ICP Cares About
Once your ICP is defined, content strategy becomes effortless. Every article, email, or post should answer one of three questions for your ICP:
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What do they need to understand before buying?
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What results do they want to see from others like them?
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What trends or triggers are affecting their decisions right now?
This is what we call the Base / News / Thought content stack.
When your ICP reads your content and says, “That’s exactly what I’m going through,” you’ve earned relevance—the most powerful currency in marketing.
The Takeaway
If you don’t pick who you want to be a hero to, you’ll waste time on the wrong audience.
When you define your ICP:
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The where (channels and outreach) becomes obvious.
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The what (offers and messaging) writes itself.
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Your marketing finally feels strategic—not random.
The brands that win aren’t louder; they’re clearer.
Pick your ICP. Speak to them directly. And watch how every marketing decision—channels, budget, and content—snaps into focus.
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