Episode 9: Your ICP is a Lie: Why Most Marketing Strategies Are Built on False Assumptions

0.000000 12.460000 I'm Jason Hager and this is Grey Leaf Media, now presented as marketing notes for entrepreneurs

12.460000 19.060000 where impact-driven leaders use trust, clarity and strategy to turn good work into sustainable

19.060000 21.180000 growth.

21.180000 26.740000 This is a new series about the foundational assumption most businesses get wrong and

26.740000 32.160000 how it breaks everything else.

32.160000 37.880000 Your marketing probably isn't working, not because you're doing it wrong, because you're

37.880000 44.720000 doing it for the wrong people.

44.720000 46.520000 Here's a question.

46.520000 49.480000 Who actually buys from you?

49.480000 51.920000 Not who you want to buy.

51.920000 55.400000 Not who your ICP says should buy.

55.400000 59.400000 Who actually hands you money?

59.400000 62.280000 Go look at your last 20 customers.

62.280000 69.760000 I'm willing to bet at least half of them don't match your stated ICP.

69.760000 72.000000 That's not a marketing problem.

72.000000 74.680000 That's a foundation problem.

74.680000 81.440000 Your ICP or your ideal customer profile is probably a lie.

81.440000 88.320000 Not because you're dishonest, but because it's based on assumptions instead of reality.

88.320000 94.920000 Based on who you want to serve, not who actually gets value from what you do, and your entire

94.920000 100.200000 marketing strategy is built on that false assumption.

100.200000 107.280000 Your social media strategy, your content, your positioning, your messaging, your product

107.280000 110.320000 roadmap, your pricing.

110.320000 117.400000 All of it is optimized for a customer who doesn't exist.

117.400000 122.920000 Over the next several episodes, we're going to break down exactly how a wrong ICP cascades

122.920000 125.880000 through your entire marketing system.

125.880000 133.840000 How it breaks social media, content strategy, positioning, sales messaging, product development,

133.840000 137.080000 pricing, and retention.

137.080000 140.640000 But today, we start with the foundation.

140.640000 150.320000 Why most ICPs are lies and how to find who you actually serve?

150.320000 152.440000 This is Episode 9.

152.440000 155.360000 Your ICP is a lie.

155.360000 164.120000 Let's talk about the gap between who you think you serve and who actually buys.

164.120000 167.920000 Most ICPs are created based on three things.

167.920000 174.560000 Who the founder wants to serve, who seems like they should value this, and who has the budget

174.560000 176.960000 you want to charge.

176.960000 179.080000 Notice what's missing?

179.080000 182.280000 Who actually buys?

182.280000 184.360000 Here's the typical pattern.

184.360000 186.040000 You have an idea.

186.040000 188.200000 You think about who would benefit.

188.200000 192.760000 You create a customer profile based on those assumptions.

192.760000 195.880000 You build your marketing around it.

195.880000 197.840000 Then you launch.

197.840000 202.280000 And the people who actually buy don't quite match.

202.280000 212.040000 Different industry, smaller companies, different roles, different use case than you intended.

212.040000 218.120000 But instead of updating your ICP to match reality, you keep marketing to the theoretical

218.120000 219.640000 customer.

219.640000 222.800000 Because that's who you want to serve.

222.800000 228.400000 That's who makes the business look scalable or fundable or impressive.

228.400000 233.840000 So you end up with two customer bases, the theoretical one you're marketing to, and

233.840000 237.960000 the actual one that's funding your business.

237.960000 240.000000 That's the lie.

240.000000 244.920000 You're operating from assumption instead of reality.

244.920000 252.640000 And this creates a cascade when your ICP is wrong, everything downstream breaks.

252.640000 255.800000 Your social media targets the wrong people.

255.800000 260.640000 Your content solves problems your actual customers don't have.

260.640000 264.520000 Your positioning speaks to a market that isn't buying.

264.520000 269.000000 Your sales conversations use language that doesn't resonate.

269.000000 272.280000 Your product builds features nobody wants.

272.280000 278.760000 Your pricing is calibrated for customers who don't exist.

278.760000 281.880000 It's not that any single element is bad.

281.880000 285.400000 It's that they're all built on a false foundation.

285.400000 291.280000 And when the foundation is wrong, the structure can't stand.

291.280000 295.560000 Let me show you what this looks like in practice.

295.560000 298.600000 A founder builds a project management tool.

298.600000 306.320000 Your ICP is enterprise teams of 50 plus people who need complex workflow automation.

306.320000 308.480000 Why?

308.480000 311.120000 Because enterprise has budget.

311.120000 315.560000 Because complex workflows justify premium pricing.

315.560000 318.880000 Because that's what the pitch deck says.

318.880000 323.320000 But when they launch, who actually buys?

323.320000 325.000000 Freelancers.

325.000000 330.880000 So low consultants, small agencies with three to five people.

330.880000 334.320000 And they're not using it for complex workflow automation.

334.320000 341.360000 They're using it to keep client projects organized and look professional in client communications.

341.360000 345.280000 So the founder has a choice.

345.280000 350.840000 Except that the actual customers are freelancers and agencies and rebuild the strategy around

350.840000 356.840000 that reality or keep marketing to enterprise teams.

356.840000 360.000000 Keep building features for complex workflows.

360.000000 366.800000 Keep pricing for big budgets and hope the right customers eventually show up.

366.800000 369.480000 Most founders pick the second option.

369.480000 374.840000 Because admitting the ICP is wrong feels like admitting the business is wrong.

374.840000 376.920000 But they haven't failed.

376.920000 380.360000 They've just discovered reality.

380.360000 384.920000 The failure happens when you ignore reality and keep building for a market that isn't

384.920000 386.840000 buying.

386.840000 391.260000 When you're chasing enterprise teams who don't want your product, you're neglecting

391.260000 394.680000 the freelancers and agencies who do.

394.680000 397.280000 You're not serving them well.

397.280000 400.280000 You're not building features they need.

400.280000 404.960000 You're not creating content that speaks to their problems.

404.960000 412.080000 Eventually those actual customers churn because you're focused on serving a theoretical customer

412.080000 415.600000 who doesn't exist.

415.600000 425.680000 This is the gap between who you think you serve and who actually buys and it kills businesses.

425.680000 430.280000 So how do you close that gap?

430.280000 435.080000 Start with your actual customer base.

435.080000 436.840000 Pull your customer list.

436.840000 439.680000 Last 50 customers minimum.

439.680000 447.520000 Segment them by industry, company size, role, geography, use case, revenue contribution,

447.520000 451.240000 satisfaction and referral behavior.

451.240000 453.480000 Look for patterns.

453.480000 457.880000 Not what you expected to see, but what's actually there.

457.880000 462.520000 Now, who are your best customers?

462.520000 465.840000 Not theoretically, actually.

465.840000 473.920000 Who stays longest, refers most, pays without complaint and gets the most value.

473.920000 481.840000 Do they match your stated ICP or are they in a completely different segment?

481.840000 488.120000 Next, interview your best customers.

488.120000 492.720000 Not a survey, an actual conversation.

492.720000 497.880000 Ask them, what problem were you trying to solve when you found us?

497.880000 500.560000 How did you find us?

500.560000 503.960000 What almost stopped you from buying?

503.960000 506.680000 What made you choose us?

506.680000 510.400000 How are you actually using this?

510.400000 516.840000 What would you tell someone like you about us?

516.840000 525.080000 Listen for the language they use, the actual pain points, the real motivations.

525.080000 528.040000 Pay attention to surprises.

528.040000 536.320000 When they say something unexpected, that's reality breaking through your assumptions.

536.320000 545.840000 Then map the gap, compare your stated ICP to your actual customer data.

545.840000 553.800000 Different industry, different company size, different role, different use case, different

553.800000 556.200000 pain point.

556.200000 561.700000 The gap tells you where your assumptions diverged from reality.

561.700000 569.260000 Now, build a reality-based ICP.

569.260000 571.660000 This might be uncomfortable.

571.660000 579.500000 Your actual ICP might be less prestigious than you wanted, smaller companies than you hoped,

579.500000 587.580000 a different industry than you planned, using your product differently than intended.

587.580000 590.180000 That discomfort is information.

590.180000 598.700000 It's telling you that your ego or your business plan was driving the original ICP, not market

598.700000 601.460000 reality.

601.460000 604.940000 And here is what you need to understand.

604.940000 611.060000 There's nothing wrong with serving freelancers if enterprise won't buy.

611.060000 617.500000 There's nothing wrong with serving small businesses if mid-market isn't interested.

617.500000 622.320000 There's nothing wrong with your product being used differently than intended if customers

622.320000 624.840000 get value from it.

624.840000 631.420000 The problem is pretending you serve one market while actually serving another.

631.420000 638.540000 Because that pretending, that's what breaks your marketing.

638.540000 642.900000 Most ICP problems show up when people try to niche.

642.900000 649.540000 Three common patterns. First, nitching to broad.

649.540000 653.180000 Small businesses isn't a niche.

653.180000 658.420000 Neither is B2B companies or entrepreneurs.

658.420000 663.740000 If your ICP is too broad, you can't create specific messaging.

663.740000 672.780000 You're trying to serve everyone, which means you're not particularly valuable to anyone.

672.780000 677.540000 Nitching in the wrong direction.

677.540000 683.680000 You picked a niche based on what sounded good, not what actually worked.

683.680000 689.200000 Maybe you targeted law firms because they have money, but law firms don't actually value

689.200000 691.020000 what you do.

691.020000 694.940000 Your best customers are in construction.

694.940000 699.580000 You nitched, just in the wrong direction.

699.580000 705.700000 Third, nitching to early.

705.700000 712.860000 You picked a niche before you had enough customer data to know where you had traction.

712.860000 719.780000 So you committed to a market segment before that segment validated you.

719.780000 723.620000 The solution isn't always to niche differently.

723.620000 730.380000 Sometimes it's to stay broader until you have enough data to niche intelligently.

730.380000 736.220000 Other times, it's to accept that you niched wrong and pivot toward where you actually have

736.220000 737.220000 traction.

737.220000 744.580000 Either way, the answer comes from looking at reality, not theory.

744.580000 748.060000 Here's what I want you to do this week.

748.060000 751.460000 Look at your last 20 customers.

751.460000 756.060000 See if they match your stated ICP.

756.060000 759.620000 If they don't, that's not failure.

759.620000 763.340000 That's information.

763.340000 769.780000 Because over the next several episodes, we're going to break down exactly how a wrong ICP

769.780000 774.100000 cascades through your entire marketing system.

774.100000 781.840000 How it breaks your social media, your content, your positioning, your messaging, your product,

781.840000 787.540000 your pricing, everything.

787.540000 796.740000 But before we can fix any of that, you need to know who you're actually serving.

796.740000 803.780000 I'm Jason Hager and this is Marketing Notes for Entrepreneurs from Grey Leaf Media.

803.780000 811.460000 For leaders who believe profit and purpose don't have to be at odds.

811.460000 816.420000 If you need help figuring out who you actually serve and rebuilding your marketing strategy

816.420000 821.300000 around reality, that's what brand therapy is for.

821.300000 830.540000 Link in the description or you can go to greyleafmedia.com/diagnostic.

830.540000 837.040000 Next time, how a wrong ICP breaks your social media strategy.

837.040000 841.920000 Until then, keep building and go look at your actual customers.

841.920000 845.184313 [BLANK_AUDIO]