This article comes from Samantha Rideout’s talk at our Los Angeles #GTM24 summit. Check out her full presentation and the wealth of OnDemand resources waiting for you.
Before we dive into how ideal customer profiles (ICPs) can help your brand drive sustainable growth, let’s flip the script for a second. Think about yourself—when are you the ideal customer? What brand makes you say, “Take my money” without hesitation?
For me, it's Peloton. I buy the branded apparel, I’m on a multi-year streak of daily workouts, and I follow the instructors on social media.
My husband, on the other hand? Also a Peloton customer, but he doesn’t engage in the same way. He only uses the bike occasionally, has never bought branded gear, and doesn’t interact with the brand beyond his workouts.
Same product, different customers—yet one of us is much more valuable to Peloton than the other.
This is why ICPs are so powerful. Buyer personas help us understand who we are targeting, but ICPs help us identify who will deliver the most value—those customers who will stick around, spend more, and advocate for your brand. In this article, I’ll walk you through how to define, refine, and use ICPs to drive sustainable growth.
So, let’s dive in.
1. What makes an ideal customer?
There are two key factors that define an ideal customer: loyalty and total lifetime value (LTV).
Loyal customers don’t just buy your product once—they stick with it, recommend it to others, and keep coming back. And those with high LTV don’t just make one purchase—they continue engaging with your brand, making repeat purchases or increasing their spend over time.
Let’s go back to my Peloton example. I regularly buy from them, I engage with their community, and I use their platform every day. My husband? He uses the product occasionally, but there’s no real long-term engagement.
Why does this matter? Because companies often target broad buyer personas when, in reality, not all customers within those personas will become high-value customers. ICPs help you filter through potential customers and find the ones who will truly drive your business forward.
Defining your ICP requires looking beyond basic customer characteristics and into deeper behavioral and engagement patterns. For instance, who interacts with your product daily? Who is constantly referring others? Who shows the highest retention rates?
These factors differentiate a casual buyer from an ideal customer, ensuring that your marketing efforts focus on attracting and nurturing the right audience.
