What is an ICP (ideal customer profile)
Also known as: ideal customer profile, ideal client profile
An ICP, short for ideal customer profile, is the kind of company, or customer, that gets the most out of what you sell and brings the most return to the business. It is described by objective traits such as industry, size, region, revenue and business stage, and it guides where to prospect, who to serve first and who to say no to.
A time tracking software company reviews its 120 customers. Those in logistics and manufacturing, with 50 to 300 employees, pay three times more on average, churn half as often and close faster than the rest.
That becomes the ICP. Ads, prospecting lists and content focus on that group, and requests from very small companies go to a simple self serve plan, without taking up the sales team's time.
ICP and persona
In B2B sales, the two go together: the ICP says which companies to target, the persona says who to talk to inside them and what to say.
| Describes | Example criteria | |
|---|---|---|
| ICP | The company, or customer type, most worth serving | Industry, size, region, revenue, technology used |
| Persona | The person who decides or influences the purchase | Role, goals, pains, objections, where they get information |
How to define your ICP from current customers
- List your current customers, with revenue, margin and tenure.
- Mark the best: those who pay well, stay, need little support and refer others.
- Look for what they share: industry, size, region, stage, the systems they use.
- Do the same with the worst customers; what they share is information too.
- Write the ICP in a few lines, with criteria anyone on the team can check.
- Validate it with sales and review it every six months.
The most used criteria in B2B
| How to check it | |
|---|---|
| Industry | The company's line of business, from public registries or industry codes |
| Size | Number of employees or revenue |
| Region | Where the company operates and where you can serve it |
| Stage | Hiring, opening locations, switching systems |
| Technology | Tools the company already uses that your product works with |
What the ICP is for in practice
- Targeting ads by industry, company size and job title, instead of talking to everyone.
- Building lists for outbound prospecting and account based marketing.
- Assigning fit points in lead scoring.
- Choosing content topics that attract the right companies.
- Shaping product, pricing and plans.
- Saying no, with criteria, to customers who will cost more than they pay.
Common mistakes
- An ICP so broad that any company fits.
- An ICP based on the customer you wish you had, not on data from the ones you have.
- Never reviewing it, even after the product or market changes.
- Confusing ICP with persona and describing a person when the criterion was the company.
Frequently asked questions
What is an ICP?
The ideal customer profile: the kind of company, or customer, that gets the most out of what you sell and brings the most return to the business.
What is the difference between an ICP and a persona?
The ICP describes the ideal company or customer type. The persona describes the person who decides or influences the purchase inside it.
How do I define an ICP?
By analyzing current customers: separate the best ones by revenue, margin and retention, and find out what they have in common.
Does an ICP apply to B2C?
Yes, with other criteria, such as income range, region, life stage and purchase frequency. The term is more common in B2B.
How often should an ICP be reviewed?
A review every six months is usually enough, or sooner if the product, pricing or market changes.
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Rodrigo Fávaro
Founder of ROO3, a marketing and technology agency in São José do Rio Preto, Brazil. Builds AI products running in production (Tobia, gerar.app, Pense Mercado) and maintains the AI Benchmark, a public ranking of AI models.
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