Too Many Personas, Not Enough Brain Space? How Consultants Can Prioritize Multiple Clients for Better Marketing (Free Tool!)

Table of Contents

While it’s fantastic to be able to serve a variety of clients, in reality it can be really overwhelming to market yourself this way as a consultant.

You’re a seasoned consultant who’s helped executive leaders cut through the noise, turned tangled teams into high-functioning ones, and nudged entire organizations toward better outcomes.

Not to mention, you’ve guided professionals one-on-one, pulled departments out of quicksand, and supported C-suite execs and bold visionaries.

Helping people think better is your signature move.

But now, you’ve hit a familiar wall: too many damn ideal client profiles (ICPs).

And somehow, you’re expected to create cohesive, compelling, conversion-driving marketing that speaks to all of them at once.

This is what I lovingly call: Consultancy ICP Chaos. And it’s a struggle between trying to say something meaningful to everyone…and ending up resonating with exactly no one.

But don’t worry, there’s a better way to get out of the analysis paralysis. And it involves something far more structured than just creating and hitting “Publish”, hoping someone bites.

In this guide, I’ll help you:

Spot the signs that it’s time to focus.
Understand why narrowing your ICP (for a while) won’t kill your other revenue streams.
Use a dead-simple Persona Prioritization Tool (no gate, no fluff, just download and go).
Feel a little more like the CEO of your consultancy and less like a panicked squirrel with a marketing to-do list.

For this article, I will refer a lot to “ICP”. That’s short for Ideal Client Profile, sometimes referred to as “ideal audience”, “persona” or “ideal prospects”.

An ICP or marketing persona is a comprehensive overview of what you know about the people you want to attract, and why they should choose to work with you. If you can describe your favorite client from the past year, the one who paid well, was easy to work with, and made your heart sing, you already understand ICPs better than half the internet. If that sounds a hell of a lot juicier (and useful) than your anemic one-page buyer persona, I’ve got a full guide on marketing personas just for you.

3 signs it’s time to prioritize one ideal audience for your marketing

Let’s pinpoint a few red flags that prove it’s time to focus. If you’re experiencing one or more of these with your business development, it’s time to pause and prioritize.

#1: You’re not getting the amount of marketing engagement you hoped for

You’re putting content out there. Maybe it’s your B2B newsletter, a blog post, or a carefully crafted series of LinkedIn posts.

But the clicks? The comments? The leads? Crickets.

It’s tempting to blame the algorithm (which absolutely is frustrating). But more often than not, the issue is that your content is trying to do too much for too many people.

And in trying to include everyone, you’re connecting with no one.

Focus isn’t exclusion, it’s clarity. And specificity is the shortcut to clarity.

When you’re specific, prospects feel seen, and when they feel seen, they trust you. That’s what opens doors. You’re not just shouting into the void; you’re landing squarely in someone’s inbox, brain, or browser tab with a message that hits home.

So yes, clarity gets clients. But specificity gets you that clarity in the first place.

#2: There’s been a major shift in your industry or sector

Maybe a policy changed, funding dried up, or some new buzzword has overtaken your corner of the internet. And suddenly, the discovery calls that used to book themselves consistently? Radio silence.

Or suddenly it seems everyone caught a case of budget hibernation. Here, projects stall, scopes shrink, and discovery calls vanish into thin air. Not to bring up old wounds, but it’s similar to the tariff war between the US and Canada: uneasy leaders, frozen funds, and a whole lot of strategic side-eyeing.

Trying to apply the same generic messaging to a changed landscape won’t cut it. According to TrustRadius, B2B buyers are 57% of the way through their decision-making process before they ever talk to a sales rep. If your messaging doesn’t match the moment, you’re invisible in that 57% window.

When the landscape shifts, so should your focus. Choose the ideal client profile that aligns with the new reality, and get in front of it while your competitors are still clutching their 2-year-old content calendar.

#3: Every time you open a blank Doc, you give up and go doom scroll instead

It’s not that you don’t want to market. It’s that every time you sit down to write, your brain short-circuits.

” Should this be for my for-profit executive leader audience? Or should I try something different that will attract a 20+ person nonprofit team?” And suddenly, you’re deep-cleaning your inbox because at least that feels productive.

This is what psychologists call decision fatigue. Medical News Today found that decision fatigue can impair productivity, reduce the quality of decisions, and increase decision avoidance. (Yup. Even in marketing.)

For Canadian consultants advising in nuanced, complex fields like DEI, nonprofit, or IT, this fatigue is even more overwhelming and deeply felt. You’re not just switching audiences; you’re switching tone, context, policy landscape, and sometimes entire vocabularies.

When you choose one ICP to focus on, even temporarily, you reduce those internal debates and reignite your creative energy. You’ll be shocked at how much easier it is to hit “publish” when you know who you’re talking to.

“But Alison, what if they feel left out?”

A totally reasonable fear. You’ve spent years cultivating relationships with multiple types of ideal clients, and the last thing you want is for one of them to think you don’t serve them anymore.

For instance, let’s say you’re a consultant who supports nonprofits with team building and facilitation. You may worry that if you pivot your content to focus on DEI leaders or health sector clients, your nonprofit contacts will feel like they’ve been abandoned.

But here’s the truth. Unless you’re explicitly saying “We don’t work with nonprofits anymore” (please don’t do that), your other ICPs are not thinking about you nearly as much as you’re thinking about them.

So instead of worrying about offending the silent majority, focus on reaching someone meaningfully. Consider segmenting your list and sending a heads-up email to your nonprofit clients, letting them know you’ll be sharing more DEI-oriented content for the next few weeks.

That kind of transparency builds trust, and the nonprofit companies? If they need you, they’ll reach out anyway. The worst-case scenario isn’t someone feeling left out; it’s no one noticing you at all.

Three Indigenous consultants review and prioritize the ICP they want to focus on. — Getting key team members involved can help prioritize who you want to focus marketing efforts on for the short term (2 to 3 months). Photo credit: CIRA.

How to prioritize which ideal client(s) to market your consulting services to

You didn’t start your consultancy to be a marketing strategist. You’re an expert in your specialized field, who just so happens to own a pile of untouched marketing tasks.

If “ideal client profiles” or that dusty 2022 strategy make you tune out, this is for you. No jargon, no fluff, just practical steps to make confident, chaos-free marketing decisions now.

#1 Cross-check your marketing reality with your strategic plan

If your strategic plan is sitting somewhere between your holiday card list and your laptop charger graveyard, don’t worry. You’re not alone.

But that plan probably has some clues about who your ideal clients are supposed to be. Use it as a starting point for setting your marketing goals, not a sacred scroll.

Here’s a simple action. Revisit the “audience” or “target market” section, and cross-reference it with your last 5 clients. Do they match? If yes, great, maybe you just need to focus your marketing back on them. If not, maybe it’s time to update your assumptions.

#2 Don’t wait for a magical marketing moment to make you choose who to get in front of

Some founders think they need to wait for the stars to align before committing to an ICP. They want the perfect webinar, the right photo shoot, or an Instagram-worthy brand story before narrowing in.

But most traction starts with a single email, post, or pitch. Done is better than epic.

Pick one client type and speak directly to them. Just for a little while, like 2 months. Think of it as a test, not a rebrand. You can always shift later with what you learn.

This is especially helpful if you’re a consultant in sectors like social impact or DEI, where priorities shift fast and messaging needs to stay responsive. Give yourself permission to focus without fear of permanence.

#3 Force Prioritization (Because what has “going with the flow” accomplished for you lately? )

Managing your own marketing is tough. When balls get dropped, it’s because you’re spread too thin to be strategic. And posting content reactively, hoping “something will stick”.

The solution? Force prioritization. Not the aggressive kind, just the structured, no-nonsense kind that helps you stop spinning and start focusing.

This is where the AKC Persona Prioritization spreadsheet comes in. It removes the emotion and guesswork from the process, anchoring your decision-making in actual reality (what a concept!).

Meet your new favorite marketing spreadsheet: the Persona Prioritization Tool (Google Sheet and Excel templates)

Download Google Sheet Version | Download Excel Version

First, I want to give credit to Product Plan’s Action Priority Matrix, which this tool is based off of. Instead of treating your ICPs as if they’re all equally urgent, my iteration helps you take a breath, step back, and make a smart, informed decision about where to invest your marketing energy right now.

Not forever. Not as a rejection of your other client types. Just a short-term, strategic yes to what’s actually working.

And trust me, this kind of clarity doesn’t just feel good. It frees up brain space, budget, and creative energy. So if you’ve been marketing in five directions and getting traction in none, it’s time to prioritize like the CEO you are.

This is the same tool I use in my Marketing Clarity Sessions to help consultants, business owners, and founders stop dodging hard decisions and actually prioritize. It’s especially useful when you need to:

Compare gut instinct with actual revenue.
Untangle conflicting client types.
Finally, create a client hierarchy you’ve been conveniently dodging.
Don’t have a consensus on who your most valuable audience is right now.
Are stretched thin and need a reality-based way to focus your marketing.

In order for this tool to be as effective as possible, here’s what I’m assuming you’ve got going on:

You’ve worked with at least 5 different companies or orgs. (If you’re newer to consulting, maybe come back to this tool later.)
You’ve got at least one core service that doesn’t make you break out in a cold sweat to sell.
You know your business goals. (If not, stop scrolling and figure those out first; marketing without goals is just chaos with a Canva account.)

How to use the Persona Prioritization Tool:

List all your ICPs. Under the “ICP Name” column, list each ICP you want to market to.
Go through the 6questions and reflect on your answers. See the table below for prompts and examples to help you. The questions are:
1. How accessible are they to us right now?
2. How well do we know their needs?
3. How passionate are we about them?
4. How quickly and easily can we market to and convert them right now?
5. How low-risk are they to focus on?
6. How relevant are they to our business goals?
Assign a number value to answers. For each ICP, reflect on each question and give them a rating between 1 and 5. Where 1 means “not very” and 5 mean “very”. In other words, the higher the number, the more confidence you have in that area.
Add up the numbers for each ICP to establish a hierarchy. Tally and enter the sum into the “Weight” column. The ICPs with the highest numbers becomes your focus.

Question To Ask	Why It Matters	Sample Scenarios
How accessible are they to us right now? Helpful prompts: Do we have any “ins” via referral partners or connections? Are they showing up in places we already operate?	If your ICPs are locked behind digital gatekeeping or out of your current ecosystem, reaching them will be exhausting and expensive. Prioritizing accessible audiences helps you focus on warm leads and familiar ecosystems so you’re not building everything from scratch. Think networking events, Slack communities, online social channels, and places where you already have a voice or trusted connector.	You see local nonprofit leaders every other week at meetups, and a client just introduced you to three others. Contrast that with the enterprise execs who only take intros via VCs or closed-door events.
How well do we know their needs? Helpful prompts: Do we know their needs, language, and pain points inside-out? Can we predict their objections and tailor messaging accordingly?	Sometimes a sector sounds exciting (or profitable), but if you can’t speak their language, your offer won’t land. If you’re constantly guessing at their problems or using language that needs over-explaining, you’ll burn out faster. Real clarity comes from lived experience, deep audience research, and clear patterns across clients.	You’ve worked with six community health orgs with the same hiring bottlenecks. They nod immediately when you describe the issue. On the other hand, fintech execs need three explainer slides before they understand your value.
How passionate are we about them? Helpful prompts: Are we lit up by the challenge and mission? Or are we chasing them because someone said they’re “hot right now”?	You’ll need energy for outreach, sales, and delivery. If an ICP bores you (or worse, annoys you), you won’t show up with your best work. If you’re excited, you’ll market better and more consistently. This isn’t fluffy; it’s foundational. Passion is a renewable resource; use it wisely.	You’re genuinely jazzed about supporting education leaders tackling racial equity. But that fintech compliance gig? You yawned through the kickoff call and haven't posted about it once.
How quickly and easily can we market to and convert them right now? Helpful prompts: Do we already have materials or content that speaks to them?	Your pipeline needs momentum. If you have to spin up an entirely new funnel, messaging, or channel for this audience, that’s time you could be using elsewhere. Ease of sale is about present capacity, not future fantasies. Optimize for traction, not perfection.	You’ve got ten blog posts, two webinars, and a warm email list targeting DEI leaders. Compare that with a finance ICP where you’ve got… nothing. You’d need three months to even get a campaign off the ground.
How low-risk are they to focus on? Helpful prompts: What are the risks, financial, reputational, operational, in prioritizing this ICP?	Clarifies opportunity cost. Better to face it than let fear of loss keep you stuck.	A client in research wanted to pursue insurance firms, but realized they couldn’t keep up with the sector’s strict regulatory expectations. Instead, they shifted to a lower-risk adjacent space: clinics of certified specialists
How relevant are they to our business goals? Helpful prompts: Are we pursuing them because they look impressive on paper, or do they actually align with our goals?	You can be excellent at something that still doesn’t serve your goals. Just because you can land them doesn’t mean you should. If an ICP doesn’t advance your revenue, visibility, or strategic priorities (at least in the next quarter), pause and reconsider.	A semi-retired consultant wanted thought leadership work in higher ed. But with a tight timeline to bring in $100K before year-end, they pivoted to short-term ops support for returning clients instead.

But what do I do if there’s a tie?

Here are a few ways to break the tie:

Ask: “Who do we already have momentum with?”
Consider your biz goals: Need revenue quickly? Go with your warmest audience.
Who are you actually excited to talk to right now? Passion shows up in your marketing (or doesn’t).
If you get a tie across all ICPs… run it again. But this time, be brutally honest. Or get someone outside your head (like us) to help pressure test your answers.

Still stuck? That’s exactly what the Marketing Clarity Session is designed to solve. In a Clarity Session, we’ll dig deep together to identify your best-fit ICPs, untangle audience confusion, and co-create a short-term strategy that actually feels doable (and exciting).

Book Your Marketing Clarity Session Today!

Tldr: Stop marketing to everyone, start getting leads

Prioritizing one ideal client profile doesn’t mean you’ve exiled the others. It just means you’ve chosen a starting line. And if you’ve found yourself procrastinating of directionless on where to focus your marketing, it may be because you’re trying to cater to too many ICPs at once. Use my Persona Prioritization Tool to:

Reduce decision fatigue and organize who makes the most sense to focus on now.
Get team buy-in and clarify expectations of which ICPs are more realistic than others.
Create marketing that actually connects (and converts) because you have clarity on what it will take to resonate with them.

Because generic content doesn’t encourage prospects to book a discovery call, ‘Darlin. Focused content that makes them feel seen and understood does!