The 8 Avatars
The buyers we're writing for. Each avatar has a pain stack, a keystone objection, and the Hawk Academy promise that resolves it.
01 The Ad-Treadmill Operator
Profile
Service business, 5–15 years old, spending $3–15k/month on Google Ads. The phones ring because of the ads, full stop.
Pain stack
- CPL up 57% over the last 3 years
- Profit margins shrinking quarter on quarter
- Can’t switch ads off without leads collapsing the same week
- No in-house marketer to fix it; relying on a media buyer or “the agency”
Keystone objection
“If I turn ads off, leads stop.”
Hawk Academy promise
SEO + AI search builds an owned asset. Ads become optional, not oxygen.
Scripts targeting this avatar
02 The Burnt-Agency Founder
Profile
Tried a $2–5k/month SEO agency for 6–12 months. Got monthly reports full of graphs. Phones didn’t ring. Fired them. Now allergic to the word “SEO.”
Pain stack
- Reports full of vanity metrics
- Ranked for branded queries that would have ranked anyway
- Flat rankings on commercial keywords
- Assumes the channel is rigged against small business
Keystone objection
“I tried SEO. It doesn’t work for my business.”
Hawk Academy promise
Agencies optimise for retention, not your revenue. With the right 2-day workflow you’ll outperform what you paid for.
Scripts targeting this avatar
03 The AI-Overview Worrier
Profile
Operator who’s noticed AI Overviews and ChatGPT eating organic traffic. Watching site sessions drop month over month.
Pain stack
- Traffic dropping
- Can’t tell if it’s AI, competitors, or a Google update
- Reading conflicting Twitter takes
- Paralysed
Keystone objection
“AI is killing SEO — why bother investing now?”
Hawk Academy promise
AI search still needs sources. Be the source it cites.
Scripts targeting this avatar
04 The DIY-Curious Bootstrapper
Profile
Smart founder, watched 30+ YouTube SEO videos, started 4 strategies, finished none.
Pain stack
- Information overload
- Conflicting advice from every channel
- Can’t tell what’s still relevant in an AI-search world
- No system; resets every Sunday night
Keystone objection
“Information overload — I can’t tell what actually works.”
Hawk Academy promise
2 days of pressure-tested workflows from 500+ sites — the conflicting advice ends.
Scripts targeting this avatar
05 The Local Service Operator
Profile
Tradie, lawyer, accountant, clinic. $500k–$3M revenue. Suburb-dependent.
Pain stack
- Aggregator sites (HiPages, Yelp, Healthengine) own the local SERP
- Maps pack gated by reviews and proximity
- AI Overviews recommending those same aggregators
Keystone objection
“Aggregators always win local — I can’t beat them.”
Hawk Academy promise
Local + AI search has a different scoring system. Specificity wins.
Scripts targeting this avatar
06 The Time-Starved Founder
Profile
$200k–$1M revenue. Wearing 10 hats. Knows SEO matters. Never gets to it.
Pain stack
- Knows organic compounds and ads don’t
- Can’t carve out 2 hours, let alone 2 days
- Has been “going to do SEO” for years
- Bookmarked 40 articles, read none
Keystone objection
“I don’t have time to learn another thing.”
Hawk Academy promise
2 fully focused days. Walk out with real pages live. AI handles the heavy lifting from there.
Scripts targeting this avatar
07 The DTC Shopify Operator
Profile
DTC brand, $300k–$3M revenue, heavy Meta + Google Ads dependency.
Pain stack
- ROAS dropping post-iOS and again with AI ad competition
- Listicles, Amazon and review sites own brand-relevant SERPs
- Brand site can’t compete on “best [category]” queries
Keystone objection
“Listicles, Amazon and review sites eat the SERP — brand sites can’t compete.”
Hawk Academy promise
Comparison and category pages built the Hawk Academy way bypass the listicle problem because AI cites brands directly when content is structured for it.
Scripts targeting this avatar
08 The Ecom Catalog Operator
Profile
Multi-category retailer. 500–5,000 SKUs. Paying an agency for category SEO.
Pain stack
- Agency optimises 5 category pages a quarter
- Product pages thin and duplicated
- Can’t keep up with seasonality
- Faceted nav indexing nightmare
Keystone objection
“My catalog is too big to do SEO at scale.”
Hawk Academy promise
AI workflows = optimise hundreds of pages in 2 days, not hundreds of months.