4 Simple Steps To Creating A Strong Buyer Persona

It takes due diligence and creativity for a brand to be recognized in a noisy and competitive place like the internet.

Though we’ve all been told that “content is king,” the truth is great content and catchy captions aren’t going to be enough to get people’s attention.

If your marketing campaigns aren’t generating the buzz you expected and nobody seems to care, chances are your marketing strategies aren’t catered to your target audience.

This is where buyer personas come into the picture.

What Is A Buyer Persona?

To better understand how significant buyer personas are, let’s begin by defining what it is.

Simply put, a buyer persona is a detailed description of the person who represents your business’ target audience.

Think of it as an avatar that’s more of a work of fiction though it does embody the characteristics and traits of your ideal customer.

Companies that have had success using buyer personas make them as detailed as they possibly can going as far as giving them names, interests, demographic details, behavioral traits. goals, pain points, and buying patterns, just to name a few.

The idea behind creating a buyer persona is to be able to speak to them directly as if they were a real person.  Ultimately, this will allow you to craft your marketing specifically for them.

Apart from your marketing strategy, your buyer persona will also help you with product development, your brand’s voice, as well as the social channels or platforms your business should be in.

Since people are different in so many ways, it’s not unusual for companies to create more than one buyer persona so they can serve more groups of people and maximize their ROI at the same time.

How Buyer Personas Can Help Your Business

One of the common mistakes new entrepreneurs make is that of promoting their business to literally everyone.

Unfortunately, this kind of approach isn’t going to work because marketing isn’t a one-size-fits-all kind of thing.

If you want to achieve better results, creating a buyer persona is a good place to begin, and below are some of its benefits.

Helps You Understand Your Customers Better

Creating buyer personas involved in-depth research into your target audience’s habits, behaviors, and buying patterns which allows you to better communicate with them through your marketing messages.

Would you offer a steak to a vegan?  Will people in their 50s be interested in gadgets or phone apps?

Think of the consequences that can come about if you market a product similarly to different groups of people with varying interests.

By creating a buyer persona, you are learning more about your target customers’ likes and dislikes which then allows you to market your products to them the right way.

People prefer referrals from friends and family because there’s already a level of trust that’s been established.

We know full well that our parents or siblings will not recommend something we don’t like because they already know us.  Creating a buyer persona is typically the same because you’ve already taken the time to know your ideal customer’s motivations.

This will reduce the chances of your message falling on deaf ears and blind eyes because you already know how to effectively communicate with your audience.

Helps Create Relevant Content

There’s no question that content is the core of any marketing strategy.  Get this right and you’ll generate more leads and sales than you’ve ever imagined.

For you to get it right, however, you need to know and understand who your target audience is which is exactly what a buyer persona provides.

If your target audience is housewives, it would make sense to assume that they’ll be more interested in products relevant to home improvement or taking care of their families, right?

That being said, your content should focus more on what makes your audience “tick” or what captures their attention.

This will also save you time coming up with content ideas because you already know what your potential customers want.

Allows You to Stand Out From Your Competitors

The internet and social media are such crowded places.

And let’s be honest.  There’s a big chance that someone is already marketing whatever it is you’re promoting.

We’re not just talking about one or three competitors here, however.  We’re talking hundreds if not thousands (even millions if we’re talking worldwide) of companies to contend with.

Long story short, standing out can be a lot more difficult especially if you don’t have the slightest clue who your target audience is and what they are looking for.

Having a buyer persona puts you one step ahead because you’re already assured that you’re promoting your product or service to someone who’s ready to buy from you.

You’ve done your research and you’ve already determined their pain points and buying behaviors which means you already have a better idea of how you can effectively communicate with them.

You’ll always have a better chance of getting someone to buy from you if you took the time to know them than promoting your product to the general public.

Increase Your ROI

Putting all of these benefits into consideration, it’s probably safe to say that creating buyer personas can help increase your ROI.

You simply can’t go wrong when you have the right content delivered to the right audience.  This will help you generate more leads, get more sales, and improve your reputation which we all know has a huge impact on brand loyalty.

How To Create a Buyer Persona

Now that you are aware of the benefits of creating a buyer persona, the next step is to actually build one, and below are some of the steps you can follow.

Conduct Thorough, In-Depth Research

The first thing you need to keep in mind is that buyer personas should be based on real-world data and not gut instinct.

That being said, due diligence is required in the data gathering process.  It would require some deep, thorough research if you want your data to be accurate.

Below are some of the details you need to consider:

• Age
• Gender
• Location
• Language
• Spending habits and patterns
• Interests
• Pain points
• Motivations

These are, of course, just some of the basics.  You may need to dig a little deeper depending on the type of product or business you operate.

Some may require you to look into a person’s work history, the company they work for, their career goals, as well as their most common objections.

Make sure to also spend time knowing which social media platforms your target audience spends time on.  This information will come in handy especially when you’re still in the process of determining which channel you’d like to have a presence on.

Research isn’t the only data-gathering method you can take advantage of.  You can also rely on interviews, surveys, or questionnaires if need be.

Keep in mind that the rule of thumb when it comes to creating buying personas is the more detailed you can get, the better.

Identify Your Customers’ Goals

The next step in creating an effective buyer persona is to determine your target customer’s goals.  What do they want to achieve?  What are they working hard for?

This is crucial because their goals may be relevant to the kind of solution you’d want to provide especially through the type of content you publish.

And even if your buyer persona’s goals don’t align with your product’s features, they can still be useful in determining the approach or tone you’d like your marketing to adapt.  They can also be the basis of a campaign you might run in the future.

Determine Your Customers’ Pain Points

While your customers’ goals relate to their dreams and aspirations, it’s equally important to consider its complete opposite – their pain points.

What problem are your potential customers facing and trying to solve?  What barriers are keeping them from reaching their goals?

This piece of information is essential because finding them the solution will not only increase your ROI, but it will also set you apart from your competition.

Find Solutions

Now that you have everything you need from their basic info to the pain points and goals, the next step is for you to understand how you can help them based on the data you’ve gathered.

It’s important to keep in mind that at this stage, it will help for you to go beyond your brand or your product’s features.  Try to dig deeper and think about how your potential customers can benefit from your brand.

Consult your existing customers and social media fans via survey if you have to because this is your chance to offer value and make a ton of difference.

Conclusion

Understanding your potential customers on a deeper level can make a huge difference not just in promoting your products but also in finding a solution for their problems.

Rather than blindly shooting out the same offers to everyone, take the time to develop buyer personas that will perfectly fit your target audience.

The steps provided above should give you a head start.  Make sure to implement each of them so you can improve your reach, boost your conversions, and increase brand loyalty.

If you’re looking for more tips to help boost your business, check out our article on how to attract your target customers.