You crafted the perfect buyer personas for your business. Maybe you looked at some of our other blog posts like how to create buyer personas for small businesses or this one on buyer persona research. No matter how you did it, you now have either one or a few tailored personas. The question becomes, what do you do with them now?
Most posts focus on the creation stage without going into any further detail. While the first step is arguably the biggest, you also can’t just leave it at that. Buyer personas are supposed to help your business, not just waste your time. In general, these personas are meant to act as your target audience, which should help guide your sales and marketing efforts. But, what are you supposed to use them for exactly?
Blog topic formulation and blog writing
Blogs are a big part of the inbound marketing process and help create more website traffic. There is plenty of data out there supporting blogging, such as HubSpot’s State of Inbound report which found that “92% of companies that blog have acquired customers directly from it.” Hopefully, your company website has a blog that is updated on a regular basis since the benefits seems to far outweigh the time commitment.
If you are wondering what to fill your blog with, look no further than your buyer personas! Write content that your personas want to see. For example, let’s say that you are a computer store and one of your personas is Gamer Gary, who is extremely active in the PC gaming community and always on the look out for the latest and most powerful accessories and computer gear to amplify his gaming experience. For your blog, you would want to write articles that Gary wants to see. Maybe you will write a comparison guide for your top two best selling monitors, or you write a review for the newest headset on the market.
Tailor your articles directly towards your buyer personas because those are the people most likely to search for your business. Think about what they are typing into Google, the type of language or slang they use, and what type of information they are seeking. By following your personas’ leads rather than trying to make them follow yours, you will likely have a successful blog.
Social media presence
There is Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and many more. It would be a nuisance to try to post to every single one of those platforms. Considering that most social media sites require frequent posting and engagement to build a following, you would be spreading yourself far too thin trying to use them all.
Once again, think about which site your buyer personas use or which are their favorite. Each one has its own unique characteristics, so it is worthwhile to study each one and do some research before going all out. Facebook trends toward an older audience while Snapchat goes younger, and Pinterest is mainly used by women while Reddit is mainly used by men. Of course, these are all generalizations, but they are good to know when trying to choose a platform to start out on.
After picking an initial starting place, focus on creating posts that your buyer personas would enjoy. Would they like cool visuals, or are text-only posts more appropriate? Do they like to be involved or not? Consider the best way to reach your personas.
If you owned a bakery, one of your personas might be Foodie Frank, who loves high-quality, artisan, locally-sourced food, which is what you specialize in. Food is a massively popular subject on Instagram, so you choose to set up an account. You decide to post daily photos of your creations and desserts, and you see your following grow quickly and the amount of likes continues to increase with each new picture. You made the right choice of platform and reap the rewards!
Content offer creation
Creating great content offers is an important lead generation technique. By offering quality content for nothing more than contact information, you are able to identify people interested in your business. You can write eBooks, whitepapers, slide decks, infographics, or anything else your buyer persona might enjoy.
Think about what is most helpful or educational for your personas. Most people are extremely hesitant or unwilling to give away their personal information, but if the content is good enough or relevant enough, they will. Your content offer should be so great that when your personas visit your website and see it, they will ask themselves, “Why don’t I already have this?”
If we go back to our Gamer Gary example, we have to think about what the computer store has to offer and how that matches with Gary’s needs and wants. A good content offer for them might be a detailed guide on how to build your own PC. The computer store likely sells all the parts, and they can promote the guide by appealing to Gary’s want for a better gaming computer for a cheaper price. It is a win-win for both parties.
Final Thoughts
Don’t forget about your buyer personas after they have been created. They are supposed to help you in many different areas of your marketing strategy. If you don’t know who you are marketing to, then you probably aren’t going to do very well. The same goes if you are marketing to wrong people. It wouldn’t help you to spend thousands of dollars on a commercial that airs in another country, so why would you spend time marketing to everyone online instead of just the people who want to be your customer.
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