Creating target buyer personas is one of the most important things you should do when it comes to tackling the marketing efforts for your business. Without well thought out buyer personas it’s very easy to send mixed messages that do not relate to what your target buyers want to hear. If you feel a little overwhelmed at the prospect of defining your buyer personas, take a look at the tips below to get started.
Ask the Basics
Basic demographic information can be incredibly helpful in creating detailed buyer personas. You will want to know who you are speaking to on the most basic level: Male or Female? Single or Married? Where do they live? Do they have children? What is their age? What is their income? This information begins to shape the view of who it is that you are reaching out to, and this info is often easily obtained. This is always a great place to start.
Find Out What They Do For Work
Determining what your target buyer does for a living is a major part of building a buyer persona. It can lend more insight into exactly who that person is, what they value, and how they spend a large amount of their time. If your business is B2B, however, this is even more important. This information lets you in on what that person values in their professional life. It’s important to know what level they are at: senior, managerial, administrative? Each of these instances would result in a much different method of approach.
Find Out What They Do In Their Downtime
So now that you know the basics, dig a little deeper. Are they a workaholic, spending the majority of their time at the office? Do they head straight home after work to spend every spare minute with their family? Where do they shop? What TV shows do they watch? What’s their favorite genre of movie? What kind of car do they drive? Do they bike, or have a motorcycle? The more specific information of this type that you can gather, the better you will feel you know your buyer. This allows for a very targeted approach when speaking to them throughout your marketing attempts.
What Do They Need From You?
This is the major question: what can you do for this buyer? Obviously you are in business because you have something to offer. What specifically is it that this particular buyer persona needs from you? Let’s say you own a day care, and your target buyer is a first time mom. She will be feeling overwhelmed with the prospect of leaving her baby with strangers. She will be afraid to make the wrong decision and put her baby in harms way. She may not know the right questions to ask when touring facilities. She may not know the rules and regulations that day care facilities must follow. By speaking to this moms fears and answering her questions in a warm, friendly, helpful way through blogging, content offers, and social media, you can put her mind at ease and allow her to make the easy choice to reach out to your business for more information. Every buyer persona will have it’s own specific pain points. It’s up to you to determine how you can best answer them.
Developing buyer personas is no easy task, but it is without a doubt worth the time and effort that it requires. Defining who it is that you are targeting in your marketing efforts will allow you to reach out to your potential consumers in the best way possible. This approach will allow you to draw in more highly qualified leads for your business than you would otherwise. To read more on developing buyer personas and the inbound marketing process, download our free eBook "How Inbound Marketing Drives Real Results".
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