When it comes to understanding your audience, the advantage is in the details. You may already be using audience segmentation to best support your current customers. However, there is still a need to develop an understanding of prospective customers and leads. Using extensive data and research, and a little creativity, buyer personas can be developed as a tool to identify ideal customers, on an individual level, and strengthen targeting.
What is a Buyer Persona?
A buyer persona is a semi-fictionalized profile of your company’s ideal customer. Think of it like writing a story about your organization. If you were to cast someone in the role of customer, what would that person look, feel, and act like?
There is often a need to create more than one buyer persona to represent your different ideal customers based on the product, service, where they fall in the buyer journey, etc. That said, as you go through the segmentation process and begin to create buyer personas, your organization’s story becomes a bit more complex.
Buyer personas are backed by extensive data and research to ensure that they are an accurate representation of the real customers your organization intends to capture. They are then used to help inform your marketing team’s decision-making.
How Buyer Personas Inform Strategies
Today’s consumers are more equipped with information and are empowered to make decisions about the products and services they choose. Further, end-users and B2B clients alike are inundated with choices and have more flexibility than ever in where they choose to bring their business.
That said, it is critical that you know who your ideal customer is and can target them in the right place, at the right time, with the right message. Not every customer is a good fit, and your marketing strategy should acknowledge this. Buyer personas allow you to develop a deep understanding of your customer and revise your strategy accordingly.
Buyer Personas can help to Identify and Inform:
- Content type (ad, blog, social posts, etc.)
- Media outlets and channels
- Product and service development
- Sales cycle
- Customer experience
- Personalization
- Messaging
- Loyalty program
How Buyer Personas Inform Strategies
Today’s consumers are more equipped with information and are empowered to make decisions about the products and services they choose. Further, end-users and B2B clients alike are inundated with choices and have more flexibility than ever in where they choose to bring their business.
That said, it is critical that you know who your ideal customer is and can target them in the right place, at the right time, with the right message. Not every customer is a good fit, and your marketing strategy should acknowledge this. Buyer personas allow you to develop a deep understanding of your customer and revise your strategy accordingly.
How Buyer Personas Inform Strategies
The bottom line: buyer personas are a powerful tool.
Not convinced? Take a look at the findings from research conducted by the Marketing Insider Group:
While clients and customers may share characteristics, we all primarily operate as individuals. The way we think, act, and make decisions is unique to us. Taking the time to conduct thorough market research, analyze customer data, and utilize advanced analytics tools, will help your business drive meaningful connections with customers, create highly personalized campaigns, and achieve long-term success in your industry.
We understand that people are different.
Our audience customization services are designed to get to the heart of your target audience as individuals. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help develop buyer personas to help your business thrive.