If you are involved in marketing, strategy, sales, or other client facing portions of your company then you’ve probably heard of the term buyer persona. But what exactly is a buyer persona? How does your buyer persona impact your business? How well do you know Small-Business Steve and Entrepreneur Eileen?
Before formulating a marketing strategy, you first need to know your client base. Not just a surface level understanding either, you need to profile different potential customers from their job title to how many kids they may have. This may seem a bit extreme, but the more in depth you know whom you’re trying to reach with your marketing, the better you’ll be able to reach them.
There are several modes in which to gather information on potential clients. One way is to look back through previous clientele and evaluate similarities and differences. You can also add more detailed form fields to your contact forms to get additional information on whose eye your company is catching. Another way is to conduct market research on your sector. No matter the mode in which you gather the information, here is what to look for:
Job Role
Not just what their title is, but exactly what their job role entails. What does a typical workday look like? What type of employees do they interact with? What sort of power do they have within their company? By gaining a better understanding of what they do and who they answer to, you’ll be able to understand their decision making process and what sorts of information they are looking for.
Company
In order to get the full picture of whom your buyer persona is, you’ll need to know more than just the name of the company. You need to have a clear picture of what kind of company it is, the products/services they provide, their work culture, company size, and industry.
Goals and Challenges
Be sure that you know what your buyer persona’s goal is in working with you. Not only what they want to achieve, but also what kind of relationship and experience they hope to have. Do they need to have daily meetings or are they more comfortable only communicating via email? What are the biggest challenges that they need your assistance with? Maybe they don’t have an in-house team for a service that you offer, or maybe you have a piece of equipment that they are interested in utilizing.
Personal Background
By thoroughly knowing whom your buyers are in a personal sense you will be able to connect with them on a level that builds trust and understanding. Some areas to familiarize yourself with include: age, marital status, number of kids, educational background, etc. While these items are more likely to vary from customer to customer, you’ll be surprised by how many of your clients have similar personal backgrounds.
Shopping Preference
This item may be the most important since it highly impacts how potential clients find you. In order to properly gauge your buyer persona’s shopping preferences, look for trends in their behavior. What social media platforms do they use? If they utilize phone or email communication, how long does it take them to respond to an inquiry? What other products/services they are purchasing?
Once you have all the tidbits of information regarding whom your past, present, and future clients are, you’ll be able to easily formulate a unique buyer persona for your company based on trends and research. With this information, you’ll be able to mold your marketing strategy to best accommodate Administrator Andy or Project Manager Paula.
