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What is a buyer persona? 5 benefits of creating buyer personas

Your startup will only succeed if it delivers a product that truly solves a customer’s problem. However, how do you know who the customer is? You need to find your target audience, and the best way to do it is to create a buyer persona. What is a buyer persona and how to create it? Read our article and find out.

What is a buyer persona? – table of contents:

  1. What is a buyer persona?
  2. How to create a buyer persona?
  3. Who should create a buyer persona?
  4. What tools do you need to create a buyer persona?
  5. Benefits of creating a buyer persona
  6. Summary

What is a buyer persona?

For starters, it is important to clarify what a buyer persona is. Before your business pulls off, it is necessary to define the target audience that the product will be aimed at. It is difficult to build an effective marketing strategy without it.

A buyer persona, also often referred to as a marketing or customer persona, represents your ideal customer as it is an extensive description of those who would fit into your customer base. Creating a marketing persona will let you understand your customers’ pain points and provide solutions through your products or services.

A marketing persona reflects your potential customer and it may play a few roles in the buying process. There are 5 buying roles to look out for in the sales process:

  • initiators who pitch the idea of buying a product,
  • influencers whose opinions can influence other people’s purchasing decisions,
  • deciders who decide on any component of a buying decision, e.g., whether to buy, what to buy, how to buy,
  • buyers who actually buy a product,
  • users who use the product.

How to create a buyer persona?

How to create a marketing persona? You need to take into account several customers’ characteristics, and their selection depends on the given industry, the specific product, and the business venture. Demographic and professional data are essential, but you can’t stop there if you want to know your model customer’s motivations.

When creating customer personas consider the following aspects:

  • demography (age, gender, a place of residence, education)
  • work (industry, company, position, technological knowledge)
  • daily life (family, leisure activities, media)
  • values (attitude towards various important issues, e.g., ecology)

You should also answer such questions as:

  • Why may the product be appealing to the customer?
  • What will the customer achieve by using the product?
  • What can attract more interest in the product?
  • What might discourage the customer from buying the product?

Who should be involved in creating a buyer persona?

The more insight you get into who your ideal customer is, the more likely you’ll craft an accurate description of this person. Therefore, marketing personas should be created by everyone who interacts with your customers. These people have direct knowledge of their specific problems and motivations. Also, include your customers themselves. You’d be amazed how much information you can get from them if they are interested.

What tools do you need to create a buyer persona?

It is worth using various tools that facilitate the creation of a customer profile, e.g., ready-made templates and Google Analytics. Other popular platforms for creating personas include Xtensio, Personapp.io, Smaply and Uxpressia.

Benefits of creating a buyer persona

The benefits of creating marketing personas are as follows:

  • better understanding of potential customers
  • finding ways to build lasting relationships with customers
  • better product customization
  • easier implementation of functionalities
  • saving time

Summary

Creating marketing personas is just one of the initial stages of building a relationship with customers, identifying their needs and providing them with solutions. Thanks to a marketing persona, you can map the customer journey, define your clients’ problems and develop new ideas. It is worthwhile to verify your customer personas in practice and constantly improve them in the process.

Other resources: Top 6 most profitable small businesses.

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Author: Andy Nichols

A problem solver with 5 different degrees and endless reserves of motivation. This makes him a perfect Business Owner & Manager. When searching for employees and partners, openness and curiosity of the world are qualities he values the most.

Andy Nichols

A problem solver with 5 different degrees and endless reserves of motivation. This makes him a perfect Business Owner & Manager. When searching for employees and partners, openness and curiosity of the world are qualities he values the most.

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