Finding the ideal customer is a dream come true and can quickly lead to higher sales and profits for your business. But before you dive into marketing campaigns to reach these customers – you must first define them. That’s where buyer personas come in.
What exactly is a buyer persona?
Simply put, it’s a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer. Personas should include details like demographics, communication preferences, goals, challenges, common objections, and most importantly, how can your products or services can make their lives easier.
Why do we use personas?
The beauty of buyer personas is the multiple uses they serve within a company. Marketers can refer to them when developing campaigns and content. For your sales team, they are an invaluable tool that can determine the tone and content of prospect interactions. The same holds true for your customer service team—their knowledge of personas can help them to better solve customer support issues. It’s just smart business!
How do you create a buyer persona?
Buyer personas can be created through research, surveys, and interviews of your target audience. In fact, interviewing a few of your best customers is a simple way to gather information and, because it comes right from the source, you can be confident of the accuracy. When requesting interviews, however, consider offering an incentive for their time. A simple Amazon gift card, for example, is a popular way to say thanks.
While there is no correct number of people to interview, we suggest interviewing at least five people for each persona you’re creating. Through these interviews, you’ll start to notice trends and common responses. Once you’re able to expect and predict what your interviewee is going to say, that means you’ve interviewed enough people to create a solid persona.
What questions should you ask during your interview?
This list is a good place to start:
- What level of education have you completed?
- How do you prefer to interact with vendors (e.g., phone, email or in-person)?
- How do you obtain industry information?
- What does it mean to be successful in your job?
- What are your biggest challenges at work?
- How can a new (product, service or vendor) help you achieve your goals?
- What are your objections to our products or services?
Anyone deeply involved with inbound marketing knows that content creation is a big investment in time and company resources. Using buyer personas will help focus your efforts on landing the best fitting customers for your business.
Interested in learning more about inbound marketing for your business? Contact the experts at Brainstorm today for a free inbound marketing evaluation.