Let’s talk about how a customer persona can help you save both time and money. A customer persona may also be known as a buyer persona, ideal client, target audience, etc. These terms are all interchangeable.
Whether you’re in marketing or not, if you are in business, then you play a role in marketing. Understanding your ideal customer is key to leveraging both your time and money. If we don’t understand what our customers want and what’s going to get them to buy, we end up wasting a lot of time and money. And without a vivid picture of the life, beliefs, goals and preferences of your ideal client, you will be shooting in the dark when you create content, spend time on social media, and invest in advertising. You have to know your customer so well that you know exactly what motivates them to buy. Overall, it will help you make better business decisions.
Here are some examples of how knowing your ideal customer can help you make decisions
- You’re faced with creating content for your company, but do you know how your ideal customer prefers to consume their content? Is it blog posts or eBooks? Podcasts or videos? Show them what they want to see.
- You want to increase engagement on your Facebook page but aren’t sure how. Knowing what type of content your audience already engages with will give you an indication of what they prefer to see in their feed. Is it inspirational posts or customer testimonials? Recipes or fitness tips?
- A simple principle of marketing is ‘go where your customer is’, rather than pulling them to you. But that’s not easy if you don’t know where they hang out physically and online. Do they prefer Facebook or Snapchat? What groups do they hang out in on Facebook or LinkedIn? Where do they go in their spare time?
- You want to increase revenue but do you know what motivates your ideal customer to buy? Do they respond to premium offers or discounts? Are they promoted to buy when there’s scarcity or the opportunity to be part of a large crowd? This helps you measure what will happen if you raise or lower your prices.
- Your company decides to invest in print advertising, but do you know what your ideal customers read? Do they pick up the daily newspaper or the business journal? Do they read the New Yorker or your local lifestyle magazine? Knowing this information will help you maximize your return when placing an ad.
A customer persona will help you know your target audience so well, that you will be able to answer all these questions and more.
8 criteria you can use to create a customer persona
- Demographic Data: Name, Age, Gender, Relationship Status, Family Status, Income, and Education
- Personal Details: Profession, Housing Status, Health Status, Type of Transportation, Political Views, Religious Views, Hobbies
- Geographic Data: Where they live and work, Where they socialize, Where they vacation
- Psychographics: What’s important to them, Where do they volunteer, What are their personal, Career and family goals
- Behavioral Data: What are their needs, What’s most important to them when making a purchase
- Top Influencers: Who are their favorite people, What are their favorite brands, news sources, websites, and social media channels
- Need/Want: What does this person need and/or want in order to reach their goals? Ultimately, in sales you are problem-solving, so if you have a solution for what they are trying to achieve, then that’s what you should focus on
- Attitude about your product/service: How does this person feel about your company and product or service? How can you change that perception (if applicable)?
With answers to these questions you’ll be able to visualize your ideal customer. Give him or her a name and find a photo to represent them so they “come to life” when you’re talking about your customers.
Then, when you need to create content, make a marketing decision, or change your pricing or product offering, refer to your customer persona and make the decision based on what your persona would prefer and act on.
Start saving time and money right now by downloading this free customer persona template to help you make better business decisions.