You may think you have a good grasp of your target market, but, hand on heart, can you really say you know it inside out? More importantly, is every piece of content you’re producing tailored specifically for your potential customers?
If you’ve never heard the phrase ‘buyer persona’ before, don’t worry – you’re not alone. It can easily be labelled as just another marketing term especially by an SEO agency, but the humble buyer persona holds the key which will enable you to create content that will be consumed, shared and acted upon.
What is a buyer persona?
Put simply, a buyer persona is a fictional depiction of your ideal customer. Let’s call him Jim from Bolton. You know he’s middle-aged, has plenty of disposable income, prefers traditional forms of communication and likes the finer things in life.
Instantly, you know the kind of content to push Jim’s way. The tone, method of delivery and call-to-action can all be finely tuned to gain maximum engagement.
Buyer personas are built using a simple framework coupled with plenty of market research. You’ll likely have more than one persona, too, because, for every Jim, there’s the twenty-something Sarah who is addicted to
Facebook and is always on the hunt for a deal.
Now we know what buyer personas are, here’s 5 reasons they should form part of your digital marketing strategy:
You’ll know what motivates your customers
You could create the best, most engaging content in the world, but if it doesn’t hit upon the things which motivate your potential customers, it’s next to useless. By developing buyer personas, you’ll know what motivates them and you’ll be able to motivate them to click your call-to-action.
You’ll know who your target buyers are
Knowing that your target buyers are women in their mid-40s isn’t enough – you need to know who they are. What drives them? What buyer’s journey do they follow? What are their specific pain points? What kind of home life do they lead? This stuff really matters in marketing.
You’ll save time creating content
If you’ve ever stared at a blank screen wondering what on earth you’re going to write for your latest blog post, you’re not alone, but by having a solid, ever-present grasp of your target buyers, you’ll have a key set of wants and desires to target with your content. The ideas will come far quicker as a result.
Your products will benefit
Buyer personas offer benefits which extend far beyond the marketing team. Product development will improve immeasurably, too, as you’ll be able to narrow down the stuff that matters most to your potential buyers and include only that in the services you offer.
You’ll know your customers’ goals – finally!
When boiled down, the customer journey always ends with a defined goal, but rarely is it immediately apparent to you, the business. By developing buyer personas, you’ll be able to work out what those goals are. Once you know your buyers’ goals, you can develop content and calls-to-action which provide the end-point for them.
Summary
Writing buyer personas isn’t a simple task; it requires time, research and honesty. However, once developed, your buyer personas will become the cornerstone of your marketing strategy and help you produce rich content that will turn website visitors into paying customers.
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