On more than one occasion we have talked about basic concepts of , such as : a basic process to understand the relationship between customers and brands. Today we will explain another very related concept that we find regularly in this field: what is a Buyer Persona.
What is a Buyer Persona: definition
A Buyer Persona is a fictitious profile that summarizes what we know about our clients. All companies have plus of a Buyer Persona profile: characters (or “personas”) that function as a conglomerate of attributes that seek to shape what we consider to be prototypes of ideal clients, that should be taken into account before launching any marketing campaign.
The buyer persona is created from customer research, reviewing market studies, surveying audience segments that interest us, analyzing their behavior… and of course, commercial experience.
What information to include in the buyer persona profile
You can make it as pretty and graphic as you want, even adding an invented name to help you use them (such as CEO Jaime or Student Ana) or a file photo to give them a more realistic tint, as you can see in de , one of the tools of leaders in Inbound Marketing, about a marketing professional profile. The important thing is that each of your profiles Buyer Person provide information regarding the following:
- demographics: name and surname, gender, age, city, country.
- Personal information: marital status, annual income, family and whether or not you have children, health status, insurance.
- Professional data: occupation or profession, company, company size, annual benefits, job title, years of work experience…
- Personal goals: having children, buying a flat, saving for…
- Professional goals: a promotion, retiring in x years…
- Needs: what does this Buyer Persona need and what would make them happier.
The goals and needs that you propose for a Buyer Persona must be related to the product or service that you offer. Other data to include are:
- Key messages: what to say to this person to help him achieve his goals.
- Purchase objections: reasons, ideas, judgments, objective and subjective aspects that prevent them from buying your products.
- Sales arguments: arguments that refute your objections.
- communication channels: Means you prefer to communicate, such as email, phone or personal visits.
Why you should define the Buyer Persona before making an Inbound Marketing strategy
- First of all, it serves as clear reference of that profile of the person with whom we are communicating.
- Second, it helps us make decisions and anticipate responses that our buyer person would give to certain messages. You put yourself in their shoes and think how they will react to new products, offers and other marketing actions.
- Third is a way to segment the target audienceour communication will be more personalized and effective.
Differences between buyer persona and target audience
It is usually easy to use the company’s definition of its target audience to create buyer persona profiles. This can be a help but it can also make us focus only on the data already known.
The main difference is that the target audience gathers general data from the buyer profile without thinking about concrete individuals. From a target made up, for example, of people aged 20 to 25, from urban areas and students, we should move on to a much more specific buyer person to be able to talk about you. In this case it could be (in short)
Bea Lopez22 years old, law student, lives in Valencia, likes to practice sports and read specialized marketing media, has a fluent use of the internet and buys online a couple of times a week, especially books and fashion, in eCommerces such as Zalando and zara «
Once that buyer persona is defined, the message to be devised will have to be completely addressed to him, as if we knew him all our lives (because in reality, we must know him very well).
Relationship between buyer persona and buyer’s journey
Correctly defining the buyer person will allow Learn more about the buyer’s journey of each user. the buyer’s journey mainly goes through three phases: discovery, consideration and decisionand in each of them performs different actions until reaching the purchase.
If the buyer persona is correctly created, it will be easier to know in advance what trip that specific user will take, bearing in mind that if they already know the product, their route may begin in the consideration step or if they are a regular purchaser. online make the discovery phase in concrete and comfortable environments for him. In fact, it might make sense to create a different buyer persona for each phase of the buyer’s journey.
What questions to answer to create your buyer persona
As we mentioned before, if you have already defined the target audience, there may be some data that you have already answered at a demographic level, such as age, educational level or economic level. But much remains to be answered. We have to see the buyer person as a real customer, with their feelings and motivations, so there are some essential questions that will have to be expanded according to the characteristics of the sales sector.
What name will my buyer person have?
It may seem like the least relevant question, but it will be with that name that you begin to see a part of your clients, so it is an important section. For example, if your product is sold only in one part of the country, choose names and surnames typical of that area.
What do I know about your tastes?
Incorporating likes and opinions in the file that we make facilitates the knowledge of that person. To extract this data, it is interesting to ask your clients directly in a form, as we explain in the video, or to study some of the clients through the sections that they see the most on your page or the keywords by which they arrive at it. .
What knowledge do you have of the product or service?
First of all, defining the buyer persona entails adapting the message and the medium to that particular client, so we will not treat a person who is already immersed in the subject the same as an amateur. In these cases, two different profiles will have to be defined. For the already knowledgeable we can create messages with more detailed information and a more technical language, while the new one will need to obtain knowledge from scratch.
What are your buying habits?
Nor will we address the user who regularly buys online and has no fear of this medium in the same way as one who still has mistrust of doing so. For the latter to reach the decision phase, it will have been important to show him that the store is trustworthy and that all regulations are complied with. It is important that you imagine their purchase frequency, their favorite stores, their average purchase receipt…
Rubén Bastón explains it to you in this video:
Stay informed of the most relevant news on our news channel
Facebook Comments
Disqus