The Dos and Don'ts of Buyer Personas
A new year is quickly approaching and with it, a perfect time to create or refresh your company’s buyer personas. The best marketing strategies, branding campaigns and even product enhancements are driven by an understanding of your target audience. And your target audience should be based on well-defined personas. Personas are semi-fictional representations of who your buyers are, what goals drive their behavior, how they buy and why they buy (or don’t buy). I’m a firm believer that all businesses, regardless of size or industry, should invest in personas. However, creating bad personas is often worse than scrapping them altogether. Here are some tips on how to create successful, data-driven buyer personas:
DO use qualitative AND quantitative data
When the topic of personas comes up, the first area of focus always seems to land on interviews. Interviews are great but buyer personas should not be based solely on qualitative data. The thing about us humans is we often say one thing and do something entirely different. If you want your personas to be based in reality, you MUST allow for quantitative data collection and analysis. I admit that I am biased because I am a quant enthusiast but if you dismiss the role of quantitative research in your persona exercise, don’t bother creating them.
DON’T have too many (or too few) personas
The goal is not to create a persona for every customer you have. Too many personas can be distracting and will confuse marketing content. The question of how many personas your business needs will depend on the nature and goals of your business. In my experience, when a company has more than 5 personas, I often find there is quite a bit of overlap among them. Segmentation can be complex and, in my opinion, should be done by someone with advanced analytical skills. By the same token, having too few personas means potentially ignoring a portion of your customers.
DO include all stakeholders, not JUST marketing
Persona development is often led by the marketing team but this doesn’t mean that other groups shouldn’t provide input. Sales and customer service teams are on the front-lines in terms of client exposure; their feedback about wins/losses and product issues/complaints are invaluable to understanding your customers. Additionally, personas are more likely to be used company-wide when all business groups have a stake in them.
DON’T make sh*t up
No, seriously. Who you think your target audience should be or who you wish it was does not make it so. Your messaging will fall on deaf ears if you are creating content for a person who does not exist. The beauty of personas is that it allows you to discover who your target is, including information that is specific to your company; a potential competitive advantage. When done correctly, there is no need to make assumptions because all the data will be there to answer your questions.
DO use your personas AND refresh them regularly.
After spending months creating your personas, be sure to USE THEM! There is nothing sadder to me than when great data goes unused (well, that and stray animals). If your personas were created with all stakeholders in mind, then all departments should find some relevance in them and be able to use them as part of their strategy.
Remember, just as your business changes and adapts, so too does your customer. Trends, new sources of information, demographic shifts and economic changes all impact how your customer behaves and potentially who they are. Be sure you are revisiting your personas at the very least on a yearly basis. Buyer personas should be living documents that guide your evolving business goals.
Buyer personas are more than just a marketing buzzword. They are a powerful tool in your strategy arsenal. Approach them precisely and they may reveal information about your customer that might change the way you do business.
