How well do you know your ideal customers? How well do you understand their interests and needs? Do you know how old they are? Whether they have kids? What a day-in-their-life looks like? In part 1 of this series we lay the foundation for this article by explaining what a buyer persona is and how it can be useful to your brand. In this second part, we will explore how to create an actual persona.
Conducting a research into your buyer persona is very important because it helps detail who they are and what they do. Below are the ways we identified and explained in part 1 of this series
1) Interview customers
2) Look for behavioural trends
3) Optimize forms for your persona
4) Talk to your sales team
From this research, you should be able to discover information related to demographics, personal life and interests, career, browsing and purchase behaviour, goals, and financial status.
That said, here are questions you can adopt to Create Your Buyer Persona
Background and Early History
What is his/her name?
What is his/her age?
What is his/her gender?
Did he/she grow up in a rural, suburban, or urban area?
What is his/her racial/ethnic heritage?
Education
What type of primary/secondary/university did he attend?
Does he/she enjoy learning new things?
Employment History
What is his/her current job?
Whom does he/she report to? Who reports to her/him?
How is his/her job measured?
Which skills are required to do his/her job?
What is his/her current salary?
In which industry or industries does his/her company work?
What is the size of his/her company?
What knowledge and which tools does he/she use in his job?
What challenges does he/she face in his current position?
How does he/she learn about new information for his job?
Which publications or blogs does he read?
Which associations and social networks does he participate in?
When does he/she plan to retire?
Current Situation
What city does he/she currently live in?
What type of housing does he/she currently live in?
Who lives in his/her house with him?
Is he/she happy with his current arrangement, or does he wish it was different?
Is he/she single, dating, or married?
Does he/she enjoy traveling?
Finances
What is his/her net worth?
Does he/she have debt? (If so, what type?)
Does he/she make purchase decisions carefully or is he loose with his money?
How does he/she feel about his current spending habits?
What factors drive him to make a purchase?
Personal Life
Is he/she religious?
What is his/her political orientation?
Does he make an effort to stay fit and healthy?
Does he care about his/her personal appearance?
What hobbies does he/she currently pursue?
What is his/her favourite TV show?
What is his/her favourite movie?
What type of music does he/she listen to?
Is he/she a morning person or a night owl?
What does he/she do first thing in the morning?
Does he/she cook at home or eat out?
How does he/she spend his weekends?
Does he/she drink?
Does he/she smoke?
Is he/she tech-savvy?
What social networks does he/she spend time on?
Thoughts, Feelings, and Motivations
Is he/she an introvert or an extrovert?
Is he/she optimistic or pessimistic?
Does he/she prefer to follow the rules or enjoy situations where he/she can challenge boundaries?
Does he/she like to take risks or play it safe?
Is he/she an innovator or somebody who tends to go with the flow? Is he/she flexible or rigid in his thought patterns?
Business Insight
What objections does he/she have to your product?
How can you help solve his/her unique challenges?
How does your product help him/her become his/her ideal self?
How does he/she prefer to communicate?
Is he/she comfortable making online payments?
Is he/she concerned about online privacy?
How can you meet his/her needs through onboarding?
What factors might make him/her choose a competitor’s product over your own?
The answers to these queries will help you identify the appropriate marketing approach to take with your target customers – you can add your own questions over time or cross out those that aren’t useful when it comes to building your company’s unique ultimate buyer persona.
Don’t be afraid to spend time researching. You need to be very thorough with it if you want your personas to be accurate.
If you need clarification on any of these points, please send an email to hello@myredboxx.com
