How To Find Your Ideal Buyer Persona

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF THE BUYER PERSONA?

I learned a very valuable lesson about underestimating the value of the buyer persona. In fact, I thought I had all the knowledge I needed about my customers and I started to blaze away with my business. But I got a rude shock when I didn’t get my desired results.

“Why should I value the buyer persona when I already know who my ideal customers are?

They are women aged between 25 and 55 who are interested in establishing an online business.

They hang out on Social Media and follow motivators like Tony Robbins, Marie Forleo, Simon Sinek, Brian Tracy, Brendan Burchard.”

That was my statement when I was speaking with a friend about buyer personas. I thought I knew all about my ideal customers.

But NO! I knew very little so I found out!

And I found this out because all my marketing efforts were producing little or no results.

I realised I was missing something!!

That something was a very detailed understanding of my buyer persona. And not just one, but several buyer personas.

WHAT IS THE BUYER PERSONA?

The definition of a Buyer Persona: a detailed description of your ideal customer and includes demographics, family, hobbies, education, job, salary.

The more intimately you know your ideal customer, the better you will be at speaking directly to them in your marketing, in your blogs, in your emails.

THE MISSING LINK

For me, the buyer personas were the ‘missing link’ in my business. I had set up all the technical aspects of the business and I was ready to start impacting lives.

Ha! As I found out, if you don’t really know who you are targeting, who you are talking to, how can you impact lives?

My naive statement above about knowing my ideal customer was just too broad. I needed to narrow my focus and decide who I would be targeting specifically.

So I went through a number of scenarios until I was sure I knew my ideal customers.

Once you know what their motivations are, what their challenges are, what their aspirations are, then and only then, can you start to market your products and services to them.

THE BUYER PERSONA

Now we are going in depth to get a clearly defined picture of the buyer persona. Take the time to do the research. It will be the best time spent in your business.

Without it, you will be throwing mud at a wall to see what sticks!

The list of particulars is extensive:

Gender
Ager
Household incomer
Location
Education
Interestsr
Personal goalsr
Sport
Music
Entertainment
Friendsr
Fears/Challengesr
Pain pointsr
Social Mediar
Technical understandingr
Communication preferencer
Jobr
For how long?
What role?
Biggest challenger
Salaryr
Career goals

WHERE TO FIND THE DATA FOR THE BUYER PERSONA

There are a lot of points to be filled in for your buyer personas and it looks daunting, I know.

But if you have set up your analytics properly and you have been posting on social media and blogging on your website, you will have a really great starting point.

Head over to your google analytics and look at the data. Pay attention to the demographics, the location, the age, the device.

Study your analytics on your Social platforms as well.

On Facebook, you will find them on your Insights tab. Pinterest, you will see your Analytics tab and Instagram it is also Insights.

Start noting everything down.

Look into what is popular with your audience on your social shares. This will give you clues where to search next.

You can also survey your current list. Ask questions like:

Where are you from?
What do you do?
How long have you been there?
Do you like it?
What is your biggest challenge?
What is your biggest fear?
They are similar to the information you are seeking to form your buyer persona.

If you don’t have a list, ask similar questions to your networking group. Some of them might be comparable to your ideal customer.

CATEGORISE

When you have compiled the data, begin segmenting them into categories.

This will help you with your approach to the different categories.

It could mean you have a 28 year old persona and a 50 year old persona. You would need to use different language when targeting each one.

One might be cashed up and the other cash strapped.

Another could be technical impaired and the other technically adept.

And one might understand the current jargon and the other one has no idea what it means.

You can see from these comparisons just how critical segmenting the different personas will be in your business.

WHERE TO FIND THEM

The different social media platforms give you an understanding of the demographics for each. It is a great idea to know where your audience likes to be so you can target your marketing efforts accordingly.

Sprout Social has an article outlining the current demographics for 2019.

The numbers and demographics from social platforms is incredible. The sheer volume of consumers is mind blowing. You need to read the article.

WHO DO THEY FOLLOW?

Understanding what influencers your persona follows and trusts, will give you an advantage in the type of language to use, the type of products they consume and what peaks their interest the most.

Each time you think of an influencer, look them up and see how they relate to their audience. Read their comments. And use what you learn in your own way to influence your audience.

RECAP

There is a lot to think about and a lot of research to do to build your buyer personas but I guarantee, when you do the work, it will pay off in spades.

You will be focused on your language and your offers, making them specific to your audience.

It is a good practice to revisit your personas each quarter to see if anything has changed and if you need to adjust anything in your marketing.

When you are ready to set up your Sales Funnel, check out The Ultimate Guide To Sales Funnels Using FREE Tools. It is all the steps you need to establish a working sales funnel without all the jargon.

I’d love to hear from you. Any questions, pop them in the comments and I’ll reply shortly.