Everything you need to know about a buyer persona

You have probably heard at some point talk about the term buyer persona or just "persona", but you do not know what this term means in digital marketing, or your company does not have one. Knowing the audience that your business is focused on is essential when you want to publicize your company and create a personalized marketing strategy, which is why in this blog you will learn everything you need to know about it.

What is a buyer persona? 

The buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of the ideal customer of your business or service, it is based on real characteristics about the behavior, demographics of your customers, and their relationship with your company. But to get a clear picture of your ideal customer profile you will need more information such as the following:

• Personal: Your hobbies, people who influence your decisions, things that make you happy, your goals and motivations.
• Online behavior: the social networks you use, whether you buy products in online stores and what type, where you get information and how often, which are your reference pages and during what hours you are active in your networks.
• Work behavior: its responsibilities, challenges and influences.
• Relationship with your company: what he knows you from, reasons why he contacts your business or buys your products, how he got to know your company, what he values most about your business, what interaction he has with your company, etc.

An important aspect, if not the most important, that will help you define this profile is to know the need, concern or annoyance of that fictitious character that can be solved with the product or service offered by your business. By knowing this, we will know the motivation for which he/she would do a search either on the Internet, social networks or other media, and that incites him/her to make the purchase.

In inbound marketing, one of its pillars is to create content of great value and that manages to arouse the interest of the group of people to whom your company is addressed, develop the profile of your type of customer and have a clear and real idea of it will not only help you to have a proper content approach, but a strategy in your marketing campaigns.

Types of buyer persona

One aspect to take into account is that your ideal customer is not always the one who makes the decision to purchase your product or service, but may be one of the three profiles, which are:

• Decision maker: is the person who makes the final decision to make the purchase, for example, parents of children, who are the ones who decide to buy baby food. 
• Prescriber: is the person who recommends your product or service, for example, dentists who recommend a toothpaste. 
• Influencer: is who with his opinion is able to condition both positively and negatively in the decision to buy. It is important to learn to identify these people, as this will help you to know the content that is worth connecting with this influencer, this to get some kind of collaboration. 

Do not fall into stereotypes when creating your "persona".

How do you avoid falling into stereotypes when creating your "persona"?

Sometimes, instead of using real data, ideal buyer personas are created based on ideas and assumptions. This results in your marketing campaigns not being targeted to your ideal audience, but rather you will be wasting resources with stereotypes that do not exist or are not the profile of the potential customers that would come to your business. To avoid falling into this line of misconceptions of your potential customer you can:

1. Research: your current customers are a good option when studying about your "persona", you can conduct short interviews, surveys, calls, forms and more, this way you will better understand who your customers are, what they are looking for, what they like and what they don't like.
2. Forget about preconceptions: although it seems a bit obvious to avoid falling into stereotypes about your products or services, sometimes it is not, and nowadays many companies use content that is somehow offensive when promoting their products. An example could be that your company sells bakery items, but uses only women to promote their items, leaving out many men who like to cook or are dedicated to this. 
3. Wait for the perfect moment: before running a marketing campaign, you must know what is important to your buyer persona at this moment, therefore you must know the current news, trends, etc. By not thinking about this you could approach your audience with an old and outdated image of what is currently relevant to them. 

Are buyer persona and target audience the same thing?

Although it is very common to find confusion with these concepts, you can be sure that they are NOT the same, but what is their difference?

• Target audience: this is generally a part of the people to whom your company sells.
• Buyer persona or "persona": is a representation of your ideal customer, in a more humanized and personalized way.

Here is a clear example of their differences, so it will be easier for you to identify them. Let's believe that your company sells hot tubs:

• Target audience: men and women, 30 to 40 years old, married, medical graduates, with an average income of ₡1,500,000 per month, who plan to relax after a long day of work and like to travel.
• Buyer persona: Juan, 35 years old, is a physician specializing in cardiology. After a long working day and double shifts, he thinks about relaxing in the comfort of his home and in the company of his pet. He enjoys traveling and visiting hotels that have Jacuzzis in their rooms. You are looking for a hot tub installation company to help you choose the best fit for your home.

Of course, they are very different.

You will better understand your ideal customer and your current customers.

Why should I create a buyer persona?

1. You will be able to have reliable and quality information by obtaining it from your customers.
2. You will be able to better visualize and understand your ideal customer, and know what they need.
3. You will be able to target a campaign to the representation of your buyer persona, personalized and correctly focused.
4. You have the opportunity to define objectives of real importance in your marketing campaigns, such as the type of content your company needs.
5. You will be able to save money and time as you will know the course to follow.

Now that you know everything about your "persona", benefits and more, you will know that not only is it enough to have a target audience, but the key is in the information and details you get in this study. If you have any doubts or questions you can contact us, we will gladly advise you and help you in your content marketing.