Targeting the right customers – Customer personas

 

We don’t like to quote from textbooks but we want to share with you one term we love and that is ‘Customer Personas’. Some people call these ‘Marketing Personas’ and they can be brilliant.

The team at Krux, a clever bunch, say that:

“With personas, businesses can be more strategic in catering to each audience. They can visualise the customer that they are trying to attract, and relate to them as human beings.”

These profiles  help  you see who you want to attract when you are writing marketing content.  Adding personality to your audience makes it  easier to meet their needs and engage them.

This is also true when you’re tackling issues for customer irritants in your organisation. Building customer personas  improves the way you  solve problems  for your customers.

So here’s our beginners guide to creating simple persona pen portraits. Remember you want to know who the person is, what they value, and how best to speak to them. This works  for B2C or B2B as you’ll always need to build a connection with an individual influencer.

Start by thinking of key information. Consider age, gender, salary, location (urban, rural etc). Then the level of their education and their household set up (children, animals etc)

Next think about their values. Who do they trust? What’s important to them? What hobbies and interests do they have? (these may influence how they feel about who they work with or where they buy from).

Identify their objectives and goals. What will they want to get out of the goods or services you provide? What would motivate them to do business with you? Are there obstacles to you connecting with them?

Next you need facts. Measurement is key.  Unlocking insight you have about your customers will  enhance the profiles you’re building.

Look at your website analytics and social media.  Where  customers came from, what keywords they used to find you, and how long they spent once they arrived.

Ask your existing customers questions. Use surveys, polls and interviews to determine who they are and what they want.

Involve other people within your organisation. The marketing team will only know a fraction of the information. Teams who interact more  with customers will hold valuable insights.

Then make it come alive – give each persona a name, find a photo which you think reflects them. Create boards highlighting brands they use, hobbies they partake in.

And finally – USE THEM. Build your propositions around them. Write your content to them. Build objection handling with them in mind and don’t be afraid to update them as you learn more.

 

Keep in touch for regular advice and practical examples about customer experience.

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