Let’s face it, unless you have the gift of the gab and could sell ice to an eskimo, then like most of us mortals, you’re going to need to work hard at your marketing. No matter what goods or services your company offers, there is an ideal audience and you must resist the temptation to market to everyone!
Marketing to your correct audience is knowing your buyer persona and using it to your benefit.
One of the common mistakes I often encounter with our clients, during my free strategy sessions is that they have not seriously considered their buyer persona. Knowing who your customers are and marketing to them solely, needs to be at the forefront of your business planning. Without this, your website will be ineffective and not meet your goals.
So what is a buyer persona? It is simply a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and actual information from any existing customers. After all, how can you target your ideal customer if you have no idea who they are?
You need to consider such information as their:-
- Name - optional but it can help when visualising
- Age
- Background - this could include their location, marital status and occupation
- Goals, hopes and dreams
- Specific problems, worries and fears
- Places where they are already seeking answers and what influences them. These could include search engines such as Google, their local newspaper, blogs, articles and social media sites such as Facebook.
Finding It Challenging?
If you are experiencing difficulties with this process, I am going to be bold and make two assumptions about your business and what you offer:-
- Your business provides a product or service that is intended to solve a problem that your customers have.
- Your product or service has an edge or something unique about it that will enable it to succeed in your marketplace where others may have failed.
If you have not given both of these points a lot of consideration then I implore you to spend some time brainstorming and jotting down some thoughts. Website or no website, this is stuff you need to know!
Another helpful way to stir that imagination is to look in the mirror! Always remember that your business idea is likely to have evolved after one of your frustrating experiences. Perhaps it was a problem that needed addressing or a solution that didn’t bring you results.
First, Do a Reality Check
Of course it is extremely important to also do a reality check. You can do this by asking your customers for feedback and fine tune it when necessary. Take plenty of time to complete this task and you will humanise your marketing and make it realistic. Knowing your buyer persona results in more effective marketing. It will also help you craft a more relevant message and realise what typical objections are holding back potential customers.
To help gain further clarity, you may also find it equally helpful to create a buyer persona for those that are not your ideal customers.
Creating Your Own Buyer Persona
As you can see, there’s lots to consider and you can get very creative when defining your buyer persona. Go through the process of what works best for your company and do as much fact finding and research as possible. A greater effort is going to yield better results for you going forward.
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