Buyer personas: Turning abstract customer segments into vivid individuals
Buying personas are fictional representations of a company’s ideal customers. Unlike classic customer segments, which are rather abstract and general, Buying Personas give your customers a face and make them tangible for you and your company.
Developing buyer personas is an important step in the marketing and sales process. It allows companies to tailor their messages and marketing efforts to specific types of customers, rather than trying to appeal to everyone. This can lead to more effective and efficient use of marketing resources.
The purpose of buyer personas is to help companies better understand and communicate with their target audience
Step by step guide
1. customer segmentation
The starting point for the persona description is the results of the customer segmentation and analysis. Thereby you have grouped characteristics and information about individual customers or customer groups.
2. Select person and assign attributes
A person is selected from the relevant target group who is as typical as possible for this target group. This persona is given a photo and a name and is described based on criteria such as occupation, marital status, age, etc. Remember that names can be typical for certain customer segments and their social background. Manfred or Martina represent different people than Hassan, Kevin or Jennifer. For each persona, you should primarily collect information that can be helpful for the company, marketing and sales.
For example, you could use the following attributes to describe the persona: (depending on relevance to the business model).
- Age
- Occupation
- Marital status
- Goals
- Desires
- Education/Knowledge,
- Computer skills
- Attitude towards the product
- Attitude towards the technology of the product
- Hobbies
- Expectations
- Limitations
3. Create a profile
Profile letters can look different. You can formulate them as text and story or use templates where you only have to fill in the data.
Buyer Personas in the Business Model Canvas
Having a clear understanding of who your customers is very important when you want to create value for them or when you want to solve their specific problem. Buyer Personas can be used alongside the Business Model Canvas to help companies get a better handle on their target customer segments and the specific needs and preferences of those segments. A company might use buyer personas to figure out how to craft a value proposition that addresses the desires of their customers in a distinct and persuasive way. Additionally, buyer personas can be useful for determining the best channels for reaching out to target customers and for devising strategies for building and maintaining long-lasting customer relationships.
Overall, buyer personas can be a useful tool to help companies align their business model with the needs and preferences of their target customers and develop and implement effective marketing and sales strategies.