If you’re unsure about what should be put into your buyer personas and how much depth is necessary, consider the following sample framework:
Name – Make a distinctive name for each of your buyer personas. Buyer persona names are frequently made out of a first name plus a working title, such as “IT Ian” or “Marketing Meg.”
Personal details – Fill up the blanks in your buyer persona with some personal information. Is it a man or a woman, married or single? Do they have any kids? What city do they call home? How much money do they make as a family?
Education – What is the educational background of your buyer persona? Did they go to college? What could they have looked into? Were they obliged to do any further professional training?
Personal interests – Consider the personality and social life of your buyer persona. What are some of their favorite activities? What do they do while they’re not working? What kind of media do they consume? What kind of websites do they go to? Which clubs and organizations do they belong to?
Career history – What is the professional history of your buyer persona in their present position? Is it their first day on the job, or have they been there for a while? What was their most likely professional route to get to where they are now, and what did they need to do to get there?
Employer – Give details about the business where your buyer persona works. What is the nature of the business, its size, income, and location?
Job function – Outline the present employment position of your buyer persona. Include details on their main tasks, their level of seniority, who they report to, and whether or not they supervise a team.
Competencies – Describe what professional skills your buyer personas have and require in their professions, as well as any training they’ve gotten and what they do to further their careers.
An average day – Putting yourself in your target audience’s shoes and imagining a day in their life is one of the most effective ways to gain a deeper knowledge of them.
Successes – It’s critical to understand your consumer personas’ objectives since it’s your responsibility to assist them in achieving them. Learn how they assess their success, what proof and numbers they collect, and how they convey it to their team or management.
Challenges – What difficulties do your buyer personas experience at work, how do they feel about them, and what are they doing to solve them?
Preferences – What are the preferred methods of interaction for your buyer personas? Do they prefer to communicate in person, by email, or by phone, or do they prefer to seek aid on their own when they need it? In general, how would they describe their ideal sales experience?
Research – Where do your buyer personas go for help when facing a problem, where do they look for information or recommendations on certain solutions? Who do they ask, what networks are they part of, and what online and print publications do they read?
What is the buyer journey?
When a customer makes a purchase, they go through a process called the buyer journey. It is a four-stage process that includes awareness, consideration, decision, and post-purchase.
Your marketing efforts must mirror this trip, thus mapping out the customer journey is critical when developing a marketing strategy – particularly when considering content marketing planning. That way, you can be certain you’re answering all of the questions potential purchasers could have at each step.
- Awareness
- Consideration
- Decision
- Post-purchase