At E-Power Marketing, we’ve already discussed the basics about buyer personas and why they’re important for your marketing strategy. But now we wanted to dive in a little deeper. Maybe you’ve just started crafting personas, or you’re reviewing your existing profiles and wanted a bit of a refresher. Either way, we’re glad you’re here. Our agency is a big proponent of buyer personas and have created quite a few. Here are just a few of the reasons they’re important and how they can benefit your brand…
1. They provide a common language and keep your team on the same page.
This may sound trivial, but buyer personas can have a huge impact on how effectively your team communicates. Whether your company is large or small, no one is an island. From marketing to sales to web development, multiple people will generally have a hand in developing and implementing marketing initiatives and ultimately interacting with customers during the buyer’s journey. It’s easy for goals, messaging, and communication to get jumbled, especially across departments.
Buyer personas create customer understanding and a common language for your team and anyone involved, including influencers, freelancers, and agencies. Since your personas generally have names, job titles, and specific likes and dislikes, you can use them to communicate clearly and effectively, no matter who is handling a task. If everyone on the team knows who “Housewife Hannah” is, there’s already a clear baseline for any instructions, brainstorming, feedback, and improvement, simplifying discussion and making communication easier to understand.
2. They’ll help you better understand your customers’ needs and wants.
You may think you know your customers and what they need from your business, but good, detailed buyer personas help take you to the next level. Effective buyer personas go beyond the basic data, statistics, and research to really understand your customers on a deeper level — as people, not just potential sales. In turn, that improves any and all brand messaging and targeted content.
For example, an educational software company may know they’re targeting college students who are struggling. By diving into buyer personas and really understanding their target audience, they may realize that the students don’t necessarily want or need software — what they really need is to reduce stress, build self confidence, and improve study skills, all of which the software can help them do. Sure, they’re selling software, but it’s so much more than that. Think of how that buyer insight could impact how the company might market and talk about their product.
Of course, understanding your customers is crucial when it comes to knowing when and how to best sell to them. It can also lead to uncovering additional products, services, and opportunities for your businesses to solve problems for your customers that you otherwise may not have realized. For example, maybe that educational software company can find success offering online tutoring, study guides, or other educational products in addition to the original software, which they never would have thought of if they didn’t have a firm grasp on their audience. It’s a win-win for everyone.
3. They help you showcase that “sweet spot” for your company.
The majority of companies aren’t alone in their industry. There are always competitors that offer similar products and services — which means they’re targeting similar audiences. How you set yourself apart from those competitors is what matters. Effective buyer personas can help you better showcase your “sweet spot” — aka: that trait that makes you special and sets your business apart from competitors in the eyes of your customers — and tell your story. What do existing customers say they love about your brand? What is it that makes you unique?
Without fully knowing your customers, their wants and needs, and what it is they really connect with in regards to your brand, it is difficult to solidify and monetize that “sweet spot.”
4. You’ll get a better grasp on customer’s behavior.
Good buyer personas go beyond just age, job title, and monthly income. They give you real insights into your ideal customers’ lives and habits, and should include information about how your customers research the type of product you offer, where they spend their time online and in the world, and how they ultimately shop and buy.
All of this gives you insight into how to better reach your customers, what type of content and marketing materials you should be producing, and how to distribute and share them. Why waste your time creating content for Pinterest if your ideal audience doesn’t spend much time on the platform? If you know your target customer spends more time on a smartphone than a desktop, it would be prudent to keep mobile-friendliness top of mind and optimize for mobile-first. You get the idea…
5. They’ll help save and make you money.
This is really the bottom line and where it all comes together when it comes to personas. Overall, buyer personas make your marketing strategies more effective. That, in turn, saves you from wasting money on advertising and marketing strategies that aren’t as efficient. On the flip side, the more effective the strategies and tactics you’re using, the stronger the relationships with your customers and the more money you’ll make for your company.
Ready to craft amazing personas?
If you’re interested in crafting buyer personas that are actually meaningful, you’re in luck. We’ve got a handy buyer persona development worksheet to help walk you through the process. Click below to get started. Got questions? Send us a quick message. We’re always here to help!
