Customer personas (or Buyer Personas) are fictional representations of your ideal customers, based on market research and real customer data. By better understanding who your customers are, you can better predict their behavior and understand how to position your product in a way that connects with their needs.
Use these five simple steps to craft and use customer personas to position your product:
Step 1: Define who your customers are.
Start by listing detailed traits that describe your ideal customer and include information about their demographics, preferences, pain points, and buying habits.
- How old is your client?
- What is their job title or role?
- What need do they have that your product or service can solve?
Use this information to develop a deep understanding of what makes your customers tick.
Let's create an example for a landscaping company. In this case, we can imagine two top personas to cater to:
- Buyer Persona A: The first is a working home owner aged 30-65 that lives in a neighborhood where houses are priced at $400,000+.
- Buyer Persona B: The second persona might be a retired person, aged 65+ that needs help doing certain maintenance items they no longer capable of handling themselves. They own their own homes priced at $250,000+.
Step 2: Clafiy your marketing messaging.
Based on the information you have gathered, identify key messaging that resonates with each persona (Yes, you might have several!). Consider what benefits your product/service offers that is most relevant to each persona. What solves their problem?
We need to understand the motivations of each of these clients in order to craft marketing that will reach them.
Persona A is very busy and likely doesn't have the time or skills to do their own landscaping or maintenance. They live in a neighborhood where nice landscaping is the norm, so your marketing message may include full service options and creative designs to help their home stand out from those of their neighbors.
Persona B may be on a fixed income so offering per-project pricing and affordability information might connect with this demographic, whereas they are unlikely to need a full landscaping overhault like persona A might.
Step 3: Tailor your marketing channels.
Where are your clients spending their time? Are they using search to find you? On social media? If so, is it LinkedIn that fits best or Instagram? Use your customer personas to identify the marketing channels that are most effective for reaching each persona.
Both of these personas would be reached through local SEO (i.e. tactics that utilize regional / local business pages such as google business page, google maps, yellow pages, etc), but while social media (Facebook and Instagram) would likely do well to reach persona A, it is unlikely to be the best method for persona B. This older demographic is more likely to respond to traditional channels, such as printed post cards and advertisements.
Step 4: Customize your content.
Tailor your content to each persona using messaging that is relevant and speaks to their unique needs and preferences. This could include customizing the language, imagery, and tone of your content to resonate with each persona.
For the example personas listed, unique landing pages would be beneficial on the landscaping website utilizing tailored keywords. Persona A might search, 'landscape ideas near me' or 'curb appeal with landscaping'. Persona B might search, 'affordable lawn service' or 'senior discount for mowing'.
Any marketing for Persona A would craft a message of unique, effective landscape designs with testimonials and photos from other clients in the targeted neighborhood(s). Social media channels would be an excellent way to engage this demographic with before and after photos and a call to action for a free consultation.
For Persona B, a simple message about landscape maintenance and special projects (such as annual tree trimming) might be more relevant. A low-cost mailout or advertisement with an offer to targeted demographic neighborhoods for a discount might be more effective than social media. This demographic would also need testimonials from others in the neighborhood or other social proof (case studies, before and afters in their neighborhood, etc) to help them build trust.
Step 5: Track, monitor and refine!
How did you do? Monitor the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and refine your approach based on what works and what doesn't. Use data analytics (google analytics, etc) to track metrics like engagement (likes, clicks, etc), conversions, and sales to measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts for each persona.
After three months of collecting data and tracking leads from Persona A and Persona B campaigns, it is time to determine whether it was successful. A goal of increasing leads by a minimum of 20% compared to the last year's performance would be an excellent measure. From there, make small tweaks and adjustments to the placement and messaging to further concentrate on the persona that brought in the best results.
By using customer personas to position your product, you can develop targeted marketing strategies that resonate with your ideal customers and help you stand out in a crowded market.
Ready to implement a company wide system that focuses on doable strategies for your marketing, sales, and customer service efforts? Request a consultation with us!