You know that old saying “don’t put the cart before the horse?” Well in inbound marketing, no truer adage exists.
Just as a cart can’t pull a horse without some sort of intervention, a marketing campaign can’t bring in sales without a clearly defined audience to pull them from. And that’s where buyer personas come in.
What is Buyer Personas?
Buyer personas are your semi-fictional client avatars, created based on research, goals, and existing CRM and marketing research. Simply put, it's a list of different customer profiles that are interested or have made a purchase of your products/services.
These profiles should include:
- Demographics and profile - Age, sex, occupation, location, and etc.
- Expectations and goals - The ultimate achievement
- Challenges and frustrations - What's stopping them from achieving
- Solution - The products/services you can provide to resolve the challenges
Having knowledge on these information will ultimately enabling you to custom-fit your marketing efforts exactly to your audiences' needs, thus, increasing your efficacy and your ROI.
Why Does Buyer Personas Matter?
The idea of launching an inbound marketing campaign without first knowing who you’re marketing to is as silly as it is wasteful. What if you aren’t using the right methods to reach them? What if your messaging is off? What if you’re just throwing your hard-earned dollars in the wind?
Understanding your target audience – and each unique segment within that audience – is vital to successful marketing.
You should know who your leads are, what they like/dislike, what they’re looking for and what they’re struggling with from the very start, before a single blog or Facebook post is ever written.
Here's how buyer personas can help you...
1. Create the right content
There’s no point in creating blogs, articles, ebooks or even a single tweet if it’s not going to get read. That’s not only ineffective but a waste of your time and valuable resources, too.
Today’s consumers are inundated with content left and right, and they’re well-versed in filtering out the stuff that doesn’t resonate with them. If you want your content to do its job, bringing in qualified leads and potential sales, then it needs to be highly targeted. And understanding your buyer personas, along with their challenges, needs and even just basic demographics, can help you create relevant valuable content that truly connects with them on a deep level.
2. Cut down on waste
Marketing without clearly defined buyer personas is like shooting an arrow in the dark. There’s a chance it will hit the mark, but more than likely, it won’t, and you’ll be down an arrow, as well as the time it took you to buy it, load it up, shoot it and clean up after yourself.
Buyer personas help you understand the types of content your audience needs and wants, where they go to get it, and what they’re looking for when they do. They allow you to pick the best mediums and platforms to use, as well as hone in on the messaging and content that they’ll actually care about – content they might even share with others or take action on. All this means less waste and bigger returns on the whole.
3. Improve paid media (PPC) efforts
Success with paid media is all about choosing the right placements, the right creative and the right messaging – but doing that’s impossible without first knowing your audience.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What social platforms do they use?
- What are they struggling with and likely searching for on Google?
- What websites do they frequent and where do they get their news?
Knowing this information will help you hone in on a winning content marketing strategy that makes the most of your ad dollars and brings in qualified, ready-to-buy leads every time.
Key Takeaways
It’s important to develop your buyer personas early on before you even start thinking about your next marketing or advertising move. Drill down deep and try to understand what makes each of your target customers unique, document those personas and make sure your entire team has access to them.
Your buyer personas should drive every effort your organization undertakes – from sales and marketing campaigns down to customer service. And the more thorough you are with the personas, the better your efforts will resonate with your customers and deliver serious, long-term returns.
Do you need help creating your buyer personas and understanding who you’re marketing to? Let us help. Get in touch with Tobe today to learn more.
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