3 Reasons Why Buyer Personas Are More Important Now Than Before

Click here to get this post in PDF

What makes an advertisement successful? The reasons could be as varying as the existing trends during its launch and as unique as the individuals that respond to it.

A solid way to ensure that you start out on the right path is to know your target audience. This is where buyer personas come in handy.

What are buyer personas?

Buyer personas, as the term suggests, are model representations of a brand’s buyer or prospect. They tell a company whose target audience is based on data gathered through research. With the help of a thorough study, a company can learn the demographics of a customer, the goals that fuel them, what makes them tick, and how all these details influence them to make a purchase decision.

When a company narrows down its buyer persona, it can then proceed to formulate a more accurate and targeted marketing plan. It can answer important advertising and product-defining concerns. Some of these are the following:

• How can our buyers relate to us as a company?
• How can our products help our buyers?
• What can we offer buyers that is unique to our brand?
• What can we do to make our buyers’ lives easier or more rewarding?

To make it more realistic, a buyer persona can be drafted by using a sample name and photo.

This concept has been around since 2002. How then can it prove to be relevant, let alone more important, in a world as constantly evolving as business and marketing?

Here are 3 reasons why buyer personas are more important now than before:

Reason #1:

Buyer personas create more targeted content.

Anybody who has dabbled with online business marketing can tell you that content rules. Many tactics have come and gone but quality content is consistent in delivering results. How do you make sure that your content will get you the results you are aiming for?

Simple: you tailor it to suit your prospective market’s taste.

Even if you hire the most talented content writer and graphic designer VA, content that is not targeted will get you nowhere. Buyer personas help your writers and content managers ensure that the articles, graphics, and overall design of your website work together to deliver the right people to your site and give them the ultimate experience.

Reason #2:

Buyer personas regulate social media marketing.

Social networking sites are examples of indispensable advertising and business facets that were not even existing a few years ago. Because information can easily spread through social platforms, small misses can snowball into a fiasco overnight.

Having a buyer persona in place will minimize, if not eradicate, social media fails because a company has insufficient data about its target audience. When you have a model buyer to guide your posts, activities, and interactions, you will know what bumps to avoid and what opportunities to grab to advance your brand presence.

Reason #3:

Buyer personas fuel sales strategies.

When you have an insight about a buyer’s behavior, you will have the leverage to influence their purchase decision. Does your target customer prefer to research about a product online instead of asking a live store personnel? What kind of websites and online entertainment do your target customers frequent?

Knowing the answers to these questions will help you level with a prospect. You will know whether investing your money on remote staffing is more worthwhile than hiring in-house assistants. You can decide whether advertising on Twitter will be more lucrative than paying for print and TV ads.

It’s true that advertising and business evolve over the years. Knowing the 3 reasons why buyer personas are more important now more than ever will make sure that your company progresses with time.

Also read: 5 Ways to Tailor Your Site to Your Buyer Persona

About the Author

Catherine vanVonno, the author, is the President and Executive Director of 20Four7VA, a global Virtual Assistant (VA) Service Provider. She holds a doctorate degree in Applied Statistics, Research Design and Program Evaluation from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and has over 10 years experience in facilitating evidence-based strategic planning, product development, brand management, legislative communications, and medical policy. She is married and has four children. You can reach her at communications@20four7va.com.

http://20four7va.com/ | twitter.com/20Four7VA