The Buyer Persona:
What it is and why it matters

In a past article we spoke about the importance of keyword research. Identifying your target customer is just as important. If you have no idea who your ideal, target customer is, you are going to have a difficult—if not impossible—time determining your best keywords. A buyer persona describes your ideal customer in great detail, down to how your target customer spends his or her days, what types of challenges they face, and how they typically make their decisions.

Once you have a solid persona in place for your business, you will be better able to empathize and truly understand your customers. This deeper understanding of your customers allows you to both acquire more customers and serve your customers in the best way possible.

Your buyer persona is the culmination of a highly researched profile, depicting your ideal, or target customer. Depending on your specific business, you may have more than one persona. As an example, suppose the end-user of your product must seek the approval of another person before making a purchase.

If you sell classroom supplies, you might have a persona for the teachers who will be using your supplies, as well as a persona for those who make purchasing decisions, like principals, superintendents, and school boards. You might additionally have a buyer persona for the children who will be using your products. Each of these buyers will use different criteria when evaluating your classroom supplies, requiring different marketing strategies.

Your goal is to ensure that every single activity you perform as you work to acquire new customers or serve your current and future customers is precisely tailored to your target customer’s needs. Far too many companies focus on what they sell or the service they offer when they should be focused on their customers and what those customers need and want. If you are unable to convince potential customers that you really “get” them (evidenced by how you address their needs or their pain), then they are unlikely to place their trust in you and your product or service.

The very act of determining your buyer persona will be an education in itself. You may suddenly find yourself aware of things that were not previously on your radar. Buyer personas can be used to identify and prioritize changes to your services or products (a product roadmap of sorts) and can be used by your marketing team to build the most effective marketing strategies.

Well-defined personas also allow you to bring your keyword research into sharper focus and should be used when content is written. Lastly, your personas help your sales team build trust and rapport with potential customers and can help your customer support teams better serve your customers.