Creating a customer persona is a crucial step in improving your digital marketing presence and ensuring your customers can easily find you.
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Here’s a friendly guide to help small business owners get started:
Title
The persona title should help you easily reference a group of users. Choose specific titles that convey clear messages without leading to generalizations. For example, “The Busy Mom” is better than just “Mom.” Or this could be “The Work at Home” mom vs “The 9-5 Mom.” You can probably tell by this title that each of these will have different needs & goals
Image
Include a photo that reflects the persona’s daily life and personality. This helps in visualizing your target audience. Use real photos or specific stock images.
Quote
Add a quote that captures the persona’s attitude towards your product or service. Use real feedback from interviews, surveys, or customer comments. If you can conduct User Interviews – that is, a casual interviews with your actual customers where you ask some discovery questions. The purpose is not to sell them on anything. In this interview you just want to discover their paint points, their goals, hopes, and dreams, etc so that your messaging sounds like what is already on their mind.
Demographics
Summarize key details like age, gender, location, and job role. Use data from analytics or customer research to gather this information.
Character
Describe their personality, motivations, and goals. Avoid using vague jargon and be specific. Is this customer self-motivated or do they typically prefer to delegate major tasks to “the experts” who can then guide them on what they need to do?
Tiers
Define their engagement level with your product. Are they first-time users, regular customers, or potential clients? Differentiate between free users, paid users, or enterprise users.
Personality
Indicate key personality traits using a sliding scale or specific descriptors, such as introversion vs. extroversion or cautiousness vs. spontaneity.
Traits
Describe the persona in a few words, reflecting their personality, work ethic, motivations, and priorities.
Goals
Identify what they aim to achieve with your product. These should be tangible or intangible outcomes, like increased productivity or better security. Avoid overly broad goals unless relevant.
Frustrations
Highlight obstacles preventing them from achieving their goals. This insight is crucial for improving your offerings and identifying business opportunities.
Bio
Write a short paragraph about their journey, including personal and professional details that make them an ideal customer.
Motivations and Brands
Understand what drives them to take action and identify their favorite brands. This helps you understand their preferences and the competition.
Preferred Channels
Know where to reach them, whether it’s social media, traditional ads, or referrals. Choose the channels that align with their habits.
Implementation Tips
Integrate personas into your workflow by sharing them with your team and using them in decision-making processes. Regularly update them to stay aligned with your audience’s evolving needs.
Creating detailed customer personas helps tailor your marketing strategies and product development to better serve your audience. It’s a small effort that yields significant rewards in connecting with your customers and meeting their needs.
Additional information on creating your business’ customer persona:
