Why you need to create customer personas
You’ve been told by all the experts to find your niche. Congratulations – you’ve done it. What do you know about them and how can you be sure to keep your focus? Create customer personas! Here are the reasons why you need to do this.
Whether you were looking for information about how to start your business or how to make your marketing more effective, you’re more than likely to have received advice that you need to find your niche.
“You cannot be everything to everyone!”
It’s true! Whilst it’s tempting to try and maximise your income by targeting a wide range of customers, you’ll be more effective if you narrow down your target audience to a specific niche.
If you already know what your niche is, the next step to keep you eyes on the prize is to create your customer personas. You might have heard the terms ‘customer avatars’ or ‘buyer personas’ – they’re the same thing!
Yes, this will take some time – but it is time well spent. Here’s why:
Your customers are real people
We’ve spoken to several business owners recently that freely admitted to losing sight of their customers as people, instead speaking of them as just revenue sources. Wow! For us, that’s a big red flashing warning light.Â
Creating customer personas helps you and anyone you work with to see them as real people.
Yes, the persona is a fictitious representation but if you do it right, they’re easy to believe in.
The thing with real people (like you and me!) is we have feelings, we have needs, we have things we want, we have things that make us happy, we have hopes and dreams, we have disappointments, and sometimes things don’t go our way. Once you understand what those ‘things’ are, then you can really start to connect with your customers.
Your customer personas will also give people you work with the same understanding of your customers. Whether you’re working alone, have a VA, use agencies or work as part of a team, the personas will give you a common language and a solid foundation to build on, creating consistency and focus.
Maintain your focus
You’ll know who your people are. Who you want to serve. You don’t need to worry about anyone else. By not trying to be all things to all people, by focusing on your niche, you’ll save time and money. Decision making will be easier because you’re not trying to make everyone happy.
Fine tune your marketing efforts
You’ll know your customers so well you’ll understand what content they want and need. You’ll create content with them in mind. Picturing yourself talking to them when you create your content will keep it on topic, less general, less jargon, more personal, more meaningful, and it’ll help you connect with them on a deeper level.
Because the content you’re creating is more focused, it’s more likely to attract your customers and encourage them to buy!
Your persona is going to inform your marketing and sales strategies. You’ll be able to target the platforms and locations where they spend their time. You’ll be able to choose the best formats and types of content to reach them – blog posts, lead magnets, podcasts or videos.
Your social media posts, interactions and strategies will be more relevant.
Understand what drives them
Part of your customer persona should be around their goals, their challenges, their values and so on. This will give you the information you need to better understand their needs.
When you understand what your customers want and need, you can become more innovative, developing products and services that resonate with your audience. Focus on their pain points so that you can really address them.
Bring your brand to life
Your brand is more than a logo! It should be the embodiment of your business’ vision statement and values. It should be consistently portrayed across all your touchpoints. The knowledge of the marketplace your customers’ use will help you improve your brand positioning. The focus on your customers will transform your brand’s image.
Ultimately your customer personas will increase your conversion rate because you’re creating a story about your brand, its products and services that revolves around your customers, and why your products and services will help them achieve their goals.