In marketing, what you’re communicating is just as important as defining who you’re communicating with. But most target audiences only manage to scratch the surface. For example, targeting men ages 25-65, with children at home and a household income of $100,000 is a good start, but have we really painted a picture of their everyday lives, responsibilities, and likes/dislikes? That’s where building buyer personas come in.
Buyer personas are defined groups of ideal customers that represent the multitude of different targets audiences you reach through your marketing efforts. B2C personas are formed through highly researched demographics, psychographics, and lifestyle habits, whereas B2B personas focus more on industry, profession, seniority, and company size. Well-researched and put together personas can help focus your message into something that will truly resonate with your target.
Case Study: Forney Industries
Whether you’re a B2B company or B2C, consider the following for each target audience:
- Demographics
- Pain Points
- Priorities
- Values
- Media/Research Habits
- Attitudes/Opinions/Personality Traits
It’s important to note that while you may only have a primary target audience and possibly a secondary, you can have up to 6-7 persona profiles within each of those target audience segments. A great example of this can be seen in our recent work for Forney Industries.
With our help, Forney Industries sought to launch a new look for their welding line. The goal was to establish their ‘green’ presence in the clutter of competing brands, spread brand awareness and increase the market share of the welding line. With these goals in mind, we then took a look at other key focuses:
- Aesthetic
- Tone of Voice
- Brand Promises
Forney wanted to appeal to a variety of DIY’ers with different skill levels, interests and backgrounds. In-line with their established inclusive, rugged, bold, and informative tone, we aimed to promote:
- The ease of use of the Forney welding line
- Forney’s exceptional product support
- Confidence that these users/dealers have made the right choice by choosing Forney
After establishing these core messages, we created the personas that are most influenced by and interested in these benefits.
How Will Personas Benefit My Business?
Building customer buying personas gives you a valuable insight into the lives of your ideal customers. Knowing them more deeply as a person will not only help build trust in your brand, but also aid you in creating more relevant content that they care about. The great thing about personas is that they’re for all size marketers. No matter if you’re a small business or a large company, they help identify the right message that will influence target audiences to take action and convert.
Developing audience personas gives your target audiences a visual identity which is an invaluable resource for marketing, sales, product development and customer service. If you want to take a deeper dive into this topic, check out this free white paper, or give Geile/Leon a call.