The buyer persona is a basic concept in any marketing strategy worthy of the name. You have probably heard of it, but this notion may seem very theoretical and hazy to you. Think again if this is the case: defining a buyer persona is an essential step if you want your offer (a product, a service) to have a chance of reaching an adequate demand, and therefore of selling.
In short, you do not launch a new activity without knowing in which market you are positioned or even without knowing the potential buyers of your product or service. Defining the buyer persona comes down to knowing who your “ideal” buyer is, and is a prerequisite if you want to start a business that is profitable and sustainable.
You will see through this article that creating your persona will have impacts throughout the evolution of your activity, on your brand positioning, on your communication, but also on the very definition of your offer and your product or service. .
Let’s start by understanding what a buyer persona is, how to define it and how it can drive your marketing strategy.
What is a buyer persona?
The definition of the buyer persona or persona is easy to understand: it is above all an approach, that of representing the archetype of your ideal customer from information that is linked to his identity, his origin geography, professional characteristics, motivations but also its obstacles and objectives.
Mastering the knowledge of your buyer persona allows you to answer fundamental questions such as: who is most likely to buy your products or services? What are the expectations of these target customers and how to reach them? And so, to roll out the solutions that are likely to allow you to sell your products or services and build customer loyalty.
In short, you will see that knowing your buyer persona will follow you throughout your projects and in all your actions. This is why we advise you to create a persona as soon as possible when you launch your activity, a new product or service, to avoid any trial and error, and to reach your target as accurately as possible. This definition work will allow you to save a lot of time later.
Why create a buyer persona?
Creating a persona is a key step in any marketing strategy, since knowing your target customer will allow you to define the most relevant offer, whether it is the positioning of your brand or the choice of your products . By creating your buyer persona, you will take a step that is often linked to market research . Your knowledge of the persona will also be at the heart of the content marketing strategy that you will put in place, because good content is that which meets the search and purchase intentions of your target audiences.
Putting yourself in the shoes of your target customers, showing empathy is therefore essential to create and sell your products.
But creating a persona has other benefits. Here are some of them:
Retain your customers : we are wrong to believe that creating a persona is an action that is limited to the moment of launching your activity. In reality, your knowledge of this persona will allow you to anticipate the requests and expectations of your customers, and to provide them with the right answer at all times, because you know them well.
Mastering your differential asset : studying the expectations of your target customers and understanding their motivations for making a purchasing decision will allow you to understand why they choose you rather than a competitor, especially if your products or prices are similar.
when creating your personas, you will undoubtedly detect problems that your customers may encounter when they use your product or service.
Identify solutions : Putting yourself in your customers’ shoes and knowing their expectations can help you identify new products, solutions and developments for your products. This may be new features or offer complementary products, in upsell , which could bring them more value.
How to create a buyer persona?
There is no exact figure for the number of personas to create, it will depend on your activity, your product… Do not disperse yourself, but try to define the typologies of your customers as precisely as possible, to then collect information about them and create your personas.
What questions do you ask to define your target?
Take a step back and ask yourself what information will be most important to allow you to categorize your customers and adjust your offer.
Here are some examples of useful questions to define your persona:
How to collect information about your persona?
The most searched keywords: SEO is a very instructive step, not only does it allow you to position yourself better on search engines and gain visibility, but it also allows you to know your audience and their expectations. Indeed, the keywords that your persona types into a search engine are very revealing of their expectations and intentions. Doing keyword research will also let you know if a keyword is competitive.
Start by typing one or more keywords into Google. The results will allow you to see how your competitors are positioned on these keywords. Also look at the “Related searches” which are indicative of the research intentions of your potential customers.
SEO persona keywords
Then use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Google Trends, Übersuggest. Export the results obtained to an Excel spreadsheet, sort them and determine the most searched and least competitive keywords.