Why are Buyer Personas Important?

First, what is a Buyer Persona?

A Buyer Person is a semi-fictitious depiction of an ideal customer. It outlines who your customer is, what they value, what they need, and what it takes to motivate them. Identifying and understanding these characteristics is imperative to a firm's success.

The necessity for every company to have accurate (research-based) and dynamic Buyer Personas is not limited to one type of company or industry, rather, it is necessary for ALL types of organizations and firms.

Many of us think at one point or another that our services or product is something EVERYONE wants. This is not a helpful or productive mentality when one begins a marketing campaign, especially inbound marketing. When this assumption is made a firm finds themselves in the midst of an anonymity gap. Buyer Persona development and implementation gets an organization over the anonymity threshold and allows for a true lead nurturing journey to take place.

You may be asking what is included in a Buyer Persona?

Here are important elements of a true Buyer Persona:

1. Common behavior patterns
2. Shared pain points (professional, personal)
3. Universal goals, wishes, dreams
4. General demographic & biographic information

So, we know Buyer Personas are important and what they generally are, but now you may be wondering how to connect Buyer Personas with your inbound marketing. We've got the answer for you!

The information about your Buyer Persona culminates into an understanding of what your persona is trying to achieve amidst the challenge they may face. A firm then creates content to help personas reach their goals and overcome their challenges. The appropriate content is identified directly in the Buyer Persona.

This requires a firm to create the RIGHT content. It will attract ideal visitors to your site, then the site will nurture them into leads, and ultimately close them into customers.

Final points to remember...

• Even though the personas are semi-fictitious, details of the persona matter.
• Research is important, but this is not a dissertation. You don't have to have statistical viability to do this well off-the-bat. Sometime you have to make educated guesses and move forward.
• Personas are never "done" because the buying and decision-making habits of consumers are constantly evolving. So, be ready to amend, alter, and update your personas every few months in order to keep up with the ever-changing marketplace.

Related: Boost Conversion With UXD

Ultimately, Buyer Personas keep your inbound marketing focused on the ideal customer with well-planned and pertinent content. Having a focal point of well established and dynamic personas is the epicenter of an effective inbound marketing campaign.