What a buyer persona includes
- Role and context: job title, company type and size, or life situation for consumers.
- Goals: what they want to achieve.
- Challenges: what makes it hard.
- Buying behavior: who else is involved, what they compare and what makes them trust a supplier.
- Objections: the doubts that stop them from buying.
- Information sources: where they search, read and ask for advice.
- Their words: the phrases they use to describe their problem.
How to create one
- Interview recent customers, and people who chose a competitor.
- Ask your sales and support teams about the questions they hear.
- Look at data: analytics, CRM records, search queries and reviews.
- Group what you find into two to four personas, each with a name and a short summary.
How to use personas
Use them to choose keywords and topics, write copy in your customers’ own words, plan content for each stage of the customer journey and target ads. Base them on research rather than assumptions, and update them as your market changes.