In the world of marketing, where every consumer is an individual and competition is fighting for the customer's attention like never before, the persona in marketing becomes a key element of a strategic approach. A customer persona is not some mysterious hero from a fictional tale, but a powerful tool that will change your approach to advertising. Learn what a persona is and how to create one accurately, and you will gain the key to the hearts and wallets of consumers. Here is our guide that will finally make creating personas more understandable and enjoyable for you.
A marketing persona is a profile of a target customer created based on demographic, psychographic, and behavioral data. In marketing, a persona is therefore a valuable strategic tool that helps companies better understand their target audience, and consequently tailor communication and direct product and marketing offers in a much more effective way. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs still approach this topic too generally.
A customer persona is not some abstract concept or a character created from random traits. It is like inviting your ideal customer for a coffee and starting an open and honest conversation about their needs and all the pain points they face every day. A marketing persona is a representation of your ideal recipient or rather something like a complex psychological portrait, allowing you to better understand and get to know the people you want to reach with your product or service.
Persona – how to create it well?
To create a persona, you need to gather data that will allow you to answer questions comprehensively such as: What does your client do after work? What do they lack? What are their needs? However, don't stop at simple and banal answers! In the further part of this article, we will explain why, but you must be aware that this is one of the most common mistakes in the complex process of creating a persona.
Yes, we purposely describe it as complex because let’s not hide it – it certainly is not a quick and easy task that you can relieve yourself of from your to-do list for today. Well, creating a persona can only be done thoughtfully and reliably! If you meticulously delve into this subject, you will gradually find out that ready-made personas start to bring you real income, trust, and customer goodwill.
Gather demographic data
Age, gender, place of residence, education, employment – all of this must be part of your persona. Marketing is heavily focused on understanding and satisfying customer needs. It also places great emphasis on building long-term relationships with customers. The above demographic information will bring you closer to your audience, and you will obtain it by analyzing purchase data and data available in analytical tools connected to your website, as well as through surveys and conversations with customers.
Psychographics and persona (example of a pregnant woman)
Think about interests, hobbies, lifestyle. Gather information regarding values and beliefs. Imagine how this person lives, how they feel, what they love, and what challenges they face. Unfortunately, without this knowledge, no persona will emerge. So how do you create a deeper picture of it to avoid mistakes? How defined should each persona be? For example: imagine that you sell accessories for children and young mothers, and your ideal recipient is a pregnant woman. If you only focus on that information, you will not be able to reach her with the ideal message. Why?
Because every woman experiences pregnancy differently. One may feel great and during this time continue to go to work and attend active mom classes. Another may be on sick leave and may not even be able to get out of bed. The message to each of these women will therefore be completely different. An active and working mom will certainly not have time to browse websites in search of the perfect baby essentials and will appreciate the ready-made shopping lists and recommendations you create for her.
The second woman, who has a very tough pregnancy, might have more time to browse social media, but will definitely appreciate a message like: the baby essentials you can assemble even while lying in bed. Do you see the difference? Thanks to such specifics and knowledge about your audience, you will focus on content and products that will resonate better with specific segments.
Who or what influences purchasing decisions?
In answer to the question of how to create a persona, one cannot overlook the issue of motivation and the purchasing decision-making process. Imagine that you sell garden design services. It may be hard to believe, but a beautiful space around the house is often the last thing your persona needs. What does that mean? That the biggest motivation to order such a service may often be that your client is simply embarrassed about their neglected lawn in front of their neighbors. However, they do not have time to take care of it themselves. Knowing this will allow you to construct your marketing message differently, perhaps based on creating a beautiful space around their home that the entire neighborhood would envy.
Remember: creating a persona is always a dynamic process that requires continuous adaptation to the changing needs and preferences of customers, as well as studying the effects. Periodic updates to personas help maintain the effectiveness of your company’s marketing strategy.
Persona and marketing – summary
Creating a persona is not only an easier way to adapt communication but also a way to understand what truly attracts your target group. What is attractive to one person may not necessarily resonate with another. Therefore, meticulously created, ready personas are a key practice in marketing that allows for the strategy to be tailored to the specific needs, interests, and lifestyles of customers. All this translates into more effective and successful advertising efforts. Furthermore, a well-designed customer persona helps in designing products or services that better meet the specific needs and expectations of customers.
Having trouble with personas? The creative agency Brand Garden always finds solutions tailored to the needs of your company. Let us know, we are happy to help!
