Pele, one of the best professional soccer players of all time, said it best, “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing.”
We agree with Pele – success is no accident. You must take intentional steps to create positive results for your company. But what if those results depend solely on reaching the right leads, not just any leads? Then, we argue that you must learn who your target audience is and what decisions they are inclined to make.
How do you do this? You determine your company’s buyer persona.
A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your very real target audience. It identifies your audience. It tells you who you’re speaking to in your marketing, because if you’re speaking to everyone, you’re speaking to no one.
When you’ve gathered information to build your specific buyer persona, you can better promote your products and services to your ideal customer. Let’s dive into what a buyer persona consists of:
3 Components of a Buyer Persona
You can break down your buyer persona into three components: buyer profile, psychographics, and buying insight. You can’t create a buyer persona without these three elements, as it will result in an inadequate representation of your ideal customer. Take a look at what each component entails:
Buyer profile
Although mistakenly used interchangeably, a buyer profile and buyer persona are not the same things. Your buyer profile is a sketch of your ideal customer. It lists the basics:
- Age
- Company revenue
- Education
- Family status
- Gender
- Goals
- Hobbies
- Industry
- Location
- Name
- Publications subscribed to
- Title
- Use of social media
- & More
Psychographics
An essential component of your buyer persona is understanding your target psychographic. You’ll need to learn your ideal customer’s personality, values, lifestyle, interests, opinions, and more. This adds color to the sketch you’ve created in the buyer profile.
Buying Insight
More than just knowing who is buying your products, you need to know when, how, and why someone decides to buy your product or service. Your buyer insight identifies your customer’s priorities, success factors, barriers, journey, and decision criteria. This last component will guide your marketing in a strategic direction instead of making educated guesses. Remember, success is no accident.
This article is part 1 of our 5-part series on buyer personas. Be on the lookout for:
- Part 2: What You Need to Identify in a Buyer Persona
- Part 3: 5 Ways Buying Insights Help You Make Decisions
- Part 4: How to Create a Buyer Persona
- Part 5: How to Lead a Focus Group
How M&R Marketing Can Help
Understanding your buyer persona is a crucial part of your marketing strategy. When you have a strategy in place, you can target your ideal customer and use your finances more effectively. When we create a marketing strategy, we divide it into five steps:
- Discovery Phase
- Plan Creation
- Presentation
- Execution
- Evaluation
We can gladly pioneer your marketing strategy for you or revamp your current one! Our team will spend countless hours helping your company find success.
Do you have questions about our marketing services? Give us a call at 478-621-4491, and for more helpful tips, make sure you sign up for our eNewsletter!