Ever heard of the term buyer persona? If not, we at BeLuxe Creative are here to help you. It’s not a term you hear often however, it’s important in the business world. It’s also useful if you want to understand your target customer.

So, what is a buyer persona? A buyer persona (also referred to as a marketing persona) is a representation of your ideal buyer. It’s made up of qualitative and quantitative data. A buyer persona provides a benchmark to help you understand who your target customer is. As a result, you can position yourself to help and provide the best experience for your customer. According to weebly.com “A good buyer persona is when you can almost visualise someone you know.” See how you can incorporate this into your digital marketing plan.

What are the benefits of buyer personas?

By creating an ideal buyer you can gain important information. Such as demographics (age, income) and psychographics (hobbies, interest). These are important when building relationships. They can help you form strategies to solve problems or a need your customer may have. As well as help improve your target customers experience. In addition to this, you can personalise aspects of your strategies to build stronger relationships with your customer. According to Epsilon “80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer personalised experiences.”

5 tips to create a buyer persona for your brand

Now that you have heard everything about what buyer persona is, we are going to give you 5 useful and easy tips that you can use to create your very own buyer persona for your brand! Continue reading for our very own example of a buyer persona featuring the fashion brand Hanifa.

Tip 1:

Create a mood board

Firstly, get creative! Having a visual representation of what you want your ideal buyer to look like is important. Furthermore, mood boards help you communicate your ideas onto a visual canvas and help envision your concept. It’s not just about pictures so don’t forget to include text, colour schemes and anything that can help bring your idea to life. They’re fun, easy to make and most importantly, they help you see the bigger picture.

Tip 2:

Demographics

Secondly, you need to build the foundation of your buyer. Try including some demographics.

Things to include:

1. Name
2. Age
3. Income
4. Education
5. Occupation
6. Location
7. Family life

You may be thinking, “why do I need to know this?”. The more precise your buyer persona is the better results you will receive. In other words, don’t be afraid to get specific and dive into what kind of life your buyer lives. Use other departments in your decision-making process. (E.g. the marketing team, sales team and customer service.) Include as many perspectives as possible.

Tip 3:

Psychographics

Now that you have a visual idea of your buyer and the basic foundation, it’s time to breathe some character into your persona. We are talking about psychographics! 

Things to include:

1. Name
2. Face
3. Personality
4. Interests/ hobbies
5. Influences
6. Likes/ dislikes
7. Values/ beliefs 

This is the fun part because you can get really personal here. Maybe your buyer prefers organic and traditional media, be detailed. For instance, think about their personality type, lifestyle and how they communicate across digital platforms.

Who’s their style inspiration? What’s their favourite book? What’s their fashion style? Favourite place to travel? What social media do they use to communicate? Are your social networks and online marketing strategies up to date? The list is endless!

Tip 4:

Customer journey mapping – Purchasing process

Now that you’ve got a name, face and the lifestyle of your buyer. It’s time to consider your buyer’s customer journey. Think about what type of journey your customer takes when considering a purchase. Create a visual map to see their journey. Consider the impact it may have on your customer and what works well and what doesn’t.

Things to include:

1. First impression: The first experience they have with you
2. First value: Getting what they expect
3. Intended value: Confident they got what they expected
4. Expected outcome: Getting more than they expected

What is your customer’s initial experience? For example, a search engine, press or website. If it’s your website, is your website easy to navigate? Is your content marketing of high quality? How can you make their decision process easier? According to thewatchtower.com [a website] “defines how people will interact and make a deal with your brand” you need to “create a highly eye-catching, intriguing and business-focused website.” 

If you have concerns with time management when it comes to updating and maintaining content check out last post about social media automation!

Tip 5:

Challenges and solution – What problem can your brand solve?

This section is very important in marketing. Consequently, think about what challenges your buyer may face. For instance, your ideal buyer may be interested in values. Therefore, you should look at whether your business is sharing information about their role in the community and if you’re transparent. Above all ask yourself, “how can I help my customer?”

It’s important to to think about how your brand can provide the best service to tackle any challenges. Moreover, you can ask your customers directly or look at customer data to help you.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, all departments will benefit from buyer personas as they can adjust their methods to benefit their target customer. In other words, buyer personas can help understand your customers wants and needs. This can help create a seamless experience for your current and potential customers in the future. The more you understand your customer, the more you improve and the better their experience will be. If you need some help contact our content team now!