A buyer persona is an archetype, prototype, model or pattern of behavior used by marketers to profitably persuade distinct buyer types. Marketers hope to encourage people to buy their offerings and to that end, buyer personas are a market segmentation tool to help guide strategic marketing decisions. Buyer personas are highly detailed and they epitomize buyers so marketers can craft more insightful, accurate messaging.
The process of developing buyer personas offers the opportunity to explore the diverse and competing needs of real buyers. Interviewing prospects and current customers helps reveal their priorities and the obstacles in the way of further sales.
Observed physical behavior, such as might be seen in a store environment, can help explain some buyer decision making. However, unseen cognitive processes also influence perceptions of tangible and intangible benefits. The formation of psychological constructs are usually hidden as is the moment of important commitment – when a buyer decides to complete a purchase.
Do you recognize any common characteristics or behavioral patterns among your prospects and customers?
- What are their product needs?
- Buying habits?
- Concerns?
- Demographics?
- Lifestyles?
Can you refine your assumptions by talking to buyers before creating buyer personas? Conduct surveys, obtain direct feedback and casually talk to buyers. Study each decision making process and buying stage and consider how closely buyer personas represent real buyers at each stage of the buying cycle.
Buyer personas are like other consumer behavior models that blend economic and psychological factors for practical use by marketers. Although individual buyers are extremely complex, and you should be wary of oversimplification, on average, buyers have significant processing limitations and personal biases. Therefore, some of your assumptions about buyer behavior may end up changing due to buyer complexity while other strategies might surprise you with their simple effectiveness.
Best practices:
- Provide resources and design content that triggers commitment to action for each buyer persona at each buying stage.
- Always perform tests.
Can you identify what triggers buying for each buyer persona? What specialized content can your team create that might lead to action for each buyer persona?
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About David Chevalier
David Chevalier is a founder of SalesBlend. He helps small businesses grow with creative marketing strategies and consistent execution. You can follow David on Twitter @davidchev or on Google+.