Launching a new product or service is exciting. You might be eager to jump straight in and start creating a marketing campaign, maybe based off strategies that have worked in the past or tactics you have seen other companies implement.
Organisations often make the mistake of jumping in and creating a marketing campaign based on what they think their target audience would like, instead of doing research and creating a buyer persona to find out what their target audience actually wants.
Developing a B2B Buyer persona can have huge benefits on the success of your marketing campaigns. Marketing should feel personal to your target audience, like they are being spoke directly to and that you understand their needs, wants and desires. It’s reported that personalised emails not only improve click-through rates by 14% but also improve conversion rate by 10%.
A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of what your idea customer might look like.
Creating a buyer's persona
The first step towards building a buyer's persona is do your research. Look at your current customer database. Do you see any significant similarities between your customers? These similarities could be the basis for building your buyer persona.
If you have a loyal customer base, try organising a focus group or create an email survey that ask’s your current customers questions such as:
“What type of content do you must enjoy”
“What would help make your job role easier”
“What are your current struggles within your industry”
Once you have collected as much information as possible you can create your buyer's persona.
Wurkhouse Business Development manager, Paul explains in this video how to create a buyer persona for your business:
What needs to be included in a buyer's persona
A buyer persona would include detailed information on information including
- Demographics. Age. Location. Gender
- Job title. Industry.
- Hobbies/Interests. Likes/dislikes
- Where are they likely to be found online I.e., Instagram or Twitter
For a B2B Business you try and determine as much information about the persona's professional status as possible I.e. what is their role in the organisation, are they the decision maker or not. What are their pain points/challenges they come across as part of their role.
Knowing this information will help any B2B company market their product or service towards these individuals and know what the buyers really need from the product/service.
Benefits of having a buyer's persona
Creating a buyer's persona can be beneficial for all departments across the business. A buyer persona allows you to develop marketing campaigns that focus on your customers' needs rather than just assuming you know what your customers want.
Creating a well-researched buyers' persona can lead to;
- More opportunities to reach your customers and nurture leads
- Tailored inbound marketing campaigns
- Better paid ads targeting
Customers will be more likely to engage with your content if they feel they can relate to it.
HubSpot offers a free Buyer Persona template which can help business start created more tailored marketing plans.
