While it’s important to remain on the cutting-edge of marketing trends in order to stay ahead of the competition, implementing a marketing tool the wrong way can not only prove to be ineffective, but also a waste of time and resources. One marketing strategy on the rise is the use of Buyer Personas (a detailed, true description and profile of actual people who have already purchased your products and services or who might purchase them).
The information about your buyer personas – your archetypal customers – is gleaned directly from talking to your established buyers. Sounds easy enough; however, here are two common mistakes many businesses make when trying to implement and utilize the concept of buyer personas:
Diverging from the path
When creating your buyer persona, don’t waste time learning everything there ever was to know about your buyer. While it may be interesting to learn that his love for golf started when he was just a toddler using a stick and a ball in his backyard, save that for a conversation over dinner or a round of golf with him. Don’t make the mistake of obtaining insignificant, trivial, and time-consuming information you will never use.
In fact, there are only 5 areas of information that will provide insightful and useful information to your company’s team of content marketers.
Here’s what you need to know:
To what does your buyer persona devote most of his company’s time and resources?
What are the tangible rewards or outcomes your buyer associates with success that your company can provide?
What might cause your (potential) buyer to hesitate in choosing your business to provide solutions for his challenges and/or to help him achieve the success he desires?
How does the buyer persona go about exploring and selecting the best company to meet his needs? How does he perform due diligence?
What specific aspects of the product or service available did the buyer evaluate and then seek alternative solutions or decide not to solve the challenge at all?
“I” “am” “not” “reading” “this”
Is there anything more annoying than knowing someone is talking to you off a script? Outside of the fact they “sound” like they are reading to you vs. simply having a free-flowing conversation with you, there’s another easy way to tell. Interrupt their spiel and ask a question; this will, undoubtedly throw them into stuttering befuddlement of shock since what you are asking is not answered until they get to page 5.
When interviewing or surveying your established buyers and potential buyers to gather information for the creation of your buyer personas, don’t make it seem like an impersonal interview. Ask relevant questions and then close your mouth, open your ears, and listen. You will be able to come up with follow-up questions based on what they share with you. Keep the agenda-based conversation flowing in a human-to-human manner. One great question chock full of great information – What was the deciding factor that helped you choose our products and services?
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