If you don’t have clear answers to the two questions below you may struggle to market your business or even get it off the ground:
- Who exactly are your customers and what problem are you solving for them?
- How will your product or service succeed in the marketplace where others may have failed?
STEP 1. DEVELOP A BUYER PERSONA
Who exactly are your customers and what problem are you solving for them?
What is a buyer persona?
A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers.
This is the person you are creating your content, products or service for. They can’t wait for you to launch because you solve a problem they
What are the benefits of creating a buyer persona?
Instead of focusing “target market” or something abstract, you humanise your marketing and make it real.
Developing a buyer persona results in stronger and more cost effective marketing.
It allows you to convey a more tailored message, minimise advertising waste and discover objections holding back customers.
When you can put a name to your customers, you can hopefully meet their needs better.
Are there any tricks to developing a buyer persona?
- Yes! Just look in the mirror.
- If you have an idea for a business, more than likely it came from a frustrating experience you had. A problem you needed fixing. A solution that didn’t get the results or was just too hard to implement.
- You may also have observed a pain point of someone you have close contact with.
- It’s unlikely your buyer persona is someone you’ve never met before. How could you understand intimately what’s holding them back from achieving their goal?
8 More Ways to Gather Buyer Persona Data
- Quora.com – see the most common questions for your niche.
- Facebook Groups – review profiles of group members.
- Online Marketplaces & Review Sites – Amazon, Yelp, Udemy, AppStore etc.
- Typeform – ask what is your biggest fear / frustration with topic x.
- Google Analytics – review demographic & interest reports.
- Facebook Analytics – review demographic reports.
- YouTube Analytics – review demographic reports.
- Just Ask! e.g. what you you want to achieve from this course (see lecture 3).
Finally, remember your buyer persona is a theory. Test this theory with the feedback and data you’ll collect about your audience as you grow.
