Companies usually have a general idea of the audience groups they want to target. For Sevaa Group, we often create and/or host functional websites for non-profit organizations, law firms, and higher education institutions. We also work with marketing agencies who design those functional websites. Finally, we create content that appeals to other developers or people generally interested in technology; this promotes our role as a thought-leader in our field. Quite a broad range of audience members, but buyer personas help you get into the meat of your target audience.
With in-depth market research and thorough data, marketers can create buyer personas and target a more-defined audience. Essentially, a buyer persona is a profile of your ideal customer, and there will be more than one. These profiles will tell you everything from the customer’s hobbies to their industry involvement. They will allow you to tailor your content to target a more direct audience as well as find the optimal pricing strategy.
Begin with Marketing Research
Reach out to your audience members personally. The best way to do this is through social media. Take advantage of polls and surveys to find out:
- Demographic information (age, gender, relationship status, ethnicity, etc.)
- Lifestyle habits
- What they do outside of work
- Professional information & the challenges they face at work
- How much they use social media and which platforms they use the most
- How they like to shop (online or in-store?)
- What features of your product or service are “most preferred” and “least preferred”
- What they are willing to pay for your product or service
Equally important is how your competitors interact with their audience. The best way to do this is by creating a list of all your competitors on Twitter. Make sure that list is set to private. This will compile all of your competitors’ posts into one feed for you to refer to.
And don’t forget that you have direct contact with audience members that are already your ideal customer. Interview your current customers (through email or by phone) to get more information about them.
Embrace the Data
Google Analytics is always compiling valuable information from your website that you can use to create buyer personas – you just have to know how to sift through all that data. Google Analytics will show you what website a visitor came from, what keywords they used to find your website, how long they remained on your website, which pages they visited, and more. You might glaze over some of these details when looking at your analytics, but they can be very useful in creating a thorough buyer persona. On Google Analytics, make sure you enable e-commerce and demographics.
Audience > Demographics
Use the demographics to determine who your most profitable buyers are and those who have the highest conversion rate. For example, if a demographic is more profitable, you might tailor your content to promote more interaction. On the other hand, if a demographic has a high conversion rate but isn’t as profitable, you may want to employ packages or deals that they might be interested in.
Audience > Interests > In-Market Segments
In-market audiences indicate customers who are researching and buying products or services like yours. Google Analytics categorizes consumers based on their interest in related ads and the sites they visit.
Acquisition > All Traffic > Source/Medium
This section will show you where your website visitors came from and how much of your traffic is direct, organic, and referred. You can use this data to promote more content on the channels that most of your visitors are using.
You should also be utilizing UTM parameters when you build URLs. These parameters are added to the end of a link that leads back to your content. Once a visitor clicks on that link, those parameters are organized accordingly in Google Analytics. This allows you to see what type of content is most popular on your website and the channels that are driving the most traffic.
Create Your Buyer Personas
Your buyer personas’ profiles should rely heavily on the data you’ve gathered, but of course, a level of assumption may be necessary. Use your marketing research to conclude more about your personas’ personal and professional life. Give your persona a name in order to keep track of your profiles and to emulate a true customer. Include their job title, demographic information, the websites they visit, their interests, values, etc.
Once you’ve created your personas, focus on each one and ask yourself how you would pitch your product or service to that particular customer. There is no maximum to the number of personas you can create, but 3 to 5 is the recommended minimum.
Not only does this research help you tailor your content and pricing to your customer’s behavior, it also allows you to engage with your audience in a way that’s more meaningful. Sevaa Group understands the importance of a personal touch when it comes to clients. Get in touch with us about working on your next project!
