What is a buyer persona?
A buyer persona is a semi-fictional persona that is designed to help you better understand your ideal buyer.
Words to understand:
Target audience: Is defined by demographics, and covers a large group of people.
Buyer Persona: A semi-fictional snapshot of your ideal buyer. It includes psychographics, goals, & pain points. You will also discover the activities, interests, and opportunities your ideal buyer has.
Name & Occupation
Start by giving your persona a name and occupation.
Demographics
Demographics are statistical characteristics of a specific group of people. Some of the most common demographics include:
- Age – How old is your ideal reader? (Generation X, baby boomers, millennials, elders, children)
- Sex – What gender is your ideal reader?
- Race – Tracked via U.S. Census Bureau to identify shared national, cultural, and racial origins.
- Income – Annual income
- Education – What degree has your reader obtained?
- Occupation – Where do they work?
- Marital Status – Are they single, married, or divorced?
- Family Status – Do they have children? What is the family structure like (grandparents live in the home, children living at home)
- Geographic Location – Where they live (by region, urban, suburban, rural area, country, state, zip code)
- Language – What languages they speak
- Housing Status – Are they homeowners or renters
Psychographics
Psychographics are the personal values, interests, goals, lifestyle choices, personality traits, and attitudes that a person has. It can best be understood by the AIO variable, which stands for Activities, Interests, and Opinions.
- Activities – What hobbies does your persona have?
- Interests – Identify the things that provoke
- Opportunities – Favorable conditions for advancement, progress, & well-being
Table of Contents
Goals
What short term goals and long term goals is your buyer persona looking to accomplish?
Goals & Motivations
- Primary Goals: What is top priority?
- Secondary Goals: What would also be nice to accomplish?
- Motivators: (What drives their decisions)
“Start a forum on my website for work from home moms to network together. Gain more life coaching clients. Become affiliated with bluehost. Her family is her top priority.”
Pain Points
What problem does your reader have that needs to be solved? Do they have physical or emotional pain? Are they stressed from finances, and tired of being broke? Are they going through a divorce? Are they being bullied at work? Your reader may just be bored and looking for entertainment.
These are all things that your reader may be struggling with. Your job as a blogger is to give them the resources and information they need to make the best decision possible in order to reach their desired outcome.
“Mary is a stay at home mother and has her hands full between managing her website, clients, and family life. She struggles with her finances, and her and her husband live paycheck-to-paycheck.”
They can include things like:
- Frustrations – What aggravates your reader?
- Inconveniences – What difficulties do they face that in uncomfortable, or makes it harder to complete a task?
- Obstacles – an object or a situation that makes it difficult to move forward and reach a goal.
Buying Behaivor
Buying behavior is the process a person goes through in order to, buy a product.
Your buyer persona should include the following
- Preferred Engagement Methods: (email, social media, Facebook, X)
- Decision-Making Process: (Who’s involved, how long it takes)
- Budget Considerations: How much is the budget?
Persona Examples
When writing your content, it’s important to understand the different types of buyers and what drives them.
Now we will discuss four different types of buyer personas. These personas are based on buying style and final decision making. These personas
Competitive Calvin
Meet Calvin. He’s ready to make a purchase. He makes a quick and logical decision. He may ask himself, “Who is offering the best prices? What is the best deal for the time & money? He compares prices and might consult with others before his final purchase.
Demographics: Calvin is a single 21 year old who lives in northern Michigan. He works at a Pizza restaurant and makes $35k annually.
Psychographics:
Spontaneous Suzy
Quick, spur-of-the-moment decision that is emotionally driven. Spontaneous buyers often make impulsive purchases and respond well to stimulation, such as sale advertisements. She makes the final decision to purchase an item.
Demographics: Suzy is a single 28 year old female who lives in suburban Atlanta. Suzy works as a paralegal, and makes $75k annually.
Suzy loves to shop. She loves walking around department stores for the best deals. She usually buys random things found on the clearance rack, and has been known to make some rather large purchases because of store sales.
Suzy’s online buying behavior has a tendency of being spur of the moment decisions. She often indulges in shopping online to relieve stress. She’s quick to add things to her shopping cart if she believes them to be a “good deal.”
Humanistic Hank
Humanistic: This type of buyer is slow to make a purchase, and prefers to build a trusting relationship with the seller.
Methodical Mary
Makes purchases after preforming research. High attention to detail – must understand reason for purchase. Slow to buy. May consult with others before finalizing a purchase.