Do
you want to grow your online
store?
Silly
question, of course you do.
If
you read our blogs then you'll already know that there isn’t one
simple formula on how you do it.
It
takes a whole bunch of effort to attract visitors and convert people
into sales – but that's why creating a buyer persona is a great
place to start.
Wanna
know why? Keep reading this blog to find out!
What
is a buyer persona?
If
you check out Google Trends (below), you'll see that the phrase
“Buyer Persona” only grew legs in the past 2/3 years....
But
it's important to understand that this isn’t just a trend that'll
soon die out like MySpace or Flappy Birds. A buyer persona is a
powerful way to ensure that you are effectively targeting your
audience.
If
you aren’t sure, a buyer persona is a representation of your ideal
customer. When you create one, you'll use market research to discover
exactly who your customers are, so you can effectively target them
with your marketing efforts.
What
is a negative persona?
Yes
there is such a thing as a negative persona – and it's a good idea
to know who yours are.
Whereas
your buyer persona is a representation of your ideal customer, a
negative persona is a representation of who you really don't want as
a customer.
Now
you might think, that's crazy - a customer is a customer!
But
there is a reason why you shouldn’t attempt to sell to every Tom
Dick and Harry. Some people just aren’t interested in your product
and that's ok. It could even be that some people are too expensive to
acquire and not worth your budget to do so.
It's
important to remember to focus your marketing on the people who are
worth your time.
Once
you've defined the negative personas, you'll be able to achieve a
lower cost-per-lead and cost-per-customer which means higher sales
and productivity!
What
does a buyer persona include?
A
buyer persona isn’t just a simple description of your buyer. It's a
detailed analysis of your customers.
Your
buyer persona will include:
-
Demographics
-
Values
and goals
-
Challenges
-
Buying
objections
-
Key
marketing messages
It's
likely that you'll have more than one buyer persona depending on the
type of products you sell, and the reasons as to why people buy them.
For
example, you could sell apparel to both men and women meaning you'll
have a completely different campaign for each. Or a female could be
buying a shirt for her boyfriend – so although it's the same
product you are selling, the target audience is completely different
and needs to be marketed to differently.
How
do I create a buyer persona?
First
step is to go away and do your research. One option is to implement
surveys or to interview customers, prospects and people who are
outside of your database, but still align with your target audience.
A
great place to start is to interview your customers either via phone
or email and find out what they like about your product or service.
If
you need a place to find survey tools then we'd suggest using:
Next,
you should aim to look over your database and uncover trends about
how they were initially attracted to your site. Was it via a certain
piece of content? A social media campaign? The more you discover, the
easier it'll be to segment your audience and define your buyer
personas.
Some
of the best places to look to discover insights include your Google
analytics audience report, or your Facebook insights page. By using
these tools you'll be able to find demographic information, location
and interests.
What
questions should I ask?
When
it comes to developing your buyer personas, follow these handy steps:
1.
Give your persona a name
This
will help you reference them for your marketing efforts, especially
if you have more than one.
2.
What is their background?
What
job role do they have? Where would they like their career to go? Do
they have a family?
3.
Demographics
This
will include all the basics such as their age, gender, location and
income.
4.
Values and goals
When
looking for a product, what does your customer value most? Do they
buy for the price? Do they buy for style? What motivates them to make
a purchase?
5.
Challenges
What
challenges do they face in their day to day life?
6.
Buying objections
What
is the reason that they wouldn’t buy your product?
7.
Define your marketing message
How
would you describe your solution to your persona?
The
above are our suggestions as to what you can ask, but make sure you
tailor your questions to suit your product.
You
can create as many questions as you like – so long as you get a
detailed reference of who your target audience is, you'll be able to:
-
Bring
in more traffic and leads
-
Effectively
tailor your marketing messages
-
Develop
a cost-effective marketing strategy
-
Decide
which social platforms you should use
-
Show
the customer how you can help
-
Understand
buying behavior
-
Speak
in their language and resonate with your audience
-
Grow
your store and sell more stuff!
Closing
thoughts
So
if you want to take advantage of those awesome benefits then yes the
answer is evidently clear, you need a buyer persona for your
Ecommerce store! Check out HubSpot for free
template
and start better targeting your audience today.
And
if you're looking to start your Ecommerce journey then we can help
you achieve this – contact us today and
let us help you grow your online
store.