Buyer Personas: Importance and Steps

Importance

Buyer personas are vital to the marketing process. Specifically, they are necessary to accurately know how to reach your audience and the messages that should be portrayed to them.

For example, The Sill, a New York based houseplant company, creates content and messages that will sit well with specific audiences. They may use different forms of engagement to reach their various buyer personas.

Steps to Building Buyer Personas

1.  Break into groups. 

Who are the customers? 

For The Sill, like most businesses, the answer is complex. The Sill may have two distinct type of buyers, the online and the brick-and-mortar shopper. Although some customers may start in one and transfer to the other, it is unlikely that a customer will be both, considering the nature of the product.

2.  Record all characteristics.

What is each group like? What describes them?

For The Sill's online shoppers: millennials (age 22-37), avid online shopper, potentially a subscription shopper, minimalist, plant newbie. For in-store shoppers: age 50-75 (think funky grandma), New Yorker, workshop attendee, houseplant lover, cat owner.

3.  Create relevant content for each group.

What does group want to hear? What content can they relate to?

For The Sill's online shoppers: content for social media with minimalistic images, potentially offering apartment decoration tips. For in-store shoppers: content for newsletter, promotional email about in-store event updates and store experience.

4.  Define their problems (and offer solutions). 

What problem can you solve for them?

For The Sill's online shoppers: the problem is shipping, cost and lack of plant care knowledge. Solutions may include using customer created content of box opening as shipping social proof, high-lighting low-cost and money back guarantee, and website's plant offerings organized by care commitment.

For in-store shoppers: the problem may be lack of animal-approved houseplant selection at regular garden centers, friendly staff and plant-related workshop offerings. Solutions may include boosting animal-approved plant options, friendly staff and workshops in emails and direct mail advertisements.

Note About Minimalistic Marketing

The purpose of this blog is to fulfill the requirements of my Public Relations class (COMM 325). Each post is based off of assigned readings from various books, including "The New Rules of Marketing & PR" by David Meerman Scott.