Tired of your marketing efforts not producing results? If so, it is time to revisit your marketing strategy.
Smart marketing starts with a strong foundation and your marketing foundation depends on your company’s ability to identify the characteristics of your best customers, the people who might buy your products and services. This detailed description of your ideal buyer is referred to as a buyer persona.
Most companies have a general understanding of who they are trying to market and sell their products to. However, they are not able to describe in detail who their ideal buyers are, their purchasing behavior, challenges and motivations.
Smart marketing starts with a strong foundation and your marketing foundation depends on your company’s ability to identify the characteristics of your best customers, the people who might buy your products and services. This detailed description of your ideal buyer is referred to as a buyer persona.
Most companies have a general understanding of who they are trying to market and sell their products to. However, they are not able to describe in detail who their ideal buyers are, their purchasing behavior, challenges and motivations.
Creating a persona of your ideal buyers can help your company understand:
1. Who the ideal customers for your company and your products are;
2. What their challenges are;
3. How they make purchasing decisions;
4. What topics interest them;
5. Where and how to find them.
1. Who the ideal customers for your company and your products are;
2. What their challenges are;
3. How they make purchasing decisions;
4. What topics interest them;
5. Where and how to find them.
Why it is important for companies to understand their best customers.
Buyer personas can help companies in three different areas: product development, marketing, and sales. Knowing the challenges of your best customers can help you develop products that address their pressing needs. Similarly, when companies have a better understanding of the characteristics of their best customers, such as purchasing behavior and where they spend their time, they do not waste time and precious marketing budget promoting products to the wrong audience and marketing channels.
Buyer personas help you put a focus on your marketing and sales initiatives. Marketing improves because efforts are now focused on the right people, through the right online and offline channels, and with marketing content that speaks to their needs. Salespeople also benefit from buyer personas because they develop a better understanding of who they are selling to, the challenges and objections of your ideal customers when buying products like the ones that your company offers.
Buyer personas can help companies in three different areas: product development, marketing, and sales. Knowing the challenges of your best customers can help you develop products that address their pressing needs. Similarly, when companies have a better understanding of the characteristics of their best customers, such as purchasing behavior and where they spend their time, they do not waste time and precious marketing budget promoting products to the wrong audience and marketing channels.
Buyer personas help you put a focus on your marketing and sales initiatives. Marketing improves because efforts are now focused on the right people, through the right online and offline channels, and with marketing content that speaks to their needs. Salespeople also benefit from buyer personas because they develop a better understanding of who they are selling to, the challenges and objections of your ideal customers when buying products like the ones that your company offers.
| An example. As an example, let’s take a look at a company that markets electronic design automation software for electronic design engineers who design integrated circuits. One can correctly assume that this company sells to design engineers. But, are all design engineers ideal buyers for this company? No. Why? Because there are engineers who are very comfortable designing chips by hand and are reluctant to switch to using software to do the job. These folks would not be ideal customers for this company. On the other hand, there are engineers who rely on software to design chips but they still face significant challenges at work. For example, the risk of a chip failing due to unidentified crosstalk among the different blocks in the design hierarchy. Having a software tool that solves this important problem, such as the one offered by the company in our example, may influence an engineer's purchasing decision. The group of engineers who share this characteristic and need represent an ideal buyer for this company. ### |