What is a Buyer’s Persona?
Marketers need to market their products and services to actual customers. There are millions of people on this Earth so how can you narrow it down to one? As a marketer with a product, I need to think of the person I want to promote to. I need to think of age, ethnicity, what they do in their everyday life, and even where they are located geographically. When making a persona, there needs to be a name and a face with the personality. I need to step into my customer’s life and learn everything I can about them. This will be able to be used to my advantage.
Meet Sarah Lee.
I developed the persona of Sarah Lee for my Buhi Bags simulation. Sarah Lee is the picture of many college students. She works part-time while attending University full-time and relies heavily on her parents to help. Sarah is on a fixed income so she is always looking for sales. She is also extremely active on social media and this is where she makes most of her purchases. She does not actively search for products but buys impulsively from ads through social media.
What is the Buyer’s Journey?
Have you ever needed a new pair of shoes? Do you buy the first pair you see or do you research different brands, types, and how well they last? I can imagine the answer is yes. This is all a part of the buyer’s journey. Needing a new pair of shoes is the first stage. This is the awareness stage. Then you move onto the interest and consideration stage. This is where you look at brands and styles that you like. You can check out a brand’s social media, you can physically go into a store, or you can ask friends for their opinion. This moves onto the evaluation stage where you compare different shoes and narrow it down to your selection and maybe even more than one. And then the final stage, this is when you make a decision and make the final purchase. There are later stages that include being a repeat customer, being loyal to the brand, and even helping to promote them through social media posts, blogs, or telling friends.
Why are they important?
Being able to envision the customer and their journey will help you build a marketing campaign for them. Marketing cannot be blind, but needs to be intentional. You can have multiple personas for one product or service but make sure they have their own personality. This is essential for every marketer. If you cannot envision your customer, how can you sell a product to them?