{"id":4516,"date":"2015-03-13T13:07:53","date_gmt":"2015-03-13T20:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/?p=4516"},"modified":"2017-04-12T21:43:40","modified_gmt":"2017-04-12T21:43:40","slug":"buyer-personas-marketing-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/buyer-personas-marketing-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Bring Flat Buyer Personas to Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

The words \u201cBuyer Persona<\/a>\u201d make me cringe a little. It sounds like something you’d call a life-sized cardboard cutout of a person,\u00a0and that’s exactly the opposite of what marketers hope to achieve with buyer personas.<\/p>\n

Personas are meant to bring your target customer to life — exemplify the pains, successes and scenarios your prospects are experiencing, so you can make your marketing and your product or service relevant, helpful and needed.<\/p>\n

Yet many personas are flat and lifeless (and not just because you’re using stock photos!)<\/p>\n

Here are six\u00a0suggestions to improving your buyer personas, which should also\u00a0improve your marketing and revenue!<\/p>\n \n \n

 <\/p>\n

Tip #1: Don’t Assume<\/h2>\n

You know what they say about assumptions.<\/p>\n

You’ve been in business a long time, and you know your customers well. Or at least you think you do.<\/p>\n

Way too many many marketers settle for a myopic, second-hand view of customers culled from outdated knowledge, sales rep input and demographic data. It’s all useful information, but it’s only part of the picture.<\/p>\n

\"Do<\/a><\/p>\n

To add depth and clarity, spend some time following up with customers who bought from you \u2013 and leads that didn’t pan out. Ask what led them to research your product and what influenced their decision to buy from you, from a competitor, or not at all.<\/p>\n

Really get to understand who they are, what challenges they are facing, their drivers, their budgets and how to help them.<\/p>\n \n \n

 <\/p>\n

Tip #2:\u00a0Forget the script<\/h2>\n

Never forget that buyers are people (even if you are a SaaS tool that sees more credit cards than actual people).<\/p>\n

While you should have an idea of what you’re going to ask, don’t rely on a Q & A script.<\/p>\n

\"Talk<\/a>

Try developing trust with your customers through real conversation!<\/p><\/div>\n

Make a call and let the conversation flow naturally. Customers are all too happy to tell you what factors influenced their buying decisions, but scripted questions and stock responses are just annoying.\u00a0Get chatty.<\/p>\n

A side benefit will be building your trust relationship.<\/p>\n

Tip #3:\u00a0Focus\u00a0on the important elements<\/h2>\n

Once upon a time, I was given a buyer persona to help me create content for a new website. The persona was impressive. There was a photo, a name, a profession, a salary, hobbies, interests, education level, age… even what magazines he subscribed to.<\/p>\n

Obviously, a lot of work had gone into this picture of who the average buyer was.<\/p>\n

But, it was totally useless. Why?<\/p>\n

Here’s what was missing:<\/p>\n