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What is a buyer persona?
A buyer persona is an ideal-typical representation of a potential customer, which is illustrated using a fictitious, representative person. The fictitious person can be based on market and target group research, collected customer data and experience-based assumptions about potential customers. In addition, demographic information such as age, gender, income and profession are used to flesh out the persona, while psychographic characteristics such as interests, values, challenges and needs are important, especially in the B2B segment, in order to define the persona as precisely as possible. Buyer personas help companies and their decision-makers to better understand their potential customers. Based on this, companies, organizations and brands can develop appropriate branding measures and communication strategies that offer identification potential for their target group.
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The differences between target groups and buyer personas
Target groups are a general representation of a customer group, whereas personas provide a detailed insight into individual customers within this group. This enables a more precise approach, as the focus can be tailored more precisely to the needs and wishes of the respective persona.Buyer personas and target groups differ in terms of content and area of application in the following points:
Aspect |
Target Group |
Buyer Persona |
Definition |
Groups of people to whom a company’s offer is directed. | Detailed, semi-fictional description of a person who corresponds to the focus target group. |
Base |
Demographic characteristics, lifestyles and behaviors. | Demographic information such as age, gender, income range, occupation and marital status. Extensive market and target group research, customer feedback, assumptions about potential customers based on experience. |
Alignment |
Generally valid for the target group. | Differentiation of individual persons or subgroups within a target group. |
Use |
Guidelines for strategic orientation, brand design, corporate and product development. | Guidelines for efficient, targeted communication concepts and for product and service expansion. Individual brand design, targeted adaptation of products, more efficient communication strategies. |
Goal |
Development of identification potential for existing and potential customers of a larger number of potential customers. | Increased understanding of individual customer needs, goals, motivations and behaviors. |
| Examples | Managers, coaches and board members of sports clubs of all sizes and leagues who want to go one step further | Luca, an outspoken former agency owner and private builder of a vacation home. |
Why is the buyer persona important for companies?
Buyer personas are crucial as they help companies optimize various aspects of their business. Buyer personas can also help validate the business idea. By understanding the buyer persona, the development team can tailor products and services to the needs of the target audience to maximize core value. As a result, the offering is better adapted to the needs of the target group and has a greater chance of market success as well as valuable feedback for future improvements.the following table provides an overview of the most important aspects of the buyer persona:
Enhanced customerunderstandin
A better understanding of the target groups makes it easier to develop targeted branding and adapt the image, promotes trust and strengthens loyalty.
Addressing target groups
With the help of buyer personas, marketers can create and communicate target group-specific content.
Website strategy
To ensure that website visitors find the content that is relevant to them, specific paths and content can be defined and developed on the website for the various buyer personas.
Product development
Buyer personas help with both the optimization and new development of products that specifically take customer pain points into account
Customer service/complaint management
Durch das Verständnis der Buyer Personas kann das Customer-Service-Team personalisierte und zielgerichtete Unterstützung anbieten.
Instructions for creating a buyer persona
It is advisable not to develop more than two or three buyer personas. Too many makes focused brand alignment and communication more difficult. The creation of buyer personas comprises five steps:
Step 1: Identifying the target group
Identifying the target group is a crucial step in the marketing strategy. This process can be approached systematically in three steps, starting with defining the brand’s performance. In doing so, you should take a close look at your own offering and analyze the competition at the same time. By defining the added value that the brand offers and a clear positioning in the market, the groups of people who could potentially benefit most from the offer can be better narrowed down. Factors such as geographical markets, demographic factors or the position within a company play a role here. The use of models such as the Sinus-Milieu model can help to better understand and describe the target group.
Step 2: Conduct buyer persona interviews
Qualitative in-depth interviews provide a comprehensive picture of people who correspond to the target group. The interviews usually last around 30 to 60 minutes and should take place in a natural and welcoming atmosphere. As a rule, six to nine interviews are sufficient to gain a comprehensive insight into the buyer persona and the following topics are covered in the interviews:
-
Personality: The individual personality of customers and the potential influence on their interest in products or services. This includes aspects such as attitudes, preferences and behaviors.
- How would you describe your lifestyle?
- Which brands or products do you prefer and why?
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For B2B companies: Insights into the position in the company, responsibilities and goals.
- What position do you hold in your company?
- What responsibilities do you have in your current role?
- What are your biggest challenges?
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For B2C or D2C companies:Living environment Consideration of the customer’s environment, including personal circumstances, trends or social developments that may influence decisions.
- How would you describe your living situation?
- How do you spend a typical weekend?
- How important are regional or seasonal products to you when shopping?
- What impact does the discussion about climate change have on your consumer behavior?
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Objectives:
Investigate the customer’s goals in relation to the product or service and their impact on the decision-making process.
- What results or benefits do you hope to achieve by using this product?
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Motivation:
Customers’ motives, including intrinsic and extrinsic motives, which can influence purchasing behavior.
- What role does price play in a decision to buy food
- What expectations do you have of CRM software?
-
Frustrations:
Analyze the potential frustrations and challenges that customers might face and their potential impact on the perception of the product or service.
- Are there certain functions or features that you miss in this product?
Interview partners for buyer personas
There are various groups of people within the target group that are relevant for an interview. These include:
- Existing customers
- leads
- Lost leads
- Customers from competitors
In terms of implementation, it is often difficult to interview prospective customers, lost customers or non-customers. Existing customers, on the other hand, are usually more willing to take part in an interview. Ideally, the interview is conducted by a neutral person who has experience in conducting interviews but is not familiar with the specific buyer persona. This can be an agency that supports the company in brand development, for example, and recordings are usually made during the interviews to capture all relevant information. Before the interview, it is important to inform the interviewees about this and obtain their consent. It should be ensured that no personal content is passed on and that the recordings are deleted after transcription in order to maintain confidentiality.
Step 3: Analysis of the buyer persona interviews
The aim of the interviews is to gain insights into the subject areas in order to identify relevant core statements. To this end, the interviews are transcribed and meaningful quotes are identified. Approximately 15 to 20 such quotes can be expected per interview, and the statements are organized according to topic. Around 20 to 40 quotes are collected for each topic area and summarized into core statements. These core statements form the basis for creating the buyer persona profiles.
Step 4: Create a buyer persona profile
Once the data has been collected and analyzed, the buyer persona template can be filled with relevant information. The first step is to give the persona a meaningful name. This name identifies the persona and clearly depicts its characteristics and needs. The following is an example of a buyer persona for “Sarah Anfang”: She is a marketing manager in a technology company that specializes in artificial intelligence. Sarah is a typical representative of an important target group in the B2B sector.
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EXAMPLE OF A FULLY COMPLETED BUYER PERSONAE
In order to fully capture the persona, there is of course room for creativity. To make the persona more vivid, visual support in the form of photos, illustrations or similar can be helpful.
The number of buyer personas to be developed
Companies often try to define a number of buyer personas in order to fully cover the market. However, this does not always make sense. In order to develop a pointed brand positioning and brand communication, you should concentrate on the most important focus target group, which is why it is recommended to start with one to three buyer personas and expand personas if necessary. the following considerations help to prioritize or determine a focus persona:
- Which personas can be used to achieve the targeted sales growth most quickly?
- Which personas are most relevant for the company’s development?
- Which personas do we best address with our offering?
One of the three most promising personas is then selected.
Step 5: Continuously develop the buyer persona
Buyer persona profiles require continuous updating and adaptation to changing market conditions as well as social and technological developments. It is also important to take trends and political changes into account, as these can have a strong influence on purchasing behavior. Social developments such as generational change also play a decisive role. Each new generation brings different values, preferences and expectations, which must be taken into account in the buyer persona profiles in order to develop relevant and effective marketing strategies. The existing personas should be updated every two years through new interviews and incorporated into the profile design.
Specific aspects of creating B2B personas
In the B2B area (business-to-business), buyer personas differ from those in the B2C area (business-to-customer). Here, the focus is not on individual consumers, but on companies and their employees as the target group. Therefore, in addition to personal information, the following aspects also play an important role:
- Size of the company
- market share
- Decision-making structures
When creating a B2B buyer persona, the focus is on the relevant decision-makers within a company. When creating buyer personas in the B2B sector, there are some differences to consider compared to the B2C sector:
Complexity of decision-making
In companies, decision-making processes are often complex and involve various stakeholders from different departments or hierarchical levels. This requires a careful analysis of the decision-making structures and dynamics.
Adapting the interview technique
It is important to adapt the interview technique to the different roles and responsibilities of the decision-makers. The questions should be tailored to the individual needs and strategic goals.
Taking emotions and personal experiences into account
Although many B2B decisions are based on rational criteria, as in B2C contexts, it is essential to also take into account the emotional and personal experiences of the decision-makers. After all, decisions are ultimately made by people – and are therefore never exclusively rational.
Mistakes in persona creation and how to avoid them
Certain mistakes can be avoided by considering the following points:
Creating personas without a sound data basis:
Personas should always be based on a sound data basis and not on assumed needs. This data should be obtained from detailed analyses of the target group and comprehensive interviews. Critical validation of the created personas through extensive market research data and personal interviews is crucial to ensure that no false assumptions are made.
Too many details:
An understanding buyer persona is important. In particular, information that influences purchasing behavior or provides insight into effective customer targeting should be taken into account. It makes sense to determine in advance which data is particularly relevant so as not to lose focus.
Neglect of persona updating:
The personas created should not remain unchanged in the long term. As customers evolve and new insights are gained, the personas need to be updated. This not only relates to individual customer preferences, but should also take into account societal and market changes to ensure buyer persona profiles remain relevant and effective. It is therefore important to regularly review the personas and adjust them if necessary. This ensures that the personas continue to meet current needs and behaviors.
Conclusion
Buyer personas are an integral method for companies to comprehensively understand their customers and develop individual marketing strategies. By using precise, data-driven character profiles, companies can optimize their marketing campaigns, offer individualized products and services and establish a strong customer focus. The ongoing adaptation and maintenance of these personas is crucial in order to meet the constantly changing needs and preferences of customers and remain successful in the long term.
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