Do you feel like you’re trying to speak a foreign language when it comes to marketing? The problem may not lie in what you’re saying, but who you’re saying it to.
When it comes to marketing, if you’re targeting everyone you’re probably engaging no one. To truly connect with your audience and boost sales, specificity is key. Specific is terrific!
Why getting to know your customer is a big deal
“Know your customer” is the first rule of any marketing strategy. Let’s dig into the nitty-gritty of customer personas, avatars and market research. This article is like an easy to follow guide on the methods of market research to you ultimately attract your ideal customer.
Understanding your customer is as crucial as defining your brand. Marketing cannot rely on guesswork – imagine the chaos! You wouldn’t invent a soup-flavoured toothpaste, right? So why would you wing it when it comes to your marketing?
Creating customer personas offers numerous benefits, that include:
- Aligning your offers with your customers’ like two peas in a pod
- Accurate marketing strategies that hit the bull’s eye
- Savings on your time and finances (and who doesn’t love that?!)
- Customers who stick around to become loyal advocates
- Spices up your product development game – a full circle moment!
What are your customer personas?
If “know your customer” is the first rule of marketing strategy, customer personas are the proof that you’ve got this rule pinned down.
Picture this: you’re shouting from the rooftops about your newest offer. But, are you just adding to the noise, or are you actually being heard? That’s where customer personas come into play. They’re the vibrant and detailed representation of your ideal customers, down to their coffee preference.
The more you know your customer, the better you can tailor your services, your content— your entire business—to suit their needs.
Key components of customer personas are:
🟡 Demographics: These are the basic demographic descriptions of your ideal customer. Think age, gender, job title, etc.
🟡 Psychographics: These are your customer personas’ personality traits. What drives your customer? What keeps them up at night? These insights give colour and depth to your customer personas.
🟡 Behaviours: How does your ideal customer go about their day? Are they online shoppers or in-store browsers? Do they binge-watch marketing tutorials on YouTube, or are they podcast people? Understanding this will help you decide where to pop up with your messaging.
🟡 Pain points: These are the issues that your customers are grappling with. Here’s your chance to be the knight in shining armour. What challenges are they facing? Your services should aim to slay these dragons.
Here’s an example: Consider Michelle, the stay-at-home mum turned solopreneur from Australia, living in Singapore, travelling every other month whilst growing her business of 3 years. She’s much more relatable to target instead of a vague ‘people aged 35+’. Do you see how we brought Michelle alive? Instantly you can connect, understand and sympathise with her struggles and desires.
Creating your customer personas
Step 1: Research your audience
Know your customer. Find out the following aspects of your ideal customer:
- Demographics: Age, gender, education level, and occupation.
- Psychographics: We’re talking about interests, hobbies, values, attitudes and lifestyle.
- Behaviours: Here comes shopping habits, social media usage and product love.
- Pain points: These are challenges and problems that relate to what your service can solve.
Step 2: Find commonalities
Your customers might come from different walks of life, but they share some common vibes. What are their common values, goals, fears? Once you’ve identified the thread that pulls them all together, you can start weaving a net that’ll charm the socks off ‘em.
Step 3: Understand the decision-making process
Every purchase is a little odyssey. Your customer might start by asking friends, stalking hashtags or crying out for help on LinkedIn. Map their buying process: From interest to purchase, what’s the journey? This gives you an idea of where to target them.
Step 4: Personify your customer personas
Give them a face, a name and a life. Make them relatable. This makes it easier for you when you start creating content, so you have a visual of who you’re talking to specifically.
Step 5: Evaluate and revise
This isn’t a one-and-done situation; it’s an ongoing conversation. Be okay with change, your customer personas are ever-evolving just as your business is.
Remember our example Michelle? The stay-at-home mum turned solopreneur from Australia, living in Singapore, travelling every other month whilst growing her business of 3 years? By knowing her daily grind, her ambitions, and yes, even her frustrations with balancing work and family, we can tailor our solutions to answer her problems.
So, how does this all come together in marketing?
Imagine sending an email that speaks directly to Michelle’s pain points, in her language, and offers her the exact solution she’s been scrolling through the internet at 2am trying to find. That’s the power of knowing your customer persona.
Common pitfalls when creating customer personas
While creating customer personas is pretty straightforward, many trip over some of these common mistakes:
- Making assumptions or “guess-timations”: Your customer personas should be based on market research, not assumptions of who your ideal customer is.
- Creating too many customer personas: Creating an overabundance of personas might just waste more time. You end up diluting your focus and spreading your resources thinner than butter on a budget. Remember, quality over quantity. Focus on what your market research tells you.
- Ignoring the less shiny aspects of your personas: Your personas have quirks and not-so-positive characteristics – they’re human after all. Acknowledge and probe into the weaknesses, challenges and pain points of your personas. These not-so-sexy aspects are what make your customer personas human, relatable, and incredibly useful for fine-tuning your service to better suit their needs.
Understanding basic market research
Market research comes hand in hand with creating customer personas. It’s the process that helps you get to know your customer. Let’s shatter the myth – market research isn’t a one-time dragon you need to slay. You’ll have to revisit your personas every 6-12 months to see what’s new on their block.
Here are some methods of market research that can help you get to know your customers better:
- Surveys
- Interviews
- Focus groups
- Observational research
- Social media listening
- Review/rating sites
- Forums and discussion boards
- Analytics tools
- Your own business data
Using market research to your advantage
Market research and customer avatars should inform various aspects of your marketing strategy, including:
- Personalised messaging
- Efficient spending of your advertising budget
- Directed product development
- Email marketing that hits home runs
- Improving your customer service and overall customer experience
Why customer personas matter
Know your customer is the first rule of marketing. That’s why market research and creating customer personas are so vital in your marketing strategy. If you don’t know who your target is, you won’t be able to hit it.
By learning how to create your customer personas, you will be able to craft a marketing plan that finds your ideal customers and caters to their needs. Utilising methods of market research will equip your with the kind of knowledge that wields power over your business. Stop shooting your shot in the dark, craft your customer personas and watch as your ideal customers come to you.
