HOW TO CREATE A BUYER PERSONA FOR YOUR BRAND

When Hypo, a bleach cleaning product was launched in Nigeria, it wasn’t long before it became a household name. The product got its buyer persona right from inception and it quickly used this to a huge communication advantage with the slogan – “Hypo go wipe o.”

One of the most important elements in marketing 101 is to accurately create a Buyer Persona information for your prospective customers.

What is a Buyer Persona?

A buyer persona is a depiction of your ideal client. Usually, the depiction is done using information gathered from a research carried out on your existing customers or prospective customers who are a good fit for the brand.

When completed, the buyer persona gives you a mental picture of your client and this helps your marketing team to a design marketing plan and message(s) that aligns with this person.

Marketing in Nigeria can be tough if you have no idea who your target audience is and what kind of marketing message they will likely respond to. It’s like feeling around for a light switch when you walk into a dark room.

It is also essential for brands in Nigeria to develop proper buyer personas as the region, religion and traditional elements play a great role in people’s preferences and psyche.

Developing a marketing plan is almost impossible for a brand without a Buyer Persona. As most of the recommendations in the plan will have to be made with the buyer persona in mind in other to have tailor-made marketing tactics that will yield results.

HERE’S HOW TO CREATE A BUYER PERSONA FOR YOUR BRAND

For the purpose of this article, we would use Hypo as an example and see how it went from being another bleach product to a household brand.

1. Research

The first step in creating a buyer persona is to conduct research. The producers of Hypo must have conducted a very detailed research because they came out with a product that resonated instantly with Nigerians. They got their pricing, the packaging, and consumer appeal right.

Look closely at your existing customers or target audience. What do they all have in common? What patterns do you notice? If you can’t find any, then conduct surveys with carefully structured questions, run polls on social media, employ the use of questionnaires and face-to-face or over the phone interviews.

The information gleaned from these will help you get into your target audience’s head, to think like them and understand what they feel so your product marketing is more relevant and targeted.

2. Segmentation

After your research and data gathering, it’s time to create personas with the information you have. It is important that you segment your target audience properly to ensure you have a near perfect persona.

You can have more than one persona for a particular brand if you have a wide target audience. For example, if your target audience falls within the 18 – 50 years’ age range, it is not possible to have one person for this target audience as an 18year old will think differently from a 50-year-old.

For B2B businesses, it is advisable to segment personas with their positions. For example, the CEO and the Finance Manager may both be your target audience but their personas vary greatly. If you’d like a buyer persona template to work with, you can download Ziza Digital’s buyer persona template here.

For a travel agency, for instance, this is what a buyer persona would look like. Let’s begin.

Let’s give this persona the name, Tayo.

Background

Job: Works at a telecommunications company as a Zonal Manager

Career: Has worked in the telecommunications industry for over 10 years.

Family: Has a wife and two daughters (aged 12 and 17)

Demographics

Sex: Male

Age: 48 years old

Location: Ikeja, Lagos State

Income: 450,000 per month

Identifiers

Demeanour: Calm and rational

Communication Preferences: Has an assistant screening call, can be reached by email or SMS

Language: Formal and straight to the point

Goals

Primary: Be physically present in different states for business meetings without delay.

Secondary: Keep traveling costs within company budget.

Pain Points

Primary: Loss of valuable time spent waiting for delayed or canceled flights

Secondary: Exceeding company budget for traveling as a result of finding last-minute alternatives to canceled flights

What can your company do

As a travel agency, you can make traveling to any location easy and stress-free by booking flights with only reputable airlines known for arriving on time and have a low cancel flight rate.

Common Objections

Naturally, the above offer may come with a higher price tag. So a valid objection would be this solution being too expensive.

Value Proposition

This is where you sweeten the deal by adding something extra for free; say a free pickup and drop-off at the airport or discounts for frequent patronage.

Marketing Message: Stress-free travel solutions now within reach

Business Pitch

No more canceled or delayed flights to ruin your plans. We offer stress-free travel solution that comes with a free pickup and drop-off at the airport because your comfort and time are important to us.

Importance of the Buyer Persona Information to your Marketing Strategy

1. A buyer persona gives you a window into your prospective/existing customer’s world. What’s their interest, goals, habits, needs, background, education and purchasing power?

2. A buyer persona helps to accurately pinpoint where your marketing strategy should be geared towards. Where should more focus be placed, should you focus more on content marketing, social media marketing or traditional marketing? It helps direct your focus towards a singular goal which is letting prospective customers know your product/service can meet their needs.

3. A fundamental human want is the desire to be accepted. When you show prospective customers you understand them by creating a product that meets their needs, they’ll reward you with their loyalty.

4. 100% returns on investment is considered a good deal. Why go through all the motions of developing a product, creating a marketing plan, and implementing a marketing strategy if there’s no guarantee of a good return on investments. Create a buyer persona and ensure your marketing efforts and investment yields return in form of profits or sales.

We would like to hear from you. Please share your ideas on how this guide has helped you in the comment section. 

Don’t want to go through the stress of creating your own buyer persona? We can help you with it. Let’s talk at hello@zizadigital.com or 08181295000