Creating Effective Customer Personas: A Step-by-Step Guide

Who is your customer?

It’s a simple question. But do you have a good answer?

Most companies I talk to give vague answers like, “We work with mid-size manufacturers.” They may go a step further and say, “We typically sell to people in VP of Finance or CFO roles.” 

You might have a gut feeling that you sell to these “types” of people.  Maybe you broadly know the titles or industries that you should be targeting.

But without a well-developed persona, you are missing out on critical contextual information that influences your prospecting, content strategy, and ultimately your ability to align your offering with your customer’s needs.

In this week’s Sell with Social, we’ll help you take the first steps in creating and utilizing a customer persona in your business. 

What is a Customer Persona?

A customer persona, also known as a buyer persona, is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers. 

Personas help you understand your customers better and make it easier to tailor your content, messaging, product development, and services to meet their specific needs, behaviors, and concerns.

When creating a customer persona, consider including customer demographics, behavior patterns, motivations, goals, and pain points. The more detailed you are, the better. These personas give you valuable insights into your target audience, allowing you to connect with them more effectively.

Why A Customer Persona Matters

Gives You a “Person” to Create Content For

Creating content becomes easier and more focused when you can imagine writing for a specific individual. A customer persona provides a clear picture of who you are speaking to, allowing you to craft messages that resonate deeply with your audience. This personal touch ensures your content is engaging and relevant.

Makes Your Content Hyper-Relevant to Your Target Audience

With a well-defined persona, your content will align closely with the interests and needs of your audience. This relevance leads to more effective and higher-converting content, as it speaks directly to the challenges and desires of your potential customers.

Helps You Improve Your Product

Customer personas are not just for marketing—they are essential for product development too. When your entire company uses the same personas, everyone gains a unified understanding of who the customers are, what environments they operate in, and the problems they face. This collective insight ensures that your product or service evolves in ways that genuinely solve your customers' problems.

How to Create a Customer Persona

Creating a detailed customer persona involves several steps. Here’s an expanded guide using the provided template to make the process actionable:

Step 1: Review Your Existing Account List

Start by analyzing your current customer base. Conduct an 80/20 analysis to identify the top 20% of your customers who bring in 80% of your revenue. This helps you focus on the most valuable and profitable customer segment.

Step 2: Look for Trends Amongst Your Top Accounts

Examine the details of your best customers to identify common characteristics and trends. Consider the following aspects:

• Roles: What job titles or roles do your top customers hold?
• Industries: Which industries are they part of?
• Challenges: What common problems are they trying to solve?
• Demographics: Are there commonalities in age, location, or company size?

Identify a few key contacts within these accounts who represent your ideal buyers. This step helps you gather the necessary data to create a realistic and useful persona.

Step 3: Create Your Persona

Now, using the data gathered, create a detailed persona. Here’s how you can fill out the template provided:

Persona A – Example

Name: Marketing Mary

Age: 35 Gender: Female Role: Marketing Director Location: San Francisco, CA Lifestyle: Mary has a young family and enjoys outdoor activities. She values work-life balance and is passionate about sustainable living.

Company Industry: Technology Company Revenue: $10M annually Number of Employees: 50 Yearly Budget: $500,000 for marketing solutions

Responsibilities:Mary is responsible for developing and executing marketing strategies, managing a team of marketers, and driving lead generation and brand awareness. Her key business drivers include increasing ROI on marketing campaigns and staying ahead of industry trends.

The Problem: Mary struggles with integrating new marketing technologies and creating content that resonates with her target audience.

The Impact: If these issues are not resolved, her company risks losing market share and falling behind competitors.

Your Solution: Offer a comprehensive marketing platform that integrates seamlessly with existing systems and provides data-driven insights to optimize content strategy.

The Desired Outcome: Mary's company sees improved campaign performance, higher engagement rates, and increased market share.

How They Buy: Mary prefers to conduct thorough online research and seeks recommendations from her professional network. She values detailed product comparisons and case studies.

Who They Buy From: Mary looks for vendors who offer long-term partnerships, excellent customer service, and proven success in the technology sector. She evaluates potential vendors based on their industry expertise and the value of their solutions.

Elevator Pitch: "Marketing Mary faces challenges in integrating new marketing technologies and creating resonant content. Our platform provides seamless integration and data-driven insights, leading to improved campaign performance and increased market share."

Step 4: Use Multiple Personas

Repeat the above steps to create multiple personas if your business targets different segments. Each persona should represent a distinct customer group with unique characteristics and needs. For most companies, 1-3 personas is more than enough for your content strategy.

Step 5: Validate and Refine Your Personas

Periodically review and update your personas to ensure they remain accurate and relevant. Gather feedback from your sales and customer service teams, and incorporate any new insights from market research.

How to Use Your Persona

Once you have your persona created, you can now use that person to create highlight specific and aligned content.

My favorite way to do this is to create a Content Matrix, which allows you to brainstorm content for your persona at each stage of the buyer's journey.

Here’s how to approach content creation for each stage using our example of Marketing Mary above:

1. Awareness Stage

Objective: Attract potential customers by helping them identify and understand their problems.

Content Goals: At this stage, your personas are likely unaware of your brand or even the specific solution they need. Your goal is to provide educational content that highlights the problem they are facing.

Content Types:

• Blog Posts: Write articles that discuss common challenges and pain points relevant to your personas. For instance, if your persona is a small business owner struggling with digital marketing, create posts on the basics of digital marketing and common mistakes to avoid.
• Infographics: Visual content that simplifies complex problems can be very effective in the awareness stage. Infographics can break down data and present it in an easily digestible format.
• Educational Videos: Short, informative videos that explain industry trends, challenges, or new developments can capture attention and provide value.

Example: For a persona named "Marketing Mary," you might create a blog post titled "Top 5 Digital Marketing Challenges Small Businesses Face."

2. Solution Research Stage

Objective: Help your personas explore solutions to their problems and understand the options available.

Content Goals: At this stage, personas are actively seeking solutions and comparing different approaches. Your content should educate them about the various solutions, including how your product or service can help.

Content Types:

• E-books and Guides: Provide in-depth content that explores various solutions. For instance, an e-book titled "A Complete Guide to Effective Digital Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses" can be very useful.
• Webinars: Live or recorded webinars that delve into specific topics, providing detailed information and answering questions in real-time.
• Case Studies: Showcasing real-life examples of how your product or service solved similar problems for other customers helps build credibility and trust.

Example: For "Marketing Mary," you could offer an e-book titled "Choosing the Right Digital Marketing Tools for Your Business" that outlines different options and includes a section on how your solution stands out.

3. Decision Stage

Objective: Convince your personas that your product or service is the best solution for their problem.

Content Goals: At this stage, personas are ready to make a decision. Your content should focus on highlighting the benefits and value of your product or service, addressing any remaining objections or concerns they might have.

Content Types:

• Product Comparisons: Create comparison charts or articles that highlight the advantages of your product over competitors.
• Free Trials or Demos: Offering a trial period or demo can help potential customers experience the value of your product firsthand.
• Testimonials and Reviews: Customer testimonials and reviews can provide social proof and reassure potential buyers of their decision.

Example: For "Marketing Mary," you might create a testimonial video featuring a small business owner who successfully implemented your digital marketing tool and saw significant improvements.

4. Post-Purchase Stage

Objective: Ensure customer satisfaction and encourage repeat business or referrals.

Content Goals: Your content should focus on helping customers get the most out of your product, addressing any issues they may have, and fostering a sense of community.

Content Types:

• User Guides and Tutorials: Provide detailed guides and video tutorials to help customers understand how to use your product effectively.
• Customer Success Stories: Share stories of how other customers have successfully used your product to achieve their goals.
• Community Engagement: Foster a community through forums, social media groups, or regular newsletters that keep customers engaged and informed.

Example: For "Marketing Mary," you could create a series of video tutorials on advanced features of your digital marketing tool, helping her maximize its potential.

By tailoring your content to address the specific needs and concerns of your personas at each stage of the buying process, you create a more personalized and effective customer journey. This approach not only helps attract and convert leads but also ensures customer satisfaction and loyalty.

For this week’s action items, I want you to answer that question at the beginning of this article - “Who is your customer?” 

Here are action items to consider:

1. Brainstorm Content Ideas for That Persona - Brainstorm 5-10 content ideas that address your persona’s needs and challenges. This will help you create relevant and engaging material for your target audience.
2. Create One Quick Persona - Use the insights from your top customers to create a detailed persona. Fill out the template with specifics like demographics, job role, and challenges to develop a clear representation of your ideal customer.
3. Identify Common Customers - Review your account list and conduct an 80/20 analysis to identify the top 20% of customers generating the most revenue. This will help you focus on your most profitable segments.

And if you want assistance creating your persona, you can check out my course on creating a buyer persona here.