Hey there,
Today’s focus would be on how to identify your customer persona. In the Marcomms space, it is often used when describing your customer characteristics. It beckons the question, what does my average customer want, what does he/she think of when making a purchasing decision, where can my average customer be found? These are some of the questions that are asked when determining your customer persona. But before then, let’s answer the main question on most people’s mind, what is a customer persona?
Customer Persona is the profile of a buyer that would most likely be your ideal customer (Niel Patel). One article describes it as a semi-fictional depiction of your ideal buyer based on market research and actual data about your present consumers. Bynder further explains that personas are fictional characters with characteristics of your real customers. They’re developed based on target audience research and may help you direct your marketing actions better. This means that a persona gives an illustration as to what your ideal customer ought to be like, sound like, think like and act like. It helps to give a direction as to what your target audience requires. Remember in our last blog post, we talked about knowing your target audience, this persona sort of helps in narrowing it down.
So then, how do we identify a customer persona? Here are some few steps to easily identify an ideal customer persona for your public relations (PR) or marketing plan in no particular order:
- Interests: What is your ideal customer interested in? Do they like clothes, fashion, food or whatever service that you are trying to pitch? Do they have a particular belief system which may or may not prevent them from engaging with your brand? Are they interested in some form of activities which will make or mar your brand? You need to think of these and create a fictitious person, who fits this bill.
- Lifestyle: In terms of lifestyle, you need to consider if your ideal customer is a flexible person or maybe adventurous or even on the quiet side. You need to paint that picture of a persona that fits exactly who you will be targeting with your campaign. It helps in directing you on the right path to go.
- Possible social networks: What social network does your ideal customer use? Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube or Snapchat? Or is your ideal customer only on WhatsApp? These are some of the questions you need to ask. Where can I find this ideal customer on a regular day, so that you will tailor your messaging to that platform in order to target your audience appropriately.
- Estimated Income Range: What is your ideal customer’s ideal income range, so that you can identify if the persona has the buying power to purchase your product or service. Does this person belong to a particular social economic group which is categorized from A – E? With this, you are better able to identify who you ought to be talking to in terms of your PR or marketing campaign.
- Point of Contact: Where can you find your ideal customer? In a religious setting? In a social gathering? At a conference, seminar, bar or club? These would help in also identifying how you can reach them effectively. The persona that you create would help you in narrowing down your choices and targeting the exact set of people that you want.
- Buying habit: How often do you estimate that they spend. Are they ballers, frugal or miserly people? How will you package your product in a good way to ensure that they spend money on your product and service.
These are some of the metrics to determine your customer persona, there are more but we limited our article to the few. Remember, having a customer persona helps to narrow down your audience and give you insights as to how they think and react so it helps to get your ideal customer right in order for your strategy to reach the appropriate set of people.
I hope you enjoyed reading up to this point, thank you! Join me bi-weekly in my journey into the PR world where I discuss challenges, tips, pointers, and wins in the PR career space. See you soon!
Warm regards,
The PR Chic
