Since the initial development of content marketing, buyer personas have been a pillar of content marketing strategy. However, the landscape of the Internet and of Google has changed greatly in the last 15 years, leaving people to wonder: are buyer personas still important? The importance of other key factors such as keyword rank has changed dramatically over the years, so it’s natural to think buyer personas would do the same. We’ve broken down the basics of buyer personas and how useful they are in 2019 to help keep your content marketing strategy up to date.
What are Buyer Personas?
Buyer personas are hypothetical personas that marketing strategists use to understand business’s customers. When we create buyer personas for businesses, it’s important to consider every possible characteristic. These personas create a full picture of the different types of potential customers for your business to ensure that your marketing strategy reaches all of these people and meets their needs.
Why Do We Need Buyer Personas?
Buyer personas help businesses understand their customers. When you can clearly understand each type of customer you want to attract, you are better equipped to meet each individual’s needs. Buyer personas help you create targeted marketing strategies to ensure maximum success. Not only can you learn more about your customers through the creation of buyer personas, but you can target your products and your marketing to make sure you’re attracting the exact people you’re looking for.
The Problem With Buyer Personas
Buyer personas are a great way to help understand your target audience, but the major problem with them is that developing comprehensive ones can take time. When developing your content marketing strategy, it is unwise to spend a lot of time creating detailed buyer personas for segmented audiences. Instead, do some research on your target customers and create brief outlines for different personas. Many content marketers find that the various personas have much in common, particularly the common questions they want answered. When devote too much time to your buyer personas, you slow down your initial strategy without significant payoff.
The Bottom Line
The most important thing to know about buyer personas is that they certainly still matter, but they shouldn’t consume too much of your strategy development time. Use the bare bones of your buyer personas to inform your marketing decisions. Consider common questions that customers will ask and use those questions as the guide for your content creation. To create a more personalized experience for different users, consider multi-step personalization, where content becomes more personalized each time a user revisits your site. This strategy will be even more personalized than a buyer persona-driven strategy can be and will save you time in content creation and strategy development.
ImageWorks, LLC | CT Content Marketing Strategy
Buyer personas can be used to ensure any content you create is focused around the goals, pain points and interests of your target audience. A company with inbound marketing expertise can be especially helpful with developing marketing personas because they are usually already familiar with personas relevant to your industry.
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