By: Kimberley Henderson, Contributing Author
As we head into the last quarter of 2020, now is the time to start planning your 2021 marketing strategy if you haven’t already. To fit the reality of the world we now live in, you likely had to adapt your strategy and campaigns this year to be more diverse, inclusive, and connected to real customer needs. As you carry these adaptations into your new plans, consider giving your buyer personas a makeover to provide you with accurate audience insights. Re-building your buyer personas will allow you to continue creating great customer experiences and engaging customers for long-term relationships.
Many people’s lives have changed drastically during this time, including their perspectives, emotions, wants and needs. Your buyer personas – defined as semi-fictional characters that personify your ideal customer – should also change as they help you closely understand each of your target audiences. This will involve getting granular about who your audience is now, and going beyond demographics (name, age, relationship status, income level, education, etc.). You will also need to dig into what drives your audience from an emotional standpoint to buy your product or service, or make a behavioural change.
Here are some tips to help you get started with your buyer persona makeovers for 2021:
1. What do you know already? Start with your current buyer personas and fill-in the gaps by asking, “What do I not know about this audience?” and, “What has changed for them this year?”. This could include their personal or professional characteristics, work habits, who influences them, daily challenges, their living situation, aspirations, goals, motivators, and preferred communication channels (phone, email, social media, etc.).
2. Ask those “in the know”. Host interviews, focus groups, conduct customer surveys, monitor social media comments, look at comments from customer reviews and CRM data. Also talk to your front-line customer service staff as they understand your customer’s needs and pain points.
3. Google it! Look at the most recent content written specifically to your audience and about your audience. Also monitor social media and online communities and groups, review survey findings and business cases related to your audience.
After you have upgraded your buyer personas for 2021, determine if these personas will respond positively or negatively to the campaigns you are developing, and be excited about the product and service offerings your brand offers.
By understanding how the needs of your audience may have changed this year and what now drives their decision-making from an emotional standpoint, it will be easier for you to communicate with them clearly and consistently. As a result, you will be able to better target your audiences with content and campaigns that they connect with