How to Create a Detailed Buyer Persona Profile

Buyer personas are essential for every business because they provide insight into how to create relevant marketing messages for prospects and customers. The question is, what details do you need to create one? We’re going to walk through all of the essential pieces of a buyer persona profile so that you can know exactly who your business is targeting.

Details to Include in a Buyer Persona Profile

A buyer persona is a fictional representation of your ideal customer. When you’re researching your persona, you’ll come across a lot of pieces of information. You may wonder which of those details are important enough to include in your buyer persona profile. Surprisingly, even the smallest details like demeanor, family life, and quotes are essential parts to creating a detailed profile.

We are using this example buyer persona profile from HubSpot to help show what yours should look like. Use this as a guide when creating one for your business! It’s broken into 4 sections: who, what, why, and how.

Section 1: Who?

Background

Include details about your ideal customer’s occupation, education level, family life, marital status, and career path.

Demographics

Demographic details are the ones you think of when you are describing your target audience. They are equally as important when creating your buyer persona.

You can find these details through social media insights or from interviewing current customers. Age range, gender, income level, and location are all details that fall into this category.

Identifiers

In this section, you’ll make note of your persona’s demeanor and communication preferences. Are they always on the go and don’t have time to read long articles or have lengthy conversations? Or are they more thorough and research-oriented?

You also want to find out how often they are on social media and which platforms they prefer to use. Take into account how they like to communicate best with others (text, email, phone call, in-person,etc.).

Section 2: What?

Goals & Challenges

In this section, you’ll determine how your business can help meet your buyer persona’s goals and overcome their challenges. Define what their goals and challenges are in the workplace and in their personal life. Be specific with how your products/services can be beneficial for them in the ‘What We Can Do’ section.

Section 3: Why?

Real Quotes

Be sure to include real quotes of how your persona speaks about their goals, challenges, things in your industry, etc. You can pull these from online reviews or your in-person interviews you do when conducting research.

Knowing how your buyer persona speaks is crucial because you want to be able to communicate effectively with them through your marketing messages.

Common Objections

You also need to take into consideration any reasons your persona would not want to invest in your products/services. By knowing what is making them hesitant ahead of time, you’ll know how to address their concerns.

Section 4: How?

Marketing Messaging

Find a way to clearly and concisely describe the solution you want to offer to your buyer persona. Never compare your business to another company in your marketing messaging. For example don’t say, “We’re like a healthy McDonald’s” or “a sports version of Netflix”. It may be easier to explain at first, but it can set unrealistic expectations and that’s how your persona will describe it to their peers. You’ll never make a name for your business if you compare it to an established company.

Elevator Pitch

Jot down a quick sentence or two you can easily say to your buyer persona to explain your solution to their problem. It should be in their “language” and straightforward.

Name

The final step in humanizing your ideal target customer is to give them a name! This name is what you and your team will refer to, so make it something quick and catchy.

An easy way to come up with a name is to make it an alliteration with a descriptive adjective, like “Crafty Cathy” or “Business Owner Bob” to help you remember it better.

Without a buyer persona profile, you won’t be able to effectively attract your ideal customers to your business. Depending on your business, you can have more than one persona. However, to get started, focus on creating the persona that is the best fit for your company using these details.

Need more help with developing a buyer persona for your business and crafting effective marketing messages for them? Fill out the form below to set up a time to talk with one of our marketing experts to see how we can help!