What is a buyer Persona?
A buyer Persona describes one kind of person involved in buying or using what you offer: their role, what they're measured on and what they're trying to get done.
Teams use Personas to decide what to say, where to say it and when. A good one settles arguments: instead of asking what the team likes, you ask what this person needs to hear.
Personas aren't only for buyers. The builder works for consumers, constituents and the media too, and changes its wording to suit each.
Persona vs Ideal Customer Profile
An Ideal Customer Profile describes the group you fit best. A Persona describes one person inside it. Personas work best when each one belongs to a profile.
| Persona | Ideal Customer Profile | |
|---|---|---|
| Describes | One kind of person | A group of customers |
| Answers | What do they need to hear, and where? | Who are we for, and who aren't we for? |
| Holds | Role, priorities, pain points, Customer Missions, trusted sources | Market, size, triggers, Customer Missions, near misses |
What to include in a Persona
Their role in the purchase, what they're measured on, their Customer Missions, the words they use and where they talk. Skip details that don't change what you'd say to them.
- Title and roleWhat they're called and what they actually do all day. The two are often different.
- SeniorityHow much they can decide alone, and who they answer to.
- Their part in the purchaseDecision maker, champion, user, influencer or blocker. Each needs something different from you.
- Priorities and motivationsWhat they're measured on and what they want to be known for.
- Pain pointsWhat gets in their way, in their words.
- Customer MissionsWhat they're trying to do that you have a solution for: When [situation], I want to [motivation], so that I can [outcome].
- Trusted sources and eventsWho they read, listen to and believe, and where they go to learn. This is where you find them.
Leave out what doesn't change a decision. Age, hobbies and a stock photo make a Persona feel real without making it useful.
How to create a buyer Persona
Talk to real people in the role, look for patterns, write them down plainly and check them against how people in the role actually behave.
- Pick the profile firstDecide which group of customers this person belongs to. A Persona without a group behind it describes everyone a little.
- Find the people in the purchaseLook at recent purchases and note who was involved, who decided and who nearly stopped it.
- Talk to five to eight of themCustomers, near misses and people who chose someone else. Patterns show up quickly.
- Read the conversations you're not inSales calls, support tickets, reviews and community threads show what they say when you aren't asking.
- Write it in their wordsQuote them where you can. If the pain points sound like your marketing, start again.
- Use it, then revisit itPut it in front of the people who write, sell and plan. Update it when what you hear changes.
Questions to ask in Persona interviews
Ask about the last time they faced the problem, what they tried, who else was involved and what made them choose. Ask about what happened, not what they'd do in theory.
- What does a normal week look like for you?
- What are you measured on, and by whom?
- Tell me about the last time this problem got in your way. What happened?
- What were you doing about it before you found us, or instead of us?
- What made you start looking for something else, and why then?
- Who else was involved in the decision? What did each of them care about?
- What nearly stopped you?
- Where do you go when you want to learn how others handle this?
- Whose opinion do you trust on this, and why?
An example Persona
- Role
- Runs the front desk, the rota and the books at an independent veterinary practice. Reports to the owner.
- Part in the purchase
- Champion. Finds the option, makes the case and decides whether it sticks.
- Priorities
- A full diary
- A front desk that isn't always on the phone
- Clients who feel looked after
- Pain points
- No shows that can't be refilled
- Training new staff on old systems
- Tools the owner bought that no one uses
- Customer Mission
- When the front desk is short staffed, I want reminders to go out without anyone ringing round, so that I can keep the diary full and the team on the clients in front of them.
- Trusted sources
- Other practice managers
- Professional association newsletters
- Regional practice management events
Common mistakes
Leading with age and hobbies instead of what they're trying to get done, inventing details nobody checked, and writing a Persona with no profile behind it.
- Too many Personas. Two or three well described ones are more useful than ten thin ones.
- Demographics instead of goals. Knowing their age rarely changes what you say; knowing what they're measured on does.
- Inventing them in a workshop. A Persona written without talking to anyone records the team's assumptions.
- One Persona for every role in the purchase. The person who decides and the person who uses it every day need different things.
- Never updating them. What people trust and how they talk changes faster than most Personas do.
From belief to evidence
A Persona you write is a belief. Metisyne checks it against what people in that role search, say and think, and the Persona matures as the data does.
Metisyne enriches each Persona with five kinds of data: search and keyword data; online communities and reviews; third party market data; third party industry data; and other data sources, ethically sourced. It refreshes every two weeks, so you can plan for and test with this person on evidence.