The Main Characters of Your Brand Story

Have you ever wanted to create the characters of your own storybook? Well, this is your opportunity! If you don’t already have marketing personas in place (or don’t know what we’re talking about), stop everything else that you’re doing and keep reading. Personas are critical to ensure you’re effectively characterizing your target audience, determining how to sell to them, and making a note of some deterrents throughout the sales process.

What is a Persona? It’s who you are marketing to! It’s the ideal client, the perfect lead. It’s everything about them that makes them the perfect purchaser of your product/service. Honestly, it’s the one you want to find every time because it’s an easy sale.

Why Do I Need to Create Personas? I Know Who My Target Audience is. Having a target audience of “Middle-aged women in Chicago, Illinois” is a great start, but also encircles a large, diverse group of people. What age range is classified as middle-aged? Does your target audience have children? Are they stay-at-home moms, or do they work? Do they live in the city or the suburbs? What is their family’s annual income?

Do you see how questions like that help you narrow down your target market into personas? This will help you save money when running ads because you can filter down your audience and put your ads directly in front of your ideal clients. Personas are also extremely helpful for your marketing strategy and content. Knowing exactly who you want to get in front of can make you or your marketing team’s life much easier – saving you thousands in time and money.

How Do I Create My Personas? Ask yourself the following questions about your ideal client and answer in as much detail as you can. You should have at least 2-3 personas, so if there are different answers, split them up. Keep in mind that you are creating the ideal persona, not an actual person.

No one person is going to have all of the “perfect” traits, but knowing what qualities you are looking for and creating your brand characters is a crucial step in an effective marketing strategy.

• • How old are they? Are they married? Do they have children? Do they have pets?
• • What state/city do they live in? Do they live in a single-family home or an apartment?
• Do they live in a community or on 3-acres of land? Do they live in the city, suburbs, or country? Do they have a car?
• • What’s their average annual income? What do they do? What level of education do they have? Do they work in an office or from home? What type of company do they work for? What industry are they in?
• • Are they a business owner or an employee?
• • What problem am I solving for them? What did they do before my product/service? What will they do after my product/service? Is my product/service a necessity or a luxury for them? Are they purchasing my product/service for themselves or others?
• • How tech-savvy are they? Are they up-to-date on the latest trends?
• • What are their personality traits? How does my product/service make them feel?
• • What are the barriers to them purchasing my product/service? Who/what can convince them not to buy my product/service? How in-touch are they with my competitor(s)? At what point in the sales process would they say “no”?
• • How much free time do they have to learn about my product/service? What is their attention span?

Now, you can visually see your ideal client(s) and you have a better idea of who you are marketing to. If you’re not sure or you had a hard time with these questions, it may be time for a re-evaluation of your product/service. It may be outdated and just needs to be refined, or it’s time to launch a new product line or service offering!

For persona examples and worksheets to help you build yours, please download it here.

Every business should have at least 2-3 personas, and even more if you have a more extensive range of offerings. Once you have your personas detailed out, it will make your marketing efforts so much easier, and you will find yourself saving money in no time. The more you can dial in on your audience in marketing, the more time and money you can save.