One of the simplest tools in the marketer’s arsenal is the persona. When considering any marketing activity, be it targeting, segmentation or strategy, personas are invaluable to helping you ground your customer in reality.

For those that aren’t familiar with this exercise, what exactly is a persona? 

Put simply, a persona is a person or character that you create to embody your target customer. These characters or personas serve as an indicative, tangible customer profile to market your product or service towards.

You can flesh out these characters as much as you want; don’t just think of their age and occupation and the particular issue that your product is trying to solve. What do they do in their spare time? What kind of exercise do they do? The more detail the better. Giving your persona as much substance as possible will help them be more realistic and relatable.

It’s also vital to add some images. A visual will help bring your persona to life and keep it in the minds of your colleagues and clients. Another top tip is to give your personas a name. If for no other reason than to make it easier and quicker to say than ‘X’s client persona 3’. 

Remember that your personas can evolve as your offering does. If you find that your product is changing or that the majority of your users are from a different demographic than you initially thought, your personas should be adapted. 

Next time you’re evaluating your marketing strategy, try and set out some personas for your target clients and see how it shapes your marketing. 

Image:https://www.pexels.com/photo/group-hand-fist-bump-1068523/