As an entrepreneur, you probably know better than anyone how important it is to clearly map out your target audience. Once you have your target audience in mind, it becomes much easier to tailor your business strategy to them. After all, you know who your customers are and what drives them. Or do you?
A stumbling block for many entrepreneurs is basing their approach on an overly broad target audience. It is understandable that you would prefer to reach as many people as possible, but in the long run, this is not the most efficient method. There is no point in attracting visitors who are not interested in your product or service. Therefore, defining your target audience is essential for a successful business.
The Peter, Kim, and Barbara of your target audience
To achieve this, more and more companies are using personas, also known as benchmarks. Thanks to personas, you get to know your target audience better. With the help of personas, you create 'real' people who are representative of your target group. In this way, your customers suddenly come to life, and as an entrepreneur, you can get to know the 'Peter', 'Kim', and 'Barbara' from your target audience.
A persona profile is very detailed. For instance, the persona is given a face in the form of a photo. Additionally, the persona is assigned a gender, name, and age. Their personal and professional background is also elaborated upon. This makes it clear, for example, what the persona studied, what position they hold within a company, and which brands they are a fan of. Demographic and geographic data are also mapped out, such as the persona's marital status and place of residence. To complete the profile, a quote or a short biography in the form of a story is often added.
In this way, the entire picture of Peter, Kim, and Barbara is complete. A persona is so specific that you eventually know that Peter loves fishing on weekends, that Kim's favorite holiday destination is Italy, and which car Barbara prefers to drive. Now, this information may not be immediately relevant for you to know as an entrepreneur, but it is very important to know who you are doing business with. That way, you also know how best to approach your customer or prospect (should you send an email or is it better to pick up the phone?), what your customer expects from you (do they want to be kept informed of important developments in your industry or do they have no need for that?), and whether the customer already has a lot of knowledge about your service/product or if there is plenty of room for advice.
Up to date
Once you have mapped out your personas, it is important to keep them up to date. A business is constantly evolving, so ensure that the personas continue to evolve along with the company so that they remain representative of the entire target audience.
The use of personas can also mean a great deal for your company internally. Implementing personas internally ensures that all employees are on the same page. This significantly reduces the risk of misinterpretation. Are you unsure about certain choices? Grab your personas and ask yourself: what would Peter, Kim, and Barbara think of this?