One of the most important aspects of any online marketing strategy is knowing your audience. Who do you want your message to resonate with, what is that person like and where do they get their information?
Diving in and answering simple questions such as these allows you to personify a general concept and speaking to people is much easier than speaking to a concept, right?
Now on the surface you may think you’re already doing this, and in your head you probably are. But, what if you take it a step further and really get to know this person?
This simple, nearly elementary act allows you to you tailor a message fit just for them, and we’re going to show you how to do it.
Disclaimer: not every single person in your target audience will fall within these guidelines, but that’s what these are: guidelines to help you tailor your message to a specific group.
Feel free to create multiple personas depending on the variation within your target audience.
Think outside the box. The more specific you can get, the more likely you are to resonate with the many different people who make up your following.
The Basics of Creating an Online Persona
To outline any persona, you have to begin with the basics:
Give your target audience an age, gender, marital status, occupation and any other defining characteristics that you find relevant.
We even like to add a visual. Pick a picture of a specific person and if you’re feeling sassy, even give him or her a name. (Secret Pinterest boards are also a great tool for envisioning your persona more clearly.)
A Day In The Life of Your Persona
This part is two-fold.
First, you want to break down what your target audience does on a day-to-day basis:
- Where do they work and what do they do for fun?
- What are their hobbies?
You also need to break down where they would like to be. Perhaps they work a 9-5 job every day but would much rather be on the beach.
What your online persona aspires to be can change your messaging greatly.
Your Persona’s Friends
Begin to think of who your persona would hang out with. Where would they go for a drink after work? Where do they go on the weekends? What about vacation? And most importantly, which of these friends influences their buying decisions the most and why?
Your Persona’s Obstacles and Pain Points
What does your persona struggle with and how can you help them solve it?
This can range from internal struggles with oneself to struggles and obstacles they face in the workplace or in the community.
The more you can outline, the better you can create messaging tailored to these obstacles.
What Motivates Your Persona?
Get inside the head of your online persona by thinking about what truly motivates them.
Is it their job, their family or their popularity?
What is their motivation for buying your product? Is it to streamline a process and make things simpler, or is to look cool in front of others?
This is one of the most important aspects to understand in order to create content that resonates with your target audience.
If you think they’re motivated by looking cool, when really they just want efficiency, you’re missing a huge opportunity within the buyer cycle and most likely, your messaging won’t convert to a sale of any type.
What Forms of Media Does Your Persona Use?
If your persona needs information, where do they go?
Are they phoning a friend? Heading straight to blogs or social media? Grabbing the newspaper?
This is something you must narrow down in order to intersect with them at some point in the buying cycle. Otherwise, you could be on a completely different page, literally, than the consumer and your message may never even get a chance to affect them.
Congrats! You’ve Created Your Online Persona!
You have now outlined the persona of your target audience so go create some killer content!
Moving forward, keep this person in your head when you’re making any decisions in regard to your brand.
If all else fails, stick up a picture at your desk as a reminder of who exactly it is your message needs to reach.
Reach out! Connect with us on Facebook or Twitter and let us know how this works for you!