Is your company still trying to crack the code on effective marketing?
You’ve created a buyer persona but how can you tell if it’s working?
This post will help you figure out whether all that time and effort is worth it.
Keep reading to learn more!
Allowing buyer persona to influence your marketing efforts
A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer, based on market research and real data about your existing customers.
By taking the time to create a well-rounded buyer persona, you can be sure that your marketing efforts are on target.
Before you start measuring the effectiveness of your buyer persona, make sure you’ve actually allowed your buyer persona to influence your marketing efforts.
You can do that by answering these simple questions:
- Did I actually make changes my marketing strategy after creating a buyer persona?
- Do I keep my buyer persona top of mind when creating content or planning events?
- Do I use my buyer persona to determine what kind of information is most valuable to my target customer?
- Do I use my buyer persona to inform the tone and approach I take with marketing materials?
- Do I use my buyer persona to help me identify marketing opportunities that may be a good fit for my business?
If you answered “no” to any of the questions above, then it’s likely that you’re not using your buyer persona to its full potential.
If the answer is “yes” to all of the questions, then congratulations–you’re on the right track!
How to tell if your buyer persona is working
As a business owner, you know that your target market is essential to your success.
After all, without customers, you would have no one to sell your products or services to.
But how can you be sure that you’re reaching the right people with your marketing efforts?
One way to tell is by evaluating your buyer persona.
Here are a few key indicators that your buyer persona is working:
- You’re seeing an increase in website traffic from your target demographic
- Your conversion rate is increasing
- You’re receiving positive feedback from customers
- You’re seeing an overall increase in sales
- You’re noticing an increase in dealing with your ideal type of customer
If you’re seeing these positive results, then it’s likely that your buyer persona is working well.
However, if you’re not seeing these results, then it’s time to go back to the drawing board and make some changes.
Adjusting your buyer persona as needed
As your business grows and develops, it’s important to make sure that your buyer persona is still accurate.
Your buyer persona should be based on real data and not just assumptions.
As your business changes, so will your ideal customer.
Make sure to keep track of any changes in your target market and adjust your buyer persona accordingly.
Just as importantly, don’t be afraid to ditch your old buyer persona altogether if it no longer fits with your business.
After all, you can’t continue to sell the same product to the same customer forever.
As your business evolves, so should your buyer persona.
5 Tips for keeping your buyer persona up-to-date
As your business grows and evolves, so too should your buyer persona.
This document is vitally important for marketing purposes, as it helps you to determine where to focus your efforts and how to craft your message.
However, keeping your buyer persona up-to-date can be a challenge. Here are a few tips to help you out:
1. Keep an open mind. As your business changes, so too will your ideal customer. What they want and need from you may also change over time, so it’s important to be open to the possibility that your persona may need to be updated.
2. Pay attention to feedback. Whether it’s through surveys, customer service interactions, or social media, paying attention to feedback can be a great way to spot changes in your customer base that may require an update to your persona.
3. Monitor your data. Regularly reviewing your website and social media analytics can also give you insights into changes in your audience that may necessitate an update to your buyer persona.
4. Stay up-to-date on industry trends. This will help you anticipate changes in your buyers’ needs before they happen, so you can adjust your marketing accordingly.
5. Talk to your sales team. Your sales team likely has a wealth of knowledge about your ideal customer. Ask them for their input and observations about the people they talk to on a daily basis.
By following these tips, you can ensure that your buyer persona always matches up with your current customer base – giving you the best possible chance of success.
Conclusion
So how do you know if all of this work is paying off?
You need to track your buyer persona’s progress just like any other marketing metric.
Use the five tips we outlined earlier to help keep your buyer persona up-to-date, and then set benchmarks for each stage of the funnel.
Compare your actual results against these benchmarks on a regular basis to see how well your persona is working.
If it looks like adjustments need to be made, don’t hesitate!
The more accurate your buyer persona, the more effective your marketing will be.
Have you had success with using a buyer persona in your marketing strategy?
Let us know in the comments below!