Why your business should have buyer personas (no matter your industry!)

Take a peek inside Reach HQ and, chances are, you’ll hear the phrase “buyer persona” before you leave our office. It’s safe to say we’re obsessed with buyer personas, and we think you should be, too (more on that in a minute).We help a diverse group of businesses at Reach. From rodeos to political candidates to an airboat and gator attraction, each of our clients has their own tailored buyer personas that help us create remarkable content, which, in turn, produces qualified leads to help their businesses grow!If you’re new to the inbound marketing scene, here’s the rundown on buyer personas. Buyer personas are semi-fictional representations of your ideal customer based on real data and some select educated speculation about customer demographics, behavior patterns, motivations, and goals. Personas help identify where your potential customers spend their time, so you can reach them there.Consider this your "first date" with your ideal customer. You’re learning their behaviors, their likes, dislikes, what makes them tick, and what can “wow” them. With this information, you create your personas, give them a name, and write a short biography. The concept might seem silly – giving your customers descriptions and even fake names – but the results are anything but laughable. According to Hubspot, using buyer personas in website production makes a website two to five times more effective and easy to use by targeted users. It’s not just website design where these come in handy, though. Buyer personas are used in virtually every aspect of marketing content that leaves Reach HQ.Buyer personas can transform your marketing strategy. No more messages sent into the abyss, wondering if you’re actually reaching anyone (or, even better – the right person). It takes time and thoughtful research, but well-crafted buyer personas will help you immensely. No matter what industry you’re in, whether it’s B2B or B2C, buyer personas help differentiate your buyers. Segmenting your marketing to target different personas with different offers is crucial. Personas make your marketing efforts more effective. They also provide your entire team the opportunity to be on the same page when it comes to reaching your customers.Have we convinced you why buyer personas are important yet? If you’re still skeptical about all this buyer persona hoopla, try it out and see for yourself. We promise you won’t be disappointed. If you have questions about buyer personas and how they can strengthen your marketing strategy, tweet them to us at @itsjustreach! We'll be sure to give you our best tips for creating your own buyer personas.