Buyer personas (Buyer persona) are considered the seeds of every marketing campaign. The marketing team needs to understand who they are trying to reach and win over, while the sales team needs to know what kind of people they are selling to.
If this is your first time outlining a buyer persona, or if you have failed multiple times in identifying them, you can try answering the 20 questions below to get a more accurate view of your customers.
20 factors to consider when defining your target audience
Just like a painting completed from basic sketches, your buyer persona is built from 20 different elements. We have categorized them into the following groups:
- Personal background
- Work environment, position, and job role
- Pain points and challenges the customer has experienced (relevant to the product you are selling)
- The customer's future goals
- How the customer researches the products they need to buy.
At the end of this article, we will provide a brief overview of the steps to take once you have your buyer outline.
Questions about the buyer's personal background to help you identify who they are at a fundamental level
- Demographic description
Marital status, children, annual income, current residence, gender, and age. This information helps us sketch the initial strokes of the target customer profile.
- Educational background description
What is the target customer's education level (High school, University, Postgraduate...)? Which school did they attend, and what was their major? The answer should be specific—for example, "Boston University" rather than just "a liberal arts college."
- Career path description
Do they work in the field they studied? What positions have they held and what was their career progression? Did they stay in this profession or pivot to a different career?
Questions about work environment and job position to help you better reach and communicate with your customers
- What industries do their current and previous companies operate in?
The answer to this isn't about their specific department or daily tasks; rather, we need to know exactly what products or services their company provides. This helps us better gauge the impact of that business sector on our target customers.
Generally, this question also depends on the challenges they have faced throughout their career. The answer here provides valuable insight, as it helps us better understand their company's workflow, culture, and how these factors affect employees.
For example, a client might work in environmental services, which is a specific field in itself. But if we know their primary clients are schools and hospitals, the best answer would be: They operate in the environmental services industry, serving the education and healthcare sectors.
- What is the size of their company (revenue, number of employees)?
Knowing specific details about a client's company—such as their industry, scale, headcount, and other particulars—helps us build better landing page forms.
- What are their job role and title?
Questions like: What is their job role, and how long have they held this position?
- Are they in an entry-level position or a management role?
If the client is in a B2C company, we can view this information as another way to better understand different aspects of the customer. However, if it is a B2B company, this information becomes even more critical. Is our customer in a management or director-level role, and are they well-versed in the complex technical aspects of our industry? If so, they won't need as much initial guidance as a typical new customer.
- How is their job performance measured?
What are the key areas they are responsible for? What metrics or charts do they need to track daily? These insights help us determine what drives their success and what they might worry about when it comes to "hitting their targets."
- What does a typical workday look like for them?
What time do they start and finish work? When are they most productive? What does their "busy work" look like? This covers both their professional tasks and what happens outside of work. Do they spend more time at the office or at home? Where do they prefer to be? What do they do for fun? Who are the most important people in their lives? What kind of car do they drive? What TV shows do they watch? What kind of clothes do they wear?
- What skills does their job require?
What are the essential skills for their job, and is your customer proficient in them? Did they learn these skills on the job or through formal training?
- What knowledge and tools are applied in their work?
What applications and tools does the customer use for their daily work? Understanding the products they love (and dislike) can help us identify commonalities with our own products (and make adjustments accordingly).
See More: 4 B2B digital marketing myths and the truth behind them
Questions about the challenges and difficulties customers have faced
- What are the biggest challenges customers have encountered?
We are trying to sell customers solutions to their problems, so we need to understand what those problems are and how they impact their daily lives.
For example: Suppose our company sells personal tax software directly to consumers. One of our customers might be a first-time filer. So, ask questions about their pain points when filing taxes for the first time. They might face obstacles when filing on their own for the first time, feel overwhelmed by tax codes they don't understand, and be confused about where to start. These difficulties are different from those of an experienced filer.
Try to come up with realistic quotes that address these challenges. For example: "It used to be very difficult to get the whole company to adopt new technology" or "I don't have the time to train new employees on a million different databases and platforms."
Questions about future customer goals to better sell your product
- What are the customer's goals?
This goes beyond the metrics we measure. What are their primary goals at work? What about their secondary goals? Knowing these will help you understand what you can do to help your customers achieve their goals and overcome their challenges.
- What can you do to help them?
What can you do to help customers solve their problems or achieve their goals? Researching this question will help you develop better products/services, as well as learn how to convince customers to trust you.
How do customers research the products/services they need?
- How do customers find new information for their work?
If you are planning to market and sell to customers, you need to know where they get their information. Do they search online, learn in person, or read newspapers and magazines? If customers are frequently online, do they use social media or search on Google? Who do they get information from: friends, family, colleagues, or industry experts?
- Which publications or blogs do they read?
Try to synthesize the information to see what their day looks like and find out where customers typically stay updated. If we know how they gather information, we can put ourselves in their shoes, experience it firsthand, and build greater credibility with them.
- Which groups and social networks do customers participate in?
We should invest time and resources into social media marketing, but the question is: Which social media platforms should we prioritize over others? Identify the groups and social networks where our customers spend their time, and then prioritize creating accounts and joining the conversation there.
- How do they prefer to interact with vendors?
The experience of buying from us must align with customer expectations. What should their purchasing experience be like? Is consultation required? How much time do they want to spend with a salesperson? Do customers prefer to buy in person or interact online or over the phone?
- Do customers go online to research suppliers or products? If so, how do they search for information?
We need to dig deeper to understand where customers look for information. Do they search online, check review sites, ask friends and family, or something else?
- Describe a recent purchase
Ask why the customer chose to buy this item, what their evaluation process was, and how they made the final decision to purchase it.
If we can anticipate customer objections, we can prepare sales collateral to support them throughout the buying process. What might catch their attention—either for our products or those of our competitors? Is this their first time buying a product or service in our category? If not, what prompted them to switch?
What do we need to do next to convert them into our customers?
Once we have addressed these points and identified any remaining questions, browse through some stock photos to find a realistic image that represents the customer. By answering these questions, we can clearly define who our target customer is, which will help ensure our messaging remains consistent.
Another tip is to try and define the customer so you can tailor your communication style. How do you know who you are talking to? What is their job? How do they conduct conversations? What are their pain points? How did they hear about our company? Compiling this information not only helps us recognize our customers but also identifies other segments, allowing our team to maintain a consistent message while still customizing it for each specific audience.
