I think we can all agree that there is a simply staggering amount of content shared online, some of it is insightful, helpful, hilarious… some not so much. It can feel overwhelming though as a business when trying to market online. How can you possibly cut through the noise and volume of content being posted and get seen?

The reality is that there is no way to guarantee your content will be seen. The algorithms are clandestine, evolving, and mega-frustrating at times. But the first question you should be asking yourself is who do you want to be seen by? Not everyone who follows you on social media is your ideal customer and great marketing that converts should be speaking to that target audience in a more focused way. Recently we tackled this topic with Chris Howell and Issy Roughan of Howell Media on their podcast, Looks Like We Made It, if you want to check out the episode 🎧 

We took a deep dive into Consumer Personas, what they are and why they are important when it comes to marketing your business and connecting with your audience in a way that builds trust, creates a community and ultimately convert them to customers. 

What are Consumer Personas?

Consumer personas are used by brands throughout the world and essentially are semi-fictional profiles that detail key traits of the people who interact with your business or are your ideal customers. Note the use of semi-fictional, it is so important when creating your consumer personas that they are based on real-world data and your knowledge of your customers if you want to see the best results and move away from nondescript content.

What type of data should I consider when developing my Consumer Personas?

There are 4 main data sets you will want to consider when developing your personas (brands often have multiple Consumer Personas, check out this great example from Tesco of their ‘Tesco Families’) which are, demographic, psychographic, bahavioural and geographic.

Demographic

• Age
• Gender
• Job title
• Income level
• Educational level 
• Family status

Psychographic

• Lifestyle
• Goals
• Pain points
• Habits
• Values
• Interests

Behavioural

• Engagement with your brand/product/service
• Readiness to buy
• Purchasing history
• Product/service interests
• Satisfaction
• Loyalty

Geographic

• Location
• Language
• Cultural preferences
• Climate

By making a note of these different considerations you can develop a robust and hyper-relevant example of your target customer. Give them a name, make it personal and the next time you are planning your content keep them in mind. What would they enjoy reading? What value would it bring to them? The more you can create relatable content the more likely it is that this ideal customer will engage with it and better yet, share it with other like-minded people.

If you fancy some further reading on creating customer-focused copy, Sian’s blog on WIIF - What’s In It For Me? Marketing is full of great tips on applying this marketing rule to your copywriting.