In part 1 of our 5-part series about buyer personas, we discussed what a buyer persona is and its three components. To recap, a buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your very real target audience. It consists of a buyer profile, psychographics, and buying insights.
So, the question remains: why is identifying your buyer persona so important? It has been proven that when you do not identify your buyer persona, costly mistakes are inevitable. The famous American company, Apple Inc., learned this lesson in 2004:
Buyer Persona Fail: Apple, Inc.
You don’t typically see the Apple brand connected to a bad example, but this happened with the launch of its iPhone 4 in 2008 to the Japanese market. It sold well in most other markets but floundered in Japan. Apple discovered several things:
- In 2008, Japanese people were already accustomed to using phones to shoot video and watch digital programming – the iPhone 4 didn’t have a camera.
- Many other phones in their market included chips for debit card transactions and train passes – two additional features that the iPhone 4 did not include.
- Finally, it was significantly more expensive than the other phones in the market that offered these features.
Apple, of course, rebounded when they introduced the iPhone 5s 4 years later. Because they did not identify their buyer persona in Japan, they did not see the profit they were expecting.
More than avoiding costly mistakes, take a look at three reasons why you need to identify a buyer persona:
Shopping Trends Have Drastically Changed
Consumers have a wealth of knowledge with the click of a button. They can search product or service reviews, gain feedback from their social networks, compare products – all without the company directly interacting with the customer. With this new shopping trend, it’s even more imperative to determine who your buyer is and how to reach them. This will allow you to spend your finances more effectively and see a growth in sales.
Consumers are Conducting Their Own Research
According to Buyer Personas by Adele Revella, “On average, business-to-business customers are nearly 60 percent of the way through the purchase decision before engaging a sales representative.”
Let that statistic sink in.
Consumers are no longer engaging sales representatives to learn more about a product or service. By performing their own research, they are browsing a company’s product or services without the company knowing it. Therefore, you have to communicate with your buyer in new ways. The first step to communicating with your buyer is knowing who your buyer is (identify your buyer persona).
Buyer Personas Provide a Framework
Knowing who your consumers are should not be a guessing game. By creating a buyer persona, you will have a framework to understand and communicate with buyers based on their individual and collective preferences. It will give you an important piece to your puzzle of success.
This article is part 2 of our 5-part series on buyer personas:
- Part 1: What You Need to Identify a Buyer Persona
- Part 3: 5 Ways Buying Insights Help You Make Decisions
- Part 4: How to Create a Buyer Persona
- Part 5: How to Lead a Focus Group
How M&R Marketing Can Help
It’s no secret – we’re obsessed with successful marketing tactics and helping our clients succeed. One way to do that is by understanding your buyer persona and intertwining it into your marketing strategy. When you team with M&R Marketing, you can expect us to put countless hours into each marketing strategy phase: discovery, plan creation, presentation, execution, and evaluation. Are you ready to partner with us? Give us a call at 478-621-4491, and for more helpful tips, make sure you sign up for our eNewsletter!