Understanding Your Audience
Do you understand who your customer is, what problems they face and how your company can solve those issues for them? Creating a Customer Persona is a great tool for identifing the needs and wants of your ideal buyer, as well as supporting the development of the product or service you are selling.
You’re not in business until someone is buying what you have!
We recently sent out a survey to all our FGC members (check your inboxes girls!) to find out how everyone is getting along with their businesses and source feedback about all your experiences of FutureGirlCorp. We’ve already had lots of submissions and the information received has been extremely positive - well done everyone!
However, we noticed that while a lot of you have spent time honing and developing your vision and business models, less time has been spent on actually understanding your audience and developing customer personas. So today, we’re recapping on what a persona is, why this is important for the development of your business and how to source your target clientele.
Who am I selling to?
The better you know your customer, the better you engage with them and the more likely you are to convert to sales. To help this process, we suggest you develop 3 -5 customer personas.
A PERSONA IS... a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and/or real data about any existing customers. Essentially you are using real world data to create an imaginary person who would buy something from your company.
“They are the key to making every decision in your business.” - Tabitha Goldstaub, CognitionX
In order to create your customer personas, you’ll need to put together the following information:
- DEMOGRAPHICS! Each persona might need a name, age, gender, job, ethnicity, relationship status, location, etc… The more information the better but only compile data that is actually relevant to your company.
- MOTIVATION! What do they care about? This is really important so try listing 3 things that gets your customer out of bed everyday.
- TONE & STYLE! What’s their vibe and tone of voice? Traditional or trendy? Upmarket or street? Whatever it is, you'll need to embody this in the way you present your brand to them.
- PAIN POINTS! Think about what problems you can solve for your audience? This unlocks what you should actually be offering them and thus helps you build a better brand.
- LIFE GOALS! Where do your personas want to get to and how can you help them get there? Understanding this section is really helpful in the development of your product.
- INFLUENCES! Who’s actually buying your product e.g. if your persona is a child, the parent will most likely be buying the product for them? Who’s recommending e.g. peers or colleagues? Who’s benefitting or being affected from your persona buying your product or service? Compiling this information will also help shape the development of the brand.
How do I find out more about my customer?
Engage with them! It’s so important to actually get to know your customers, whether potential or existing. Interact with them in real-life and online to get better information on what products and services will suit them, making sure your company is adding value to their lives.
- Get out there and meet them!
- Interact with them online!
- Have a conversation on more than one platform!
- Ask them how you can help them by carrying out reviews with incentives! Find out how much they are willing to spend on your products, what colour ways they like, etc...
