As business owners, learning from your customers is essential. You need to be willing to adapt to change because consumer mindsets, the marketing strategies and tactics you use, and the products/services you sell and offer need to reflect the growth of your business and the ever-changing world.
If you have been in business for some time, you may have developed your buyer personas many years ago. Now it is time to dive deeper and re-evaluate.
As a refresh, buyer personas are "semi-fictional representations of your ideal customers based on data and research" (Hubspot). For more information on buyer personas and how to create them, click here.
The key to creating a buyer persona is to develop realistic and viable objectives, therefore, it is not "bad" if your buyer personas evolve to align with your business goals. In fact, adjusting your buyer personas is often a great way to open up new opportunities that may not have been attainable in prior years.
Below are some tips for re-evaluating your buyer personas.
Review your buyer persona worksheet.
There are always opportunities for growth in your business. Make sure you are putting effort into attracting the right customer by doing some research into your existing client base.
A lot of businesses realize their initial ideal customer looks a bit different than those who actively purchase and engage with their business. Use this new information to take the next step in retargeting and narrowing in. Narrow in on your keywords by focusing on more niche markets. For example, focus on words such as “mountain-biking” instead of “biking”. This narrows in on your audience and gives your products a better chance of being seen when using paid digital advertising platforms.
Review your customer's behaviour.
Your customers buying decisions are affected by many factors, with one major factor being technology. As technology evolves, so do your customer's online search habits and decision-making processes. This means that what your business was doing three years ago to attract customers likely will not work now. Use historic data to determine how your customer's behaviour has changed over the years and reflect on that changing behaviour.
Summary
It is a good idea to review your buyer personas at least once a year. Buyer personas help with content creation, product development, and really anything related to customer acquisition and retention. Your strategies can only be effective when your buyer personas are up to date and an accurate representation of your customers. Remember it is essential to never stop learning about your customers and their interests!