Here\u2019s a staggering statistic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a survey conducted by content marketing consultant Adrienne Barnes, 85% of marketers said they create buyer personas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Want to know how often they used them? 77% said never.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not for product launches. Not when starting new campaigns. Not any other time when you\u2019d think a persona would be useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cold reality is that traditional buyer personas have become a \u201ccheck the box\u201d marketing practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s why Adrienne created Best Buyer Persona — to reimagine how personas are created and the purpose they serve. She recently sat down with me and explained how brands can turn personas into the most valuable tool in the marketing toolbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the buyer persona isn\u2019t being used, should we even make them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf it doesn’t make sense, if we’re not using it, why waste time?\u201d Adrienne said. \u201cWhy waste four hours even doing it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019d be simple enough to say we should stop altogether. But the truth is that you do<\/em> need to do something to find out more about your customers before you try to market to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It just needs to be different from what\u2019s always been done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The old way of creating \u201cMary Marketer\u201d with her dating-profilesque details (age, race, pets, location, etc.) doesn\u2019t inform business decisions or inspire content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, you want a persona where every inch of it serves to inform something about your marketing and content strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt’s either going to inform a product development or a new feature, or how customer success can help and support a customer on a call, or how a content marketer could take this and say, okay, I’ve now got 28 ideas that I know, pieces of content I can now execute on and go off,\u201d said Adrienne. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To create a buyer persona that becomes a functioning piece of marketing strategy, start by conducting customer interviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adrienne asks targeted questions that will give her the information she needs to take action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n From the answers, she gathers customer frustrations and aspirations, as well as what she calls relational keywords. Those items become pages in the buyer persona document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do they cite frustrations or ignorance? That becomes \u201chow-to\u201d content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do they share aspirations or delight? That becomes a case study or testimonial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this way, Adrienne is able to draw a clear line between what customers like and dislike and the resulting content that needs to be created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEvery question I ask, I’m linking it to now, what kind of piece of content could that be?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The answers can inspire all kinds of content strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adrienne sometimes conducts small 5-6 person interviews specifically for content marketing. Those are used to figure out what current content customers engage with, and what content needs to be created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If they share that they love your white papers, but don\u2019t know about your infographics, podcasts, or fireside chats, that tells you what matters to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo then we’re able to say, okay, really we’re exhausting a lot of effort in creating a weekly blog post,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat we could do is create a monthly white paper and just switch our effort into original research.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interviews provide Adrienne with another valuable asset: relational keywords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She coined this term to describe the words that your customers use to talk about your product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wanted to be able to identify what those were and highlight them and make sure that my clients knew that these were important terms,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt just kind of occurred to me, oh, relational. Because they’re showing the relationship between the company and the client and their customer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n These relational words should be used in your copy and to inform your content and SEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s an example Adrienne shared:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imagine you own a shoe store. All of your copy uses the word \u201cshoes.\u201d Then you do customer research and find out that your customers don\u2019t use the word shoes to describe your product. They use the word \u201csneakers.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n It may seem like a subtle difference, but you should change your content and copy to reflect that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot that people can’t understand that a shoe and a sneaker is a similar thing, but it goes along with that StoryBrand concept of: don’t make people overwork. Really give them simplicity,\u201d Adrienne said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One easy way to figure out what words your customers use over and over? Pop your interview transcripts into an online word-cloud generator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The most frequently used words will immediately become clear. Those are the relational keywords you should use in your strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Buyer personas that are based on truly getting to know your customers also help stop you from creating content for content\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s easy to get caught up in the idea that you need a new blog post every week. But that may not be the support your customer actually needs or wants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs a customer, there’s not one product I use, and I use quite a bit to run both businesses, that I’m like, Ooh, I need to check their blog every single week,\u201d Adrienne said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your customers may not be waiting with anticipation to see your blog posts either. They\u2019ll likely check your website when they have a specific problem or question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt needs to serve a purpose,\u201d Adrienne said. \u201cIt needs to have a means to an end. So definitely in content marketing, there needs to be some just understanding and efficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a lot of pressure to keep up a steady stream of content, and marketers work hard to turn out high-quality stuff. We assume people will want it. Customer research will help prove whether or not that assumption is true. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When Adrienne started Best Buyer Persona, she threw herself into learning everything she could about survey design, data analysis, and how to conduct an effective interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her studies and experience have taught her what interview approaches will yield the richest answers, whether it\u2019s a customer interview or a podcast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She starts her interview prep by finding anything the interviewee has talked about before, whether on social media or through conversations with the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can say, well, you mentioned this premise over here, can you tell me a little bit more about that?\u201d Adrienne said. \u201cThat \u2018can you tell me a little bit more about that\u2019 question is my favorite and the most powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next thing is to lean into anything that triggers emotion, but in an empathetic way so that people are feeling heard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your interviewee talks about a hard time or challenge, empathize by saying things like \u201cthat sounds like that was hard.\u201d And then follow up with the \u201ctell me more\u201d question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHaving that empathetic response where you’re validating their feelings, they’re safer, they’re more comfortable,\u201d she said. \u201cYou get me, now I’m going to open up a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are other ways to make sure your interviewee feels comfortable talking to you and gives you honest answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adrienne makes sure that the interview isn\u2019t the first time they\u2019re being introduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat I like to do when I’m setting up customer interviews is the client will then introduce me,\u201d Adrienne said. \u201cSo maybe they’ve got somebody that they’ve been emailing within the company or a company influencer who’s well-known.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI’ll have that person intro me. So I’m coming in warm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She also always asks the same question at the end of every interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI ask them, so is there anything else I should know?\u201d she said. \u201cIs there anything else that you’d like to share?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor a customer discovery interview, that’s where they’ll end up giving me the greatest insights, the most concise language.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When building out buyer personas, it\u2019s crucial to understand your customers\u2019 needs and desires in order to create the best content possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you create better buyer personas that are built on a foundation of deep, authentic insights, you\u2019re armed with what you need to execute a winning content strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Knowing that Mary Marketer has a cat and loves ramen won\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here\u2019s a staggering statistic. In a survey conducted by content…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[117,24,138],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1209","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brand","8":"category-content-strategy","9":"category-positioning"},"yoast_head":"\nConduct interviews to create a content strategy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Identify relational keywords<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Question content for content\u2019s sake<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Use empathy to get rich interview responses <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Inspire interviewees to open up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n