Do you pour hours into your marketing, only for it to fall flat? Does your content get a lot of views, but very few conversions (if any)? Final question: are you using marketing personas?
If you aren’t using personas (or are using inaccurate personas) there’s a good chance that’s the reason behind your lackluster marketing results. Marketing without personas is like trying to build a house without a blueprint.
Building personas can be time-consuming. To help you get started, we’ve rounded up 5 sample personas from across different industries to help you see how your personas can come together.
What Are Buyer Personas?
Buyer personas are fictional, generalized representations of your ideal customers. They help you understand your customers (and prospective customers) better and make it easier for you to tailor content to the specific needs, behaviors and concerns of different groups. The strongest buyer personas are based on market research as well as on insights you gather from your actual customer base (through surveys, interviews, etc.). Depending on your business, you could have as few as one or two personas, or as many as 10 or 20. (Note: If you’re new to personas, start small! You can always develop more personas later if needed.) For rockstar personas, use our free how-to guide.
Example Personas
Below you’ll find an assortment of sample personas from different industries that you can use as bases to fill out your ideal persona. Remember: always modify a persona to fit your business goals. These templates are designed to give you a jumping off point, but for best results your personas should be wholly unique to your business.
1. HR Henrietta
Background: Head of Human Resources. Worked at the same company for 10 years; worked her way up from HR associate. Married with 2 children.
Demographics: Skews female. Age 30-45. Dual HH income $140,000. Suburban.
Goals: Keep employees happy and turnover low. Support legal and finance teams.
Challenges: Getting everything done with a small staff. Rolling out changes to the entire company.
2. Homeowner Harry
Background: White collar, professional, college-educated.
Demographics: Age 35-65. Earns $70,000+ annually. Lives in an older home (pre-1990) in the suburbs.
Goals: Remodel home and make home maintenance easy. Family-oriented and wants to keep his family safe.
Challenges: Cost. Time. Finding a contractor he trusts.
3. Event Planner Eve
Background: Works for a corporation, event planning agency or is a freelancer. Works with companies on planning corporate events, weddings and large scale anniversary parties.
Demographics: Skews female. Age 35-55.
Goals: Looking for unique products for her events, something that no one else has but that’s also satisfying. Wants to impress her clients.
Challenges: Coordinating different products on time. Finding products her clientele approves of.
4. Out of Towner Tommy
Background: Lives outside of the Twin Cities, but visits for a weekend getaway to visit top attractions like the Mall of America, sporting events or music concerts. Likely will be flying in or out of MSP airport.
Demographics: Age, gender and education can vary depending on attraction. Out of Towner Tommy is interested in the Mall of America and is 30-55, married with one child.
Goals: Looking for a mini-vacation or weekend away from home.
Challenges: Budget-conscious. Will not have a car and will need shuttle or cab transportation.
5. Nurse Nancy
Background: Works at a large hospital. Needs regular certification for CPR and First Aid.
Demographics: Skews female. Age 20-55. Lives in city or suburbs close by. Middle-class to upper middle-class.
Goals: Needs recertification process to be as painless as possible.
Challenges: Understanding how to sign up for classes online. Finding classes at a convenient location.
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