Buyer Personas, Revised and Expanded, 2nd Edition

PART IThe Art and Science of Buyer Personas

Ask someone in marketing what a “Buyer Persona” is and more likely than not they are going to say something such as:

• “It's a fictional archetype of a functional role or title including their interests, values, challenges, and priorities.”
• “It's a profile of a person including demographics such as age, gender, income, occupation, and location.”
• “It's a detailed description of someone who represents your target audience or ideal customer.”

These answers aren't terribly surprising given that virtually anyone associated with the craft of marketing has written, spoken, or referenced Buyer Personas in exactly such a way over the past 20–30 years. And we know that there are literally hundreds of organizations (probably thousands!) that have developed “Buyer Personas” just like this to attract and win more business.

Unfortunately, many of these organizations have also come to realize that this type of audience-based Buyer Persona – one that profiles an individual or role – provides little to no insight into what influences a prospective customer's buying decision. This type of persona may give you a general sense of a particular role involved in the buying decision – who they are and what they care about in broad terms – but it omits critical insights that marketers need to help their organizations attract and convert more business, including:

• What triggers a prospective buyer to start looking for a particular solution that you offer in ...