Are Buyer Personas Still Important?

In traditional marketing terms, buyer personas are everything. But with the rapid rate at which technology changes, are they still important?

In traditional marketing terms, buyer personas are everything. However, in recent years, especially due to the rapid speed at which technology has progressed and the rate at which the digital world has taken over, the question of whether or not buyer personas are still important is one that’s commonly asked.

So, is it still a viable strategy? What follows will be a discussion of what buyer personas are, why they’re important, and why you should continue to research and identify your target audience’s persona.

In traditional marketing terms, buyer personas are everything. But with the rapid rate at which technology changes, are they still important?

What are Buyer Personas?

Simply put, a buyer persona is a defined representation of your ideal customer or target audience based on market research and real-time data gained from their online behavior. While many compare it to a demographic, a buyer persona, though inclusive of age, gender, etc., is much more detailed and entails information surrounding the buyer’s behavior at large.

Personas help answer such questions as:

What challenges do they face? What are their primary interests and passions? How do they normally make decisions? What are their needs? Where do they spend most of their time online? When do they tend to take actionable steps towards conversion?

These questions create the basis for what makes up the profile of a typical buyer persona. The intent? Primarily, for businesses to gain a more intimate understanding of their target customer so that they can take the necessary steps to acquire them.

The debate surrounding whether or not buyer personas are still relevant, or as relevant, as they once were is still prevalent. What follows will be a discussion of the perceived and evident importance of buyer personas in a digital world.

The Importance of Buyer Personas

Before we discuss the importance of buyer personas, we need to first understand why businesses, and marketers, in particular, research their audience and identify what their buyer persona is in the first place. The short answer? Because it helps them to more easily appeal to their target customer’s interests, emotions, and personality. Which in turn increases the likelihood of conversion.

In other words, by having a more intimate understanding of your buyer’s behaviors, among other characteristics, you’re better equipped to develop a strategy to attract, acquire, and ultimately convert your ideal customer into a brand advocate.

If that answer doesn’t outline the importance of buyer personas in and of itself, below are several other reasons why buyer personas are important:

They allow you to attract and retain ideal customers
They act as a roadmap to your marketing strategy
They allow for improved communications
They help build trust and authority
Improved buyer insight

Ultimately, they help you help yourself!

Personas help marketers appeal to their target customer’s interests, emotions, and personality. Which in turn increases the likelihood of conversion.

The End Result

Understanding your buyer persona is very similar to simply listening to the needs and desires of your most valued customers. By having an intimate understanding of your customer’s buying decisions, you’ll have a greater toolbox of communication tactics that are more likely to resonate with them on a deeper level.

The end result? More leads, higher quality audiences, better brand perception, improved communication, higher conversion rates, greater retention rates, and a long list of lifetime ambassadors and repeat buyers.

So, to answer the ultimate question “are buyer personas still important?”…

100%.