If you never learned how to create buyer personas, check out these three buyer persona examples to kick-off your content marketing efforts.
There’s a popular copywriter out there who is such a drag. She loves to tell marketers how not to do things, but rarely has anything to follow up with when it comes to asking her, “ok then, smartypants, how could you do it?”
One example is buyer personas. Also called customer personas. She sent out a Tweet once ranting about how evil they are, especially the name “buyer personas,” as if they strip a person of their dignity.
Assuming that she at least had a moderate amount of business sense, I asked her, “then, what would you call them? As a smart business woman, I’m sure you’ve used them.” But she responded that it “wasn’t the point.” And in effect, made no actual point.
It’s then that I unfollowed her, unsubscribed to her newsletter, and decided people who create problems and offer no solutions have no place in my feeds.
Buyer personas are wonderful.
They are not evil. They do not reduce a person to an alliteration (Jane the Jogger or Bonnie the Bookkeeper).
Buyer personas are how you get to know the customers you haven’t met yet.
You sit down and think really hard about everyone but yourself. You think about the type of customers you’d like to have. You think about the people who have purchased from you in the past and ask: why did they buy? What were they having trouble with? How did I help them? How can I help them more?
You identify them personally, not as a number or as a dollar sign, but as a human you’d shake hands with. What would they look like? What would they sigh about, and what would they be excited about? Would they have kids? A dog? What do they enjoy doing on the weekends?
And then you determine how your business relates to everything you’ve discovered. If it doesn’t, you’re barking up the wrong trees when your time could be better spent getting to know people who are actually out there looking for you.
If you haven’t at least createda handful of buyer persona examples for your business, you’re missing out.
Every successful marketer has worked with buyer personas (even her, I’m sure of it) at some point. Heck they even help develop your blog voice. Buyer personas are not always done well, and some aren’t even helpful, but when done right, they can be invaluable to business development. Any marketer worth their salt knows who their clients’ customers are and being an active participant in buyer persona development is part of a fruitful working relationship.
And although buyer personas apply to all of your marketing efforts, they’re especially useful when planning blog content.
Since we’re a corporate blogging company, I’m going to apply the concept of buyer personas to content marketing through your company blog (and here’s why your blog is the most important lead and sale-generating part of your website.)
How to create buyer personas so you can create blog content that converts
Mock Client: DollarShaveClub.com (yes I love using them as an example)
Description: Monthly subscription club for razors, cream and wipes.
Primary Products:
First, let’s identify the primary products. What is DSC selling? For this example, I’m sticking to their most basic subscription products, although they offer a couple more add-on items.
- The Humble Twin Subscription: “A great basic shaver, for guys who dig simplicity and precision.” Reliable. 2 blades. Lubricating soothing strip.
- The 4X Subscription: “A gentle shave in a single stroke.” 4 blades. “Your girlfriend can use it too.”
- The Executive Subscription: “It’s like a personal assistant for your face.” 6 blades. “This blade comes from the future and lives in outer space”
Ebert the Everyman
Who is this blog reader, and what elements of their current life might be causing pain points that you can solve?
Problem: Erbert is an active guy and shaves with whatever razor he has on hand at the time. He goes through a lot of razors because he disposes of them frequently. Depending on the season and his mood, he goes in phases of being clean-shaven, bearded, moustachioed, and trimmed up. Erbert likes to have razors on hand for when he’s going away for the weekend on a camping trip or during the week for a sales trip. Heading to the pharmacy for new razors once a month is kind of a pain, and not always something he remembers to do. So, sometimes he goes longer than he’d like without a shave.
Solution:
These are the products this particular customer is most likely to buy, based on their needs and current status.
- The Humble Twin Subscription
Example keywords:
These keywords below have been researched and have less than 100,000 competing pages in Google with 20 or more searches per month.
how long do razors last, how to shave quickly, dry shaving, how to shave while camping, old shaving razors, best way to shave, save money on razors, how to store razors, make razor last longer, how to keep razor blades sharp, how to keep a razor sharp, shaving with a dull razor, how to sharpen a dull razor, how to clean razors, how to clean a disposable razor
Example blog post ideas:
These blog post titles are free to use – they have been researched to target keywords that have low competition so that you can more easily get traffic from them in search. You may update the title to your liking, but please keep the keywords, in red, together. Breaking them up or rearranging them will make them new keywords that may have less or no potential traffic.
- How Long Do Razors Last?
- How to Shave Quickly Without Drawing Blood
- 10 Hazards of Dry Shaving You Probably Don’t Know
- How to Shave While Camping with Little or No Water
- How to Properly Dispose of Old Shaving Razors
- The Best Way to Shave For Your Skin Type
- How to Store Razors So They Don’t Rust
- 10 Ways to Make a Razor Last Longer
- Stop Shaving with a Dull Razor
- How to Clean a Disposable Razor in 3 Steps
Example calls to action:
These calls to action belong in the middle or bottom of your blog posts. They link to your product page so that a blog reader can easily be transported from content to sale.
- Ditch the razor runs. Let us send you five per month.
- You have better things to do than shop for razors. We’ll send you the Humble Twin every month. How does that sound?
- Get five Humble Twin razors send to your door every month.
Tyrone the Trimaholic
Who is this blog reader, and what elements of their current life might be causing pain points that you can solve?
Tyronelikes a good razor. He’s interested in beard and moustache culture and does quite a bit of face experimentation. He doesn’t shave every day, but he does like to have a decent one by his side when the artistic urge takes over and he suddenly decides he needs a handlebar moustache.
Solution:
These are the products this particular customer is most likely to buy, based on their needs and current status.
- The 4x Razor Subscription
Example keywords:
These keywords below have been researched and have less than 100,000 competing pages in Google with 20 or more searches per month.
how to shave better, how to shave a beard, shaving your beard, shaving beard neckline, shaving neck beard, shaved beard, should i shave my beard, how to groom a beard, how to shave a beard with a razor, best way to shave a beard, how to trim your neck beard, how to shave your neck beard, how to shave a handlebar mustache, how to shave a mustache, how to shave your mustache, how to shave a beard, how to trim sideburns yourself, how to grow a beard faster, gap in moustache, mustache doesn’t connect to beard, beard styles for men, different beard styles
Example blog post ideas:
These blog post titles are free to use – they have been researched to target keywords that have low competition so that you can more easily get traffic from them in search. You may update the title to your liking, but please keep the keywords, in red, together. Breaking them up or rearranging them will make them new keywords that may have less or no potential traffic.
- How to Shave Your Neck Beard (It’s Time!)
- How to Shave a Handlebar Mustache
- How to Shave Your Mustache in 5 Minutes
- How to Shave Better, Quicker, and with Style
- How to Shave a Beard with a Disposable Razor
- You Asked: Should I Shave My Beard?
- Why a Shaved Beard Sometimes Makes You Look Chubby
- How to Trim Sideburns Yourself
- How to Grow a Beard Faster (Get Out Your Trimmers)
- 10 Hip Beard Styles for Men
Example calls to action:
These calls to action belong in the middle or bottom of your blog posts. They link to your product page so that a blog reader can easily be transported from content to sale.
- Get your best beard. We’ll take care of the razors.
- Your mustache is awesome. Let us take care of the trimming.
- Our 4x razor is perfect for you. We’ll send you four per month, OK? OK.
Rob the Razor Burn Guy
Who is this blog reader, and what elements of their current life might be causing pain points that you can solve?
Problem: Rob suffers from razor burn. Since he started shaving at age 16, he has always struggled with a red pimpled neck. He tends to buy the most expensive disposable razors he can find because he knows the less expensive ones will give him razor burn. He’s thinking of growing a beard and never shaving again.
Solution:
These are the products this particular customer is most likely to buy, based on their needs and current status.
- The Executive Razor Subscription.
Example keywords:
These keywords below have been researched and have less than 100,000 competing pages in Google with 20 or more searches per month.
what causes razor burn, preventing razor burn, how to avoid razor bumps, shaving irritation neck, how to stop ingrown hairs, ingrown facial hair, how to heal razor bumps, home remedies for razor burn, how to hide razor burn, how to stop itching after shaving
Example blog post ideas:
These blog post titles are free to use – they have been researched to target keywords that have low competition so that you can more easily get traffic from them in search. You may update the title to your liking, but please keep the keywords, in red, together. Breaking them up or rearranging them will make them new keywords that may have less or no potential traffic.
- What Causes Razor Burn in Men?
- 10 Steps for Preventing Razor Burn With a Good Razor
- How to Avoid Razor Bumps: Ingrown Hairs, Be Gone!
- Shaving Irritation: Neck Woes and Embarrassing Tales
- How to Stop Ingrown Hairs From Ruining Your Life
- What an Ingrown Facial Hair Looks Like
- How to Heal Razor Bumps Naturally
- 10 Home Remedies for Razor Burn
- How to Hide Razor Burn Before a Big Event
- Men Ask: How to Stop Itching After Shaving
Example calls to action:
These calls to action belong in the middle or bottom of your blog posts. They link to your product page so that a blog reader can easily be transported from content to sale.
- Meet “The Executive,” it’s like a personal assistant for your face.
- Combat razor burn with our most sensitive razor, “The Executive.”
- Don’t let your blades get dull, get our most sensitive razor, “The Executive,” delivered monthly.
Buyer personas are worth a thousand words
Justin Gray is the CEO of LeadMD notes, “Buyer personas are often met with opposition because they’re a lot of work to assemble, and once assembled they are living, evolving things and must be maintained. Like people, buyer personas change over time with the market, the times, the ebbs and flows of products and services. They absolutely require work, but they are entirely worth it.”
We don’t write a single content campaign for our clients’ company blogs without developing buyer personas. Without them, we’d be like those other content marketing companies who go around picking random keywords and hoping for the best. Hopefully you’re using, or intend to start using buyer personas too as part of content development.
If you start using buyer personas, you’ll stop targeting all those ding-dong keywords that send traffic and no leads. Instead you’ll start publishing content that attracts your exact customers.
Every single piece of content published on your company blog should have a buyer persona attached, and a purpose. We’re not in the business of sending random traffic. We’re in the business of getting more sales and leads through your company blog. To do that, you need buyer personas. End of story.
*mic drop*
Just kidding.
Still learning how to create buyer personas and want BuzzFarmers to do it for you, instead? Order a BuzzAudit, or contact Patrick at: patrick@buzzfarmers.wpengine.com or 401-573-5409.
