In the series on Buyer Persona 2.0, part 6, I addressed the distinction between buyer profiling and buyer personas. Ever since we began creating personas, specifically pioneering and creating buyer personas in 2002 to reflect the goals of buyers, we continued to follow the basic fundamental principles of persona development established in the late 90’s. As buyer personas become increasingly popular, it is important for the fundamentals to serve as a reminder of what buyer personas can mean strategically – that is to inform on strategies to meet buyer goals. I’ve been asked in a few emails to repost the definition of buyer personas that is reflective of elevating buyer personas to a best practice – we call Buyer Persona 2.0:
The Definition of Buyer Personas
· Buyer Personas are richly detailed archetypal representations of real buyers
· Buyer Personas are derived from the investigative process of buyer insight gathering
· Buyer Personas are goal centric at their core which are defined through rigor and precision
· Buyer Personas are representative of buyers in action and engaged in the buying process
· Buyer Personas provide insight into the unarticulated, the not-yet-discovered, and affecting mental models of buyers
· Buyer Personas serve as a communications tool and informs senior leaders on executable buyer centric strategies to serve buyers
To become a best practice of Buyer Persona 2.0, this definition must be supported by standard processes – be they strategic and tactical – that genuinely informs organization on how to best serve buyer goals. Thanks to readers for this suggestion!
