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An example of a marketing persona. Via Xtensio<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n\n Simply put, user personas are made-up characters based on user data designed to help you understand your customers. But there’s much more to them under the surface. Personas take many of the abstract areas of business and make them easier to digest, such as:<\/p>\n Referring to a persona rather than raw data makes it easier for decision-makers to reason out the best course of action.<\/p>\n Below, we explain everything you need to know about creating user personas, whether you\u2019re looking for advanced-level tips or are building your first one from scratch.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with the basics:<\/p>\n Marketing personas don\u2019t need elaborate graphics as long as the data is there. Via Buffer<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n\n Think of a user persona as a representative of a broader customer group. A persona can consolidate expansive customer data into a single document that\u2019s both easy to reference and easy to understand. This document can then be shared among the entire team to keep everyone on the same page.<\/p>\n Each persona funnels the user data into a \u201ccharacter\u201d along with an information sheet that lists their personality traits, preferences and any data relevant to your business. This sheet, and the data it represents is the persona document.<\/p>\n Whenever someone on the team encounters an obstacle or needs help making a decision based on customer interests, they can refer to the project\u2019s personas. Instead of going through each separate user test and analytics report, the persona has all of the relevant information in one clear location.<\/p>\n At the same time, the character aspects of a persona make the data easier to process, by simply giving a face to all those numbers. If you\u2019re at a crossroads about how to meet customer preferences, it\u2019s sometimes difficult to draw answer from dry analytics. It\u2019s far easier to imagine a specific person in your head and visualize what they want and how they may react.<\/p>\n When using personas, you may ask yourself questions like:<\/p>\n \u201cWhat would Mike think of this design choice?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cCan Jane afford this price?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWhat would it take to get Spencer to switch over to our company?<\/em><\/p>\n Having a user persona handy gives you a focal point for questions like these. It\u2019s easier to wrap your head around what one customer thinks than what all your customers think, especially when that one customer is designed specifically to represent the others. Thinking in terms of personas also safeguards against a common pitfall: marketing or designing for yourself instead of your customer. This small shift in perspective can help a company focus on who\u2019s really important and avoid creating campaigns with personal bias.<\/p>\n\n If the need is there, your persona can span several pages or utilize multiple tabs. Via Buffer<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n\n Personas can also be used as a deliverable or company document. For new hires or freelancers, all you have to do is send a persona file to get them up to speed. This spares you the hassle of explaining the nuances of your customer base over and over again.<\/p>\n Personas have many different practical benefits, depending on how you want to use them:<\/p>\n If you want to dive even deeper into understanding customers, especially their habits, you can also use these personas for more involved exercises like customer journeys or user scenarios.<\/p>\n User personas or marketing personas come in different styles and sizes, much like the actual customers they represent. If you\u2019re asking what to include in your persona, the quick answer is: whatever is helpful to your company.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re creating a marketing persona for a tech company, you\u2019ll want to include details like their skill level with tech devices\u2014information that is relevant to the way you design an interface. But if you\u2019re a shoe company trying to keep up with children\u2019s trends, tech skill might not be relevant.<\/p>\n That said, there are some specifics that are useful for every industry, and provide the backbone of an effective persona. These are the areas that bring your persona to life, which is to say, aid you in better visualizing the personas.<\/p>\n\n Marketing persona blank template. Via Xtensio<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n\n Each persona should include:<\/p>\n Keep in mind that personas are wholly customizable, and the above list is just a starting point. Here are some additional areas that some companies find useful when building out a persona:<\/p>\n Personas should be customized to your specific needs, so it\u2019s better to create your own original personas than to use ones designed for other companies.<\/p>\n\n An example of a complete marketing persona. Via Xtensio<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n\n With the basics out of the way, let\u2019s get into some practical advice to make the most out of your marketing personas.<\/p>\n Just in case we haven\u2019t hammered in this point yet, let\u2019s be explicitly clear: always use real data for your personas<\/em><\/span>. In other words, don\u2019t just make stuff up. This is, after all, a business document, not Kindergarten finger-painting fun time.<\/p>\n For example, resist the urge to say \u201coh, wouldn\u2019t it be fun if one of Jennifer\u2019s goals was to start a rock band.\u201d Sure, that\u2019d help make the character more human, but is it accurate? Do your customers even like rock music, or do they prefer softer music? If the urge is strong enough for her to quit her job to pursue her music dreams, is she still within your target customer group?<\/p>\n Even if one or two of your customers had this desire, the rest don\u2019t. Marketing efforts to please Jennifer with a wild streak would fall short on your actual customers who are in reality more grounded than your persona.<\/p>\n The truth is, your personas are only as strong as the data supporting them. The more you stray from empirical data, the less effective the persona will be.<\/p>\n Did we scare you a little talking about user data? Ideally you\u2019ll already have adequate customer data to draw on, but if not, don\u2019t worry. You can collect some easily.<\/p>\n The fastest route is customer surveys because you can ask the exact questions you need answers to, even identifying personality traits if you can phrase your questions with the right tact. Your performance analytics can also answer a lot of demographics questions, depending on your settings.<\/p>\n However, if you have the time and resources, it’s ideal to invest in more thorough user research: actual user interviews, product testing, diary tests, on-site field trips, and so on\u2014just stay away from focus groups as\u00a0they\u2019re not as effective as you might think<\/a>.<\/p>\n Personas are representatives of larger customer groups, but what do you do if your customer base is too diverse and expands into different segments? Simple: just make more personas.<\/p>\n Aim to have a single persona representing a single group. For some companies, one persona is all they need to encompass all their customers. Others, especially enterprises, may need quite a few different ones. Multiple personas also allow you to tailor different campaigns to different segments.<\/p>\n\n One persona may not be enough to represent all your customer groups!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n\n The bio section of your persona may seem superfluous, or even intimidating for non-creative types. But don\u2019t shy away from it; in fact, tackle it proactively.<\/p>\n One of the greatest benefits of personas is humanizing the cold, hard data, and the bio ties all those human aspects together. It may be tempting to gloss over it or skip it completely, but we urge you to challenge yourself to create a lifelike description that depicts a realistic human being.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re struggling, feel free to use a background from one of your real-life customers. Ideally, you\u2019ll have a user profile on file from your own customer research endeavors, but if not you can pull some information from your actual customers\u2019 social media profiles.<\/p>\n While personas can be customized to any format you prefer, templates and pre-existing tools can speed up the process and provide an easy first step for newcomers. Xtensio<\/a> is a good site for learning the ropes, but requires paid plans for ongoing use.<\/p>\n\n\n
What is a user persona?<\/h2>\n\n
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How do you use a user persona?<\/h2>\n
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What does a good user persona include?<\/h2>\n
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Expert tips for creating your user persona<\/h2>\n
1) Always use real data<\/h3>\n
2) Use customer surveys for quick data collection<\/h3>\n
3) Create multiple personas to represent different groups<\/h3>\n
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4) Detailed bios<\/h3>\n
5) Take advantage of persona tools<\/h3>\n
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