Before you begin creating social media posts, and copy on your website or Google Ads, you need to first understand who your audience is. After all, you can’t effectively reach someone and convert them into customers if you don’t know anything about them! The best way to begin to understand your audience is to create a buyer persona.

A buyer persona is a fictitious person you will visualize in your mind every time you write on behalf of your business. You need to be able to imagine them as a whole person, physically and emotionally, so you can trust what you are saying to them will resonate. If you can figure out what makes them tick, you can figure out how to sell to them!

It’s okay if your buyer personas are simple in the beginning. The more you learn about your audience (by analyzing data on social media or through Google Analytics) you more you can personalize your personas.

HOW DO YOU BEGIN TO CREATE A PERSON OUT OF THIN AIR? HERE’S AN EXERCISE TO GET YOU STARTED!

A good place to start is to take a look at your customer base and begin to track general trends that exist. Take notes on what you find. Are they mostly men or women? Do they own their own homes? Do they have families? Are they older or younger? Look at your notes and write down the reoccurring traits you find. Don’t have a customer base yet? Begin with the customer you would like to have and answer the questions below.
In addition to your own notes, make sure to have these basic questions answered:
- What’s their professional background? (Job title, employed or unemployed, career path)
- What’s their personal background? (Married, single, family?)
- What are their basic demographics? (Gender, age, income, location)
- What is their demeanor? (Calm, stressed, reluctant, optimistic)
- What are their goals? (Professional or personal)
- What are their challenges?
- What can you do to address those challenges?
- What would their common objections be to using your service or product?
- If possible, get real quotes from potential customers
Once these questions are answered, you should name your persona. For instance, you can name one persona Stay at Home Helen or Business Owner Beverly. Give the persona a name that encapsulates the answers above and would accurately describe them.

This exercise is a good place to begin to understand your audience, so you can begin to create messaging that will attract and convert them into customers.

Need help understanding how to reach your audience?

Ascendent Health Marketing can help! As part of our Brand Identity and monthly digital marketing packages, our expert team of marketers will work through some exercises with you to help you craft and define your brand and reach you audience. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your mental health practice!