Apr 172 min read

How do I know what buyer persona to focus on?

This is a conversation I have had with companies that are 6 months old, and most recently a company that was 7 years old, everybody struggles with it.

Focusing on a buyer's persona when all money is good money can be tough, I know it, I run my own business, and I wouldn't say no to a dollar. But for your messaging, you must have a focus.

You want to become “that guy” for your customers - oh you need a clear website - “Zachs my website guy.”

I do not just do websites, but this helps your customers, your friends, and your mom, to be able to talk about you to other people. It can feel constricting, but it clarifies your message and makes it easier to digest.

Now once I get going with a customer, we end up talking about marketing, a communication strategy, SEO, etc - but the initial buyer persona outreach needs to be very clear about what you do and who you help.

So how do I figure that out?

Client questionnaire.

These have been beaten to death by big corporations, so you need to be polite about them and make it short, but talking to your customers is the best way to paint a picture of who you can help the most

I suggest making the questionnaire less than 10 questions and having the majority of the questions be multiple choice, so it can be done very quickly, and leave room for additional comments. It is important to clarify in your initial outreach that this will be short, and how much you appreciate the feedback.

Your buyer's persona questions are not just based on age, sex, and role at the company, but will include questions such as:

What were your alternative options
What about the problem are they measured on
Timeline for the completion of the solution

These will give you clarity around the VP of sales you need to sell also needs to be within 6 months of their initial hire, being measured by the CRO for advancing the sales goals for example. That same VP might be looking at Hubspot to solve their current problem instead of you.

Once you know this you can start targeting people who follow the HubSpot page, have been hired within the past 6 months, and companies with at least 100 employees - that is usually big enough to have a VP and a CRO. This is also going to help with your initial outreach, being specific about understanding their problem increases your response rate.

Your buyer's persona is also going to bleed into your marketing and overall communications strategy, eventually you might shift your website to match that as well.