How to Build a Buyer Persona Using Surveys

How do I build a buyer persona using a survey?

1. Ask the right questions about the customers. Inquire about their:
   1. Roles, jobs, and backgrounds
   2. Demographic information (e.g. name, age, family members, location/address, gender, and salary)
   3. Personal goals and problems
   4. Frequently consumed media
   5. Buying preferences

 

One of the main reasons why survey tools for websites were made in the first place is to provide an avenue for customers and companies to interact. Thus, it is a great avenue for business owners – such as yourself – to get to know your market and create a useful buyer persona.

How to Make a Buyer Persona

When one creates a buyer persona, he must make sure that it is a good and accurate representation of the majority of his customers. While being able to understand how to use analytics tools is useful to know how the minds of clients work, nothing can compare to good market research. Being the simplest and most affordable method of said research, the online survey could be your tool to understanding your market much better.

It’s an effective tool that can gather important data from your customers. By being able to ask respondents to fill out the required fields, no response will have incomplete data; thus, more accurate results are achieved. Also, since it’s online, the questions you want answered can be delivered to a multitude of people. From existing loyal customers to potential new clients or even partners, the online survey can gather useful information from everyone that interacts with your website and/or company. With the results, you can create multiple buyer personas based on the personalities you see in the data you gather.

What Questions Do You Need to Ask?

While there is a general guideline regarding the questions you need to ask to effectively build a buyer persona, natures of business vary along with their products and services. Thus, the question needed may also vary as well depending on what your business needs. But before you ponder on that, take a look at the following questions to see what aspects of your customers you want to know more about:

 

1. Role, Job, and Background

This includes questions about the professional and educational history of a person. Asking this question can give you an idea of what he has gone through and where he is standing in his life. It will also give you an idea of his lifestyle preferences.

 

2. Demographic Information

This refers to all the basic information about your customers. Usually, this consists of personal details such as name, age, family members, location/address, gender, and salary. Although this is simple information, it’s a key component to understanding your market.

 

3. Personal Goals and Problems

Admittedly, this may seem to be a very personal question – ones that a customer only shares with his closest friends. But it’s actually a very useful piece of information to provide.

With this information, you can build a buyer persona in which you can understand the troubles that your market must overcome to reach their goals. From here, you can come up with solutions to their problems and achieve that ever so desired customer satisfaction.

 

4. Frequented Websites and Media

In the world today, people get their information by reading, watching, and consuming various media outlets. Learning where exactly do they go to get info is important for you to know how to approach your marketing offers.

To find it out, ask them the social media websites they frequent or the blogs they like to visit. Aside from these, you might also want to inquire about the magazines they read, the channels they watch, and the streaming sites they consume.

By knowing all this, you can focus on a specific outlet for your marketing and surveying efforts. This is because you will know where to easily get their attention.

 

5. Buying Preferences

Every customer has his own buying preference when wanting to interact with a vendor or a company. Some may want to go to the store to pick up an item right away while others may be too busy and wish for an online delivery system.

Basically, these are the ways that your customers would like to avail of your offer. By being able to create buyer personas with their buying preferences, you’ll understand how to make availing of your offers convenient to them.

 

Ask these questions in your online survey and take note of the common answers. Eventually, you will be able to build a buyer persona based on the most frequent types of personalities and histories that you see. From here, you can create new offers or improve your services to cater to their preferences, which develops their loyalty to you.

It is highly recommended that you create multiple buyer personas to represent the most common types of customers you interact with.

 

Key Takeaway

Basically, an online survey is a great medium in order to be able to ask questions that can help you build a buyer persona. Since online surveys are convenient for everyone, it’s an effective way for you to understand your customers; and for customers to feel like they are going to be taken care of.