Currently, there are several resources for a brand to prospect in the market. And with so many possibilities, information and tools, it is common for entrepreneurs to be confused when it comes to making the right decision.
When you have a business and want to reach your audience more and more, you need to create a good direction. In marketing, we have 2 ways: the target audience and the persona, each of these strategies has different characteristics, and the more well defined the objectives, the easier it is to achieve the expected result.
A few years ago it was enough to know and define your potential audience, but now it seems that just that is not enough. Find out what is the difference between Target Audience and Persona, and better understand their importance to your business.
What is Target Audience?
Defining a target audience for a business used to be the first step in starting a marketing campaign. It is the social, economic and demographic definition of who will consume your product or service.
Generally, the target audience brings information such as:
- marital status;
- formation;
- genre;
- shopping habits;
- age;
- profession;
- economy;
- region.
Example of a defined target audience:
Female people, 50 to 75 years old, with higher education, with monthly income between $ 5,000 to $ 10,000, widows, retirees, who live in the city of Boston and are looking for a partner.
For a long time, defining the target audience was the only way for marketers and advertising professionals to determine who they would advertise to.
But with the new consumption habits and the wealth of information and segmentation that digital marketing offers, it is necessary to have a more precise perception of the consumer and his characteristics so that the campaigns are really efficient.
What is Persona?
Persona, Brand Persona, or buyer persona is a specific and very detailed profile of a real or almost real person of the ideal customer of a company, it is used in Inbound Marketing (or attraction marketing). The goal is for a company to better understand who the customer is and what he needs, enabling more assertive marketing strategies.
It is a good solution to understand the new needs of the connected consumer. A persona brings more details, creating a greater connection and empathy of your marketing team with the customer, which leads to a more focused and efficient creation and segmentation.
When creating a persona you will find information such as:
- a fictitious name, to facilitate the connection;
- a brief history of the persona’s daily life;
- profession;
- shopping habits;
- Lifestyle;
- favorite social networks;
- hobbies;
- values;
- pain related to your product;
- doubts;
- ambitions.
Example of a Brand Persona:
John is 60 years old, works as a security guard at a bank in downtown Boston, has completed high school and earns $ 2,500 per month. He likes to buy newspapers on the way to work daily to read about the city and news about his team. He likes to spend little with this habit, spending between $ 0.50 and $ 1.00. He is married and has 2 children who are already in high school, close to leaving home. On weekends, John likes to go to bars with friends or go to the stadium to watch his team’s games.
So Persona is more important than the target audience?
No, both are important at different stages of marketing. While the target audience provides more comprehensive information about the ideal customer, the persona brings a greater level of detail, to help your marketing team create more empathy and visualize the best language, tone of voice and approach in the campaigns and communication of company with its audience.
Source: Rock Content
