4 buyer persona examples to help you build your own

Key takeaways

• Developing buyer personas grounded in market research can help improve your marketing decision-making
• Creating different campaigns for different marketing personas can help boost revenue 
• Focus on customer characteristics that impact your marketing goals when building your buyer persona profiles, such as pain points or demographic information

When you meet someone who gets you, sparks start to fly. Similarly, when your potential customers see a marketing campaign that makes them feel seen, they begin to connect with your brand. 

While you can’t read your clients’ minds, creating buyer personas can help you understand what motivates your audience to buy so you can build campaigns tailored to their needs. 

Learn how buyer personas help businesses win actual customers with four buyer persona examples to inspire your own.

What is a buyer persona?

A buyer persona is a detailed profile that represents a segment of your target market. It offers insights into what drives your buyer’s purchasing decisions—from their needs, pain points, and goals to their values and demographic information (such as age and income level). Audience personas can also help you visualize what a day in the life of your client looks like so you can invest in the marketing channels they engage with most.

You can treat your buyer persona like a fictional character. You’ll give them a mock name and profile image to make your target market feel more concrete. 

However, a buyer persona should never be based on assumptions or stereotypes. Great buyer persona profiles help you improve your marketing efforts only when they accurately represent your ideal customers. This is why professional marketing and sales teams build user personas using market research and analytics from social media and customer relationship management (CRM) tools.

Why buyer personas matter

Buyer personas help you tailor your marketing strategies to your target customers. Rather than trying to appeal to everyone, personas help you tailor your campaigns for your ideal customers—the people who are most likely to find value in your products or services.

For example, if you’re trying to get real estate leads, you might have two key target markets: first-time homebuyers and first-time sellers. Creating a persona for each segment can help you develop marketing messages that speak to their unique pain points. While these campaigns might not appeal as much to long-time investors or frequent movers, your brand will feel like a perfect match for your ideal customers.

Buyer personas can also help you view your ideal customer base as a group of real people with diverse motivations, instead of one homogenous group. If your audience is segmented, your advertising, online content, and marketing messaging will better appeal to each group.

Consumers today expect personalized experiences. Getting to know your target audiences is the first step to making revenue-changing decisions. 

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4 buyer persona examples

Customer personas look different across companies and industries. Your buyer persona template should focus on the characteristics that impact your marketing goals. For example, knowing a customer’s location and daily commute might be relevant to a jewelry business with a physical store but not to an ecommerce jewelry brand.

Below are four buyer persona examples for two different industries so you can see how they add clarity to a target market. Keep in mind that your buyer personas can be significantly more detailed. The more details, the better you can improve your marketing plan.

Home improvement buyer persona examples

Dakota Lee: The new homeowner

• Millennial, middle class
• Dakota wants to turn her new house—which was within her budget but aged and outdated—into her dream home
• Her biggest challenge is finding trustworthy, affordable contractors

With these simple details, you can see Dakota is a price-conscious consumer. She has a limited budget, especially after purchasing her new home, which means any big purchases she makes must be thoroughly researched and validated. 

With this information in mind, you might build a referral program, which inspires trusted friends and family members of people like Dakota to promote your business. You can also claim your Yelp Business Page to manage your online reputation.

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Stephen Jones: The aging parent

• Baby boomer, upper-middle to upper-class, married
• As Stephen nears retirement, he’s interested in luxury improvements that will make his home a place he can relax in comfortably without getting bored
• Stephen still wants his home to be a gathering place for his kids and grandkids and to make the most of his space when they’re not visiting
• While he wants to make improvements to his home, he’s not interested in DIY and would prefer an expert to guide him in making decisions and perform the work
• Stephen prefers to shop online on desktop, not his phone

While price is not a big factor for Stephen, his purchasing decision may be impacted by his family values and needs. To help him visualize what your company can do for his home, you might try filming videos that feature seniors and multi-generational families enjoying home renovations. Ideally, you will share these on desktop-friendly platforms with an older audience, like Facebook.

B2B services buyer persona examples

Jay Yamamoto: The head of HR

• Millennial or Gen X, reports to the CEO of a mid-sized company
• Jay wants to make onboarding a fully virtual process to offer a smoother experience for employees and the HR team
• As the main decision maker for his team, he completes thorough research online before investing in new solutions to ensure their benefits are worth the costs
• Jay usually starts his customer journey on search engines

Jay is looking for a digital HR solution that can work for team members with a wide range of backgrounds and skills. Jay trusts research-backed content, so a content marketing campaign that targets keywords related to onboarding might help you reach clients like Jay. However, to really land the sale, you might offer a free trial, which will give Jay a hands-on way to confirm your solution offers a great user experience.

Jess Mendoza: The small business CEO

• Millennial, solopreneur or leader of fewer than 10 employees
• Jess wants to spend more time growing her brand but struggles to find the time because she and her team members juggle many duties
• She’s always one of the first to try out new tech and adapt to trends, thanks to her frequent use of social media and news apps

While Jess’ job title is CEO, she still finds herself spending time on administrative tasks. When you’re a solopreneur early in your business journey, you have a lot to keep track of—and few hands to help. To reach a busy online user like Jess, you might launch a digital marketing campaign through channels like LinkedIn or Facebook. Your marketing messages should also focus on how your brand can help automate or streamline her work. Demonstrate that your product is not just another platform to manage but a time-saver well worth the investment.

Improve the results of your marketing campaigns

If you want to build a brand that your ideal customers connect with, you need to use buyer personas that accurately reflect your target market. These fictional profiles—based on thorough market research—can help you build campaigns that speak directly to the needs and motivations of your target audience.

Use our buyer persona examples to create a template that helps you meet your marketing goals. With your personas in mind, you can create your next digital marketing campaign.