If you are looking to create a highly converting website, your first step is to understand your visitors through in-depth market research, analytics assessments, usability and field studies, and online behavioral monitoring. The next stage is to develop empathy toward your visitors by translating all of the data you’ve collected into actual personas. The final phase is to use the personas to guide every element of your selling process.
Personas are models, examples, and archetypes that humanize and individualize a specific target market. They are hypothetical individuals who represent target consumers. They are at the helm of conversion optimization. Personas will guide every aspect of your website, including user interface and screen design, process flow, and web copy development. The purpose and objective of persona creation is to relate to customers at an individualized level.
Have you ever noticed how great it feels to explain your business to a friend, a coworker, or even a client? When you sit face to face with a person to discuss your products or services, your conversation is marked by enthusiasm, focus, and most importantly, real examples. You can anticipate what questions he will have, and you can provide more examples when you sense he did not understand what you were talking about. You know when to continue and when to stop by looking at him. You know what will grab his attention, and you can read his facial expressions for signs of confusion. The goal of persona creation is to bring personalization, engagement, and enthusiasm to your website. Too many websites cater to the masses and not to a single person. As a result, the copy is dull, the design is boring, and visitors are left frustrated.
Consider a site that sells art catering to two different market segments:
Educated females ages 50 and older, with a household income of $200,000+
Home builders who are predominately male, ages 30 to 40, with an annual income of $75,000 to $100,000
The two markets are different in gender, income, and personality traits. Their interests and motivations behind the purchase are different. One group is purchasing for themselves, the other for customers or for home staging. Your goal is to appeal to both markets equally, but how can you guarantee you can capture both groups’ interest?
This is where we would introduce Denise, a 55-year-old retired accountant. Her hobby is collecting art by new artists, or replicas of classical art pieces. She enjoys decorating her home with unique art and is always looking for new designs to add to her growing collection. Denise is not concerned about price. She just wants to ensure that her satisfaction is guaranteed. Because she knows that art doesn’t always look the same online as it does in person, return policies are extremely important to her.
This is also where we would introduce Zack, a 37-year-old builder who must find great, unique pieces to stage the homes his company builds so that prospects can imagine themselves living there. He also tries to find items that are neutral and will pique prospects’ interests so that he can sell the items with the homes. Zack is concerned about price because his boss always puts him on a strict budget, but also because he does not generally return the items (since he uses them). He would want a money-back guarantee in case the art piece was damaged on receipt.
Because we now understand both Denise’s and Zack’s concerns, we can create a site that addresses both personas. We can develop empathy toward them and regard them both as people we know, people we can relate to, and people we want to please and persuade.
Geek Squad, a boutique high-end computer-support company, is a great real-world example of a company that uncovered the needs and perceptions of its customers to guide its philosophy and branding. The company was acquired by Best Buy, but its original objective was to change customers’ perceptions of IT professionals. Tech support personnel have notoriously been labeled as annoying, arrogant, and difficult to work with. Geek Squad focused on customers’ emotional reactions and perceptions of its services to brilliantly rebrand an entire industry as being composed of approachable, helpful individuals who are easy to work with.
DON’T FORGET!
Conversion optimization is only as successful as the marketing information initially gathered.
Knowing your customers goes beyond market segmentation, especially online.
Personas are intended to bring hypothetical but realistic characters into the optimization you do for your customers. Catering to faceless John and Jane Smiths makes the task of pleasing and persuading your customers a lot more difficult.