We usually aim to create four to seven personas per website or campaign, although these numbers are not set in stone. In some instances, we have to create more secondary personas to support complex sites and to make sure all segments of the market are covered. Ultimately, you will discover that catering a site to four to seven individuals with a detailed description of their interests is more successful than catering to a large group of people with a wide range of personalities, likes and dislikes, and opinions.
By creating personas, you can visualize the customers you are targeting. Understanding your site visitors’ buying patterns and behaviors can help you mold an experience that will persuade them more effectively. Personas will help you focus on usability aspects that appeal to target consumers, and they will shape the content and elements throughout the site.
Of course, the benefit of creating personas is not limited to the online space. Many retailers rely on creating personas to help their sales executives understand their target market, as well as to develop empathy toward their customers. The electronics retail giant Best Buy analyzed its customer data to determine which customers are the most and least profitable. The company discovered that one of its core markets is the typical soccer mom. In the Washington Post article “In Retail—Profiling for Profit,”[21] this soccer-mom target market segment is described as follows:
The main shopper for the family but usually avoids electronics stores. She is well-educated and usually very confident, but she is intimidated by the products at Best Buy and the store clerks who spout words like gigabytes and megapixels.[22]
Analyzing your customer data is the first step toward creating personas. In the next step, Best Buy created a persona, Jill, to bring the soccer mom segment to life. The company also created other personas: Buzz (the young tech enthusiast), Barry (the wealthy professional man), and Ray (the family man). Creating personas is only half the battle. Ultimately, the goal is to adjust the selling process to attract and convert more of these customers into buyers. So, Best Buy sales associates are trained to spot the different types of customers and adjust their selling behavior to match that of each customer type. The article gives us insight into how Best Buy used its Jill persona to impact the sales process:
Best Buy Co. is trying to change that by giving her the rock-star treatment at selected stores, sending sales associates with pink umbrellas to escort the Jills to and from their cars on rainy days and hoisting giant posters in the stores that pay homage to the Jills and their children, who are shown playing with the latest high-tech gadgets.[23]