Why a buyer persona matters when creating your online course

Who is your digital business's buyer persona?

Having and using a persona is essential when creating content and digital products. After all, how else will you manage to be relevant and speak to your audience's pain points? Even so, many digital entrepreneurs still skip this strategic step or struggle to carry it out.

Whatever your case, this article will help you understand:

• What a buyer persona is
• How to create a persona for a digital business
• How to put your persona to work

What a buyer persona is

In short, a buyer persona is a profile of your ideal customer.

Think about who you want to reach with your business. What do you know about this person? Tastes, wants, habits... these are the questions you need to answer when creating your persona. Just to illustrate, here's an example of what a persona looks like:

Maria, the persona for a healthy recipes e-book

In short, it's a fictional representation, but one that's thought out and created in a human way. That way, you can understand the needs, motivations, and goals of your potential customer and, as a result, know how to reach that person and the best way to turn them into a customer. All of this is based on demographic, behavioral, and psychographic information.

Depending on the project, there may be more than one persona for the same segment.

So how do you create personas?

As in the previous example, to create a persona you need to identify who your ideal customers are and what their characteristics are. You can use your own perception, but it's also important to rely on data, whether it's collected through surveys, interviews, or analysis of information you already have.

That way, you can learn more about their habits, challenges, interests, and goals.

If you're going to run surveys, remember to include questions that may seem very basic but will give you valuable information:

If you already have an online course, it's worth reinforcing a few points to better structure your persona:

• Relationship with the platform where the course is offered;
• What educational content they've consumed in the last 6 to 12 months;
• Personal details, such as ambitions and interests.

In this process, it's essential to include as many details as you can. That means a face (from an online stock photo site, for example) and a rich backstory. Also add their main interests, their concerns, pain points, and biggest desires. The more details, the better.

Create a person you can talk to, with enough information that you know exactly how to find them and reach them easily. That's what will make the difference when structuring the marketing strategies for your online course.

How do you use a persona for an online course?

The next step, then, is to use your persona.

In short, you'll put it at the center of every decision or strategy. In other words, you'll answer a few questions that tie directly into the marketing strategy you're going to implement. These include, for example:

• What are the best channels to communicate with your persona?
• What content would this person like to receive?
• How, and with what information, can you make this customer's routine easier?

This way you ensure effective communication, keep your audience engaged, and set achievable short-, medium-, and long-term goals.

Now that you know how to create a persona and understand why it matters when developing an online course, it's time to roll up your sleeves. If you need help bringing your digital product to the world, count on Cademí. We're ready to turn your projects into reality. And don't forget to follow us on social media so you never miss an update and always stay well informed.