Having User Personas

Last Updated February 02, 2017

This month at EzTix it’s about finding that special someone — your ideal guest.

To run your marketing effectively it’s important to know WHO you’re marketing to. The first rule, is that you need to understand that YOU are not your ideal guest. The things you find great about your business may not be the same things a guest loves about it.

FINDING THAT SPECIAL SOMEONE Also referred to as your primary customer segment, or target demographic, your ideal guest is generalized profile of your stereotypical ticket buyer.

For instance, Tru Bahamian Food Tours in the Caribbean may have an ideal guest who is a cruise ship passenger. While Catalina Tours, off the coast of California, may have an ideal guest that consists of a person looking to escape Los Angeles for the weekend but stay close to home. It’s for this reason you can’t simply copy website text from a different experience site and place it on your own.

When you’re able to get a really clear picture in your mind of who that ideal guest is, you begin to understand “why” they are taking your tour. Then, you can start writing your marketing campaigns with this idea in mind. Telling people WHY they want your experience, instead of just WHAT your experience includes. This simple mindset shift is extremely powerful.

It’s because the needs of a 65yr old, retiree from the suburbs are different than those of a 23yr old millennial from the heart of the city. When those needs are different, you need to speak differently to help them understand why they should be giving you their hard earned money.

THE FEAR OF COMMITMENT  People are terrified at the idea of directing their marketing towards just 1 type of person because we think that means other people will not buy from us.

One of the people known as the pioneers of modern advertising was a guy named Claude Hopkins (who you’ve probably never heard of), but his advertising campaign for Pepsodent helped increase toothbrushing across the US from 7% of homes, to 65% in the 1920s. His research methods and copywriting principles still serve as a foundation for modern day advertising.

One of his core principle reads, “We cannot go after thousands of [customers] until we learn how to win one.”

When you focus your messaging around a particular type of guest it does not mean you are excluding other people. You are not saying, “our experience is only for this type of person”. What you’re doing, is focusing your efforts on a particular group of people who are more likely to buy from you than the next person.

We are not turning customers away. You are simply realizing Customer A is more likely to buy from you than Customer B. So, let’s speak to the needs of Customer A. This allows you to focus on one group of people instead of trying to focus on thousands of people. You learn how to win one client before thousands.

USER PERSONA GUIDELINES Businesses around the world use User Personas to guide their marketing efforts. Having yours established can be the difference between an effective marketing campaign or flat generic promotions.

Get an idea in your mind of that “type” of guest you see most on your tours. Try to answer these items when creating your user personas:

1) How old is your ideal guest? (avoid using a range, be specific)

2) Is your ideal guest married or single?

3) Where do they live?

4) What do they do for work?

5) Do they have any kids?

6) What does your ideal customer do in their spare time?

7) Give them a name:

8) What’s something they love?

9) What’s something they hate?

10) Why, specifically, is this person interested in your experience?

RESOURCES

Xtensio.com provides free templates for creating business plans, competitor analysis, press releases and more. They also have a template specifically for creating user personas. When you have the opportunity, I encourage you to explore this template. Fill out what you can, and you’ll be amazed at some of the ideas you get for marketing once you start defining things like:
• What is this person afraid of if they buy a ticket?
• What’s happening in their life that motivates them to WANT my experience?
• Even after they see what I have, why are they going to still say no?”

For more information on creating user personas, you can check out “The Complete, Actionable Guide to Marketing Personas” from Buffer. https://blog.bufferapp.com/marketing-personas-beginners-guide

We hope this helps you build a stronger foundation for marketing your experience this year.