One of the most important aspects of any business is understanding who your target audience is. Without this knowledge, it’s difficult to create a marketing strategy that will actually reach the people you want to purchase your product. This is where buyer personas or ideal customer profiles (ICPs) come in.

If you’re reading this article, then you’re likely in search of an accurate buyer persona or ICP for B2B SaaS. Welcome to the club. You aren’t alone.

Creating an accurate buyer persona is the key. In this blog, you’ll get all the tips and tricks you need to understand what buyers are looking for and to craft the perfect buyer persona to connect with them. But before we explore buyer personas further, let’s clarify what one is. If a picture paints a thousand words, then buyer personas are a million of them.

What is a Buyer Persona?

A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer, based on data and research about your existing customers. When created correctly, your buyer persona will be able to help you make more informed decisions about your marketing strategy, product development, sales, and more.

Creating a buyer persona or ICP can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. In this blog, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about buyer personas, including how to create one, what to include, and how to use it to improve your business.

If you’re ready to start attracting your ideal customers, keep reading to learn how to create an accurate buyer persona.

Businesses that sell to other businesses can use them to understand their customers, create better products and services, and grow their business.

How to build Buyer Personas

Building your Buyer Personas is a little tricky because as your product evolves, theoretically so will your ICP. However, once you have a process in place, you’ll be able to navigate these changes a little more efficiently. With that in mind, we’ve put together some steps to help you create an accurate buyer persona for your b2b SaaS product:

Step 1. Define your target audience

The first step is to understand who you’re trying to reach with your product or service. Start by brainstorming a list of potential customer types. Identify your ideal customer based on the demographics, interests, and needs you already know about them. 

For example, if you sell accounting software for small businesses in Australia, then “Australian small business owners” would be a great place to start with your buyer persona creation process.

Step 2. Do your research

Once you have a list of potential customer types, it’s time to do some research. Look for data about your existing customers, such as surveys, customer interviews, and demographic information. Look at all the information you have about this group of people (including any customer feedback).  Ask questions like the ones below:

  • What do they like about your product? 
  • Are there any features that are particularly important to them? 
  • Do they have any common objections when it comes time to purchase something new?
  • What kind of language do they use when talking about how they work?
  • What are their day-to-day pain points at work?

Step 3. Create your persona

Now it’s time to start putting together your buyer persona. Use the data you gathered in step two to help you create a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer. Be sure to include basic demographic information, as well as information about their pain points, needs, and goals.

Once you’ve defined what they want from your product and how they feel about using it, you can create personas based on those needs. These personas will help guide your marketing efforts as well as help inform the development roadmap by acting as real-life examples of how people use your product in the real world.

Step 4. Give your persona a name

One of the best ways to make your buyer persona feel real is to give them a name. Yes, a name and personality. This will help you remember the persona and refer to them easily when making decisions about your business.

Step 5. Use your persona

Once you have your buyer persona, put those profiles to use. Use them to inform your marketing strategy, product development, sales, and more. Be sure to revisit and update your persona regularly to ensure they still accurately represent your ideal customer. 

Remember, your product will be constantly evolving with new features and benefits, this directly impacts your ICP so revisit your personas every quarter to assess if they are still accurate or not. 

Build Buyer Personas in a Flexible Manner

Buyer personas are an essential tool for businesses of all sizes. By taking the time to understand your ideal customer and create a semi-fictional representation of them, you can make more informed decisions about your marketing, product development, sales, and more.

Your persona will assist you in connecting with your prospective customers. Think of it as solving a puzzle—you need to learn about your audience and talk to them using the kinds of language they use every day. Then, when you pitch your product, you’ll do so from an informed perspective. You’ll also know better than to lead with features and benefits, or even positioning. Instead, you’ll speak directly to the needs of your customers and use the words that will resonate with them.

If you’re ready to create your own buyer persona, follow the steps outlined in this blog. And be sure to revisit and update your persona regularly to ensure they still accurately represent your ideal customer.