The persona represents the person you are going to be selling to. When selling to businesses you are still needing to sell to an individual and it's important to understand what they care about in their position at their company as well as appealing to who they are as a person. This means also researching their likely habits, values, psychographic profile, media usage and trends.
Step 1. Research the demographics and psychographics of buyers using Simmons Oneview.
Step 2. Using the data found in Simmons create a demographic profile for your persona. Simmons data will point you toward a good direction but you still have choice. You may want to factor in information you've learned about your target company (Is there a person specifically you've identified as a buyer? -- This information may not be available.)
Step 3. Conduct consumer research and find the psychographic, values, habits, media usage and trends to further develop your understanding of this persona and how it could affect your strategy for reaching this buyer. While you are selling a business product, you still need to appeal to the human side of the buyer as well. Use resources listed under Consumer Research.
Step 4. Don't forget to consider what issues will be top of mind for this persona when they are at work. How you can help solve a problem or improve their business? You need to determine how you can help them fulfill their needs. (Refer to your industry research, b2b market research, and trade journals found in ABI/Inform or Business Source Complete.)
Step 5. Incorporate your research into your persona narrative. Use endnotes to indicate where you found the information.
Example: John Smith has an annual income of $100,000.1
Endnote:
1. "Demographic Profile: Business Purchasers making decisions over $5000 a year,” 2014, Spring 2014 NHCS Adult Study 12-Month, Simmons Oneview.
