A template that helps you create buyer personas, so you can better target your messaging and marketing programs.

1. HOW TO
CREATE
BUYER
PERSONAS
Fill out a separate template for
each of your buyer personas.
Have fun, be creative and ping
me when you have questions:
bettina@baumgart.us

2. 2|
Table of Contents
3 4 5 6 7
page page page page page
8
page
Whatisabuyerpersona? Whydoyouneedbuyer
personas?
ExampleoftheB2B
buyingprocessandroles
Howmanybuyer
personasdoyouneed?
Howcanyoufindout
whoyourbuyersare?
Buyerpersonatemplate
startinghere

3. 3|
What is a buyer
persona?
A buyer persona is an avatar
representing your real-life
buyer. It is a tool that helps
you define who your buyer is
and what their needs are. So
you understand what it is
about your product that is
most important to your
buyer.
Buyer personas are the basis
of positioning, messaging,
marketing campaigns,
demand creation programs
and sales support.

4. 4|
Why do you need
buyer personas?
In a typical B2C sale, it’s easy
to answer the question of
who your customers are.
In more complex sales, such
as in B2B selling, there are
several people involved in the
buying process, typically
more than three (we call this
buying center).
If you are for example selling
software to a healthcare
company, several
departments will be involved
in the decision process; from
the Line of Business to the IT
department.The larger the
company, the more people
are part of the purchasing
process.
Each buyer persona plays a
specific role during the
buying process:
- decision maker
- influencer
- user
See an example of the buying
process and the different
roles on the next page.

5. 5|
Example of the B2B
buying process with
different buyer
persona roles
BuyerPersonaRoles:
g
-Decisionmaker
-Influencer
-User
Awareness
Evaluation
Purchase
Advocacy

6. 6|
How Many Buyer
Personas Do You
Need?
The number of buyer
personas you want to define
depends on the complexity
of the buying process for
your specific product.
Best practice is to define the
following three:
- the decision maker
- the influencer
- the user

7. 7|
How can you find
out who your buyers
are?
If you are just starting to
sell your product:
The best way to get to know
your buyers is during the
beta process. Here you have
several customers that are
interested in your product.
Talk to your main contact
about how they are making
decisions for purchases such
as your product.
If you are already selling
your product:
Talk to your sales people. Ask
them who they talk to when
they sell to a customer. Who
is the initial contact, who
makes the budget decision,
who actually uses the
product.

8. Buyer
Persona
Template
Note:
The following template is
comprehensive. The more
information you have the
better, but it is ok to leave
some areas open.

9. 9|
Example: Diana
VP of Marketing, Director of Marketing, Marketing
Manager
MBA, Masters
Technology
US
Medium size = 1000+
35+
Busy life, 2 small children
150K+
Live in a city
Nice suburban home
Mid to left politically
Persona Name
What is their job role?
What is their typical education?
Which industry do they work in?
Which country do they live and
work in?
What is the size of the company
they work at?
How old are they?
What is their lifestyle?
Do they have children?
What is their income?
Where do they live?
What is their political
orientation?
1Buyer Persona Template Person & Life

10. 10|
Example: Diana
Understand complex technology
Organized
Efficient
Good communicators
Short attention span
Restaurants
Good food
Wine
Microbrewery beer
Skiing
Traveling
Sports
Whole Foods
BMW, Tesla, Mercedes
Good education for their kids
Career advancement
Support family
Show that they are smart, dynamic, up-to-date
Persona Name
What personality are they?
What do they like outside of their
job?
What are their main goals in life?
2Buyer Persona Template Person & Life Cont.

11. 11|
Example: Diana
Inbound Marketing, Digital Marketing, Content
Marketing, Demand Generation, Lead Generation
For solutions or product lines
Planning and implementation of lead creation
programs and campaigns
Strategy for lead generation programs
Thought leadership campaigns
Manage budget for campaigns efficiently
Number of sales qualified leads (SQLs)
Number of comments on blog posts
Number of social engagements
KPIs
Email
Online
Presentations
Meetings, also online meetings
Persona Name
Main job responsibilities
Main job initiatives
How are they being measured?
How do they like to
communicate?
3Buyer Persona Template Job & Career

12. 12|
Example: Diana
Marketing associations
Marketing conferences
LinkedIn groups
LinkedIn
Twitter
Analyst publications
Industry news
Colleagues
Industry leaders
Social media
Marketing trends
Innovations in marketing
Technology news
New software tools that make their work easier
Tips on how to stand out
Tips on how to show results
Easy ways to stay up-to-date on industry news
Who can help them economically show marketing
success
The main decision is being made by their boss
(second buyer persona)
Persona Name
Where do they hang out in real
life and online?
Which information sources do
they trust?
What is the most interesting
information to them in
relationship to their career?
Are they the main decision
makers? Who else makes the
decision?
4Buyer Persona Template Job & Career

13. 13|
Example: Diana
Planning and implementation of lead creation
programs and campaigns
Strategy for lead generation programs
Thought leadership campaigns
Manage budget for campaigns efficiently
Never enough time to get it done right
Too many projects at the same time
Needs to get done ASAP
Not time to think it through
Give them hands on information that helps them be
more efficient
Tell them about short cuts
Templates, easy steps
Offer services that complement their work and
support their goals
Short bites of info
Persona Name
What are their main career
goals?
What are their main challenges?
What can we do to help our
persona to overcome these
challenges?
5Buyer Persona Template Job & Career Cont.

14. 14|
Example: Diana
Too expensive
No time to manage a consultant
Not sure whether you have sufficient insight
Do you fit into our team?
Are you good working with people?
Will you make me look good?
Show ROI
Show results
Show case studies
Give examples how you worked with team
seamlessly
Show how you can engage cross-functional teams
Persona Name
What are their main objections to
not purchase your
product/solution/service?
How can you respond to the
main objections?
6Buyer Persona Template Job & Career Cont.

15. 15|
Diana
1. Customer has decided that they need to get
serious in the digital marketing space but they
don’t know how to do it.
2. Sales is flattening and they need ideas on how
to generate more leads with marketing
3. Sales is flattening and they want to generate
more leads with their inbound marketing
1. Not sure they can trust you
2. I don’t have the time to do more marketing
3. Hiring you will make me look as if I don’t know
my job
Cost
Are you the right type of person they like to work
with?
Will you make their daily work easier?
Will you make them look good?
Can you deliver the results/leads they need?
Persona Name
What are the 3 main triggers to
buy your
product/solution/service?
What concerns prevent this
buyer from purchasing from you?
What does the buyer evaluate
before they make a decision
7Buyer Persona Template Job & Career Cont.

16. LIKED THIS
TEMPLATE?
Connect with me:
bettina@baumgart.us
@BettinaBaB
Bettinabaumgart.us