There are things that Buyer Personas and Buyer Profiles have in common. There are also important distinctions. Knowing the differences helps you to develop both tools well. And it helps you to stay focused on what’s most important in the development of each tool.
Buyer PersonasÊattempt to create a representative person from a population. This person is someone that influences a buying decision for a product. For the purposes of this article I use a market segment as the population. Because a Buyer Person is representative, it is an average – typical.
Buyer Personas are a fundamental marketing tool, used to get insight into the people the marketing team wants to influence. They provide a common ‘picture’ that helps in the development of messages and how to deliver those messages.
Buyer Personas are not developed through creative writing. You shouldn’t make them up based on opinion. Develop them based on real data from real people in a real market segment. They are often detailed and deliver insights that affect promotional strategy and mediums.
Buyer Profiles are a sales tool, used for sales enablement. They deliver market insights to the sales team. Build Buyer Profiles from Buyer Personas. They are brief and summarize essential sales knowledge about buyers for the sales team.
A Buyer Profile is short – one page in length. Base it on the ideal buyer but built from the facts in the Buyer Persona. It does not need to have the depth of a Buyer Persona. It’s a snapshot.
