It’s difficult to start marketing for your business if you don’t know who you’re selling to. This is where buyer personas come in, a.k.a your “dream client.” In this episode, Erika & I sit down to discuss all things buyer personas such as what they are, how to make them, and how you can use them for your business advantage!
Biggest Takeaways You Don’t Want To Miss
What Are Buyer Personas?
Buyer personas are fictional, generalized representations of your ideal customers within your target audience. Think of it like a sketch of a key segment of your target audience. BUT, be sure to keep it realistic. Buyer personas can be used to help you understand your customers, prospects, and who you should be focusing your time on targeting. They can help you tailor content to fill the needs, behaviors, concerns, and triggers of different target audience groups.
How Do You Make A Buyer Persona?
First, you’ll have to do some market research and gain insights from your current customer base. Start small. The number of personas you have should depend on the size of your business. Specific targeting allows you to target to get more out of your marketing efforts. You can do research, send out surveys, and interview your target audience. Remember to define from your client’s perspective when creating buyer personas.
What Are Negative Personas?
Negative personas are fictional, generalized representations of individuals that you DON’T want as customers. This will help you “get over” people who don’t fit so you can move on. They allow you to not beat yourself up when you pass on a potential client and when new clients try and bargain your rates. In other words, negative personas will save you time! Knowing the type of person you don’t want as a customer is sometimes more important than knowing your customer.
How Can You Use A Persona?
Personas allow you to personalize and target your marketing to better relate to segments. For best results, use your buyer personas to create content for your prospective clients to hit them at different stops along their buyer’s journey. For example, you won’t want to use the same messaging to a persona who is in the awareness stage and another who is in the decision stage. Other things to try are:
- Try segmenting your email marketing. Create campaigns targeted at different personas at each stage of the buyer’s journey.
- Make a newsletter for each persona.
- Create Ads and create audiences on Facebook and boost the ads to the appropriate
- Use negative personas to filter out those who are a bad fit to lower your clicks from ‘bad leads’
To Set Up Your Persona…
You’ll need to give them a:
- Name & Photo.
- Background
- “A Day In The Life” Story
- Goals, Hopes, & Dreams
- Challenges, Worries, & Fears
- Digital/Online Habits
- Biggest Influencers
- How Your Company Can Help Your Persona
- Common Objections
- Real Quotes
- Marketing Messaging & Elevator Pitch
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Transcript:
This is episode 111 of Bella in Your Business. The next series of episodes are from a previously recorded live event training series that Erica Goodwin and I did together. The following is a past recording, but the information is just as juicy. I hope you enjoy it.
Welcome to Bella in Your Business, where Bella will discuss anything and everything about your pet sitting business to help you land on target. So get ready—Bella’s got your chute. Let’s jump.
Welcome to the Jump into Marketing Show. My name is Bella Vasta and I am here with Erica Goodwin. Today, we are going to talk to you all about buyer personas. They’re also called avatars—the one, two, or three types of people that you really want to attract in your business. So if you have ever sat at the computer and wondered what to write, what to put on your website, what to put in an advertisement, how to get the perfect kind of employee or client, or if you’re attracting the wrong people, we’re going to talk all about that today.
Erica, I’m so excited because at the end, you’re going to put people through a workshop where they get to leave this training knowing exactly how to do it. If you have your laptop, iPad, or a piece of paper, you can literally make a persona as we walk you through the process.
Erica: For those that don’t know, my name is Erica Godwin and I am a co-founder of ProPet Software, which is a kennel management software. I’m also the owner of Marketing Solutions, pet business websites.
Bella: I am Bella Vasta from Jump Consulting. I’m a pet business coach who helps people from $200,000 to a million scale their business and really be able to walk away from it when they want. This show is also sponsored by my program, the Jump Mastermind. If you’re looking for accountability, motivation, and support, the Jump Mastermind is the place for you.
Erica: Today’s topic fits perfectly with that. We’re talking all about customer service, and you even have Joey Coleman coming to talk to your members.
Bella: Yes! He’s worked with NASA, Deloitte, and Touche, and even the White House. He’s one of the most amazing speakers, and he’s coming to our small group to talk one-on-one.
So Erica, let’s get straight into it. What the heck are buyer personas?
Erica: Think of a buyer persona as a fictional representation of who you want your ideal customer to be. When you’re successful enough that you only want specific people—not those who haggle or complain—you start identifying patterns among your favorite clients. Those are your personas. Creating these helps you understand your customers on a deeper level so your marketing speaks directly to them.
Bella: But what if I just want people who love their pets? Isn’t that enough?
Erica: Not really. “Loving pets” is too broad. They might love their pet but live outside your service area or not have disposable income. They might buy cheap products or say they love pets but not invest in their care. It’s too vague. You need to narrow it down.
Bella: So how do we actually make these personas?
Erica: Start with research. Talk to your customers. Learn their hobbies, interests, commutes, and online habits. Do surveys to find out demographics—age, location, income, lifestyle. You can use Google Forms or SurveyMonkey for that. And if you don’t want to cold-call, just send an email saying you’re improving your business and want more customers like them.
Bella: I’ve done that before! Sometimes I just call my favorite clients to thank them and ask, “What drew you to us? What keeps you coming back?” Open-ended questions work great.
Erica: Exactly. Those informal chats can give you gold. And you can use this for both positive and negative personas.
Bella: Negative personas?
Erica: Yes, people you don’t want to work with. Maybe they’re rude, late, or cost you more time than they’re worth. Negative personas help you identify red flags before onboarding clients that aren’t a good fit. For instance, at ProPet, if a potential customer is super low-tech, they might cost us more in setup and support than they pay us. That helps us make better business decisions.
Bella: That’s brilliant. Same thing with pet sitters—if you make your software and online scheduling process visible, the people who don’t want to use it will weed themselves out automatically. It saves time and money.
Erica: Exactly.
Bella: So how can we use these personas once we have them?
Erica: Most businesses have a few—maybe a young millennial couple with a dog, and maybe empty nesters in their 60s. They have different habits and communication preferences. You can tailor your messaging to each. For example, in Mailchimp, you can create segmented email lists so your messages connect better with each type.
Bella: Yes! Like in my email list—people who download the employee handbook are usually ready to hire, so I tag them differently from those just starting out. That’s segmentation.
Erica: Exactly. And Facebook gives you tons of insights too. You can see follower demographics, interests, and popular pages they like. That data shows who you’re actually attracting and helps you refine your audience.
Bella: So true. You can check your Facebook Page Insights or Ads Manager and see who’s following you—by gender, age, city, and even what other pages they like.
Erica: Once you’ve done that, it’s time to actually build your persona. Give them a name and a photo so your team can visualize them. Avoid naming them after someone you know—it makes you biased. Instead, use something like “Anxious Annie” or “Busy Ben.”
Bella: I love that. I’ve named mine after real people before, and it definitely made me biased.
Erica: Next, outline their background—job, age, family, income, spending habits, and location. Are they stressed or relaxed? Do they live in a city or rural area? What’s their demeanor like? The more you know, the better.
Bella: That’s amazing. I used to resist doing this because I didn’t want to limit myself, but you can actually have more than one—two or three tops.
Erica: Yes, not too many. And their career path matters too. If someone’s a young executive moving up the ranks, they’ll have growing needs—dog walking now, boarding later. Understanding their progression helps you grow with them.
Bella: Totally. In Scottsdale, many of my clients moved here for high-level jobs. They’d work long hours and need flexible, reliable pet care. That’s a lifestyle choice, and it’s part of their persona.
Erica: Exactly. You can even map out a “day in their life.” Do they wake up early, commute long distances, have kids, or work shifts? Understanding their daily routine helps you tailor your services and messaging.
Bella: That’s so good. For example, if they’re in meetings all day, maybe they’d love your software that sends updates automatically—so they don’t have to call or text. That’s how marketing connects to real-life convenience.
Erica: Yes, and for people like nurses or pilots, their schedules might be irregular. That’s another persona entirely—shift workers.
Bella: This is so smart. Okay, what about their goals?
Erica: Think about their hopes and dreams. Maybe they want a promotion, to buy a new house, to travel, or to get a second dog. If your service helps them reach those goals—say, by saving them time or giving peace of mind—you become essential to them.
Bella: And what about challenges and fears?
Erica: Definitely include those. Maybe they’re going through a divorce, have an illness, or feel guilty leaving their pet. Understanding that emotional side helps you craft messages that truly connect.
Bella: Yes! I’ve had divorced clients who shared custody of pets. Knowing that, we made it easy for both owners to coordinate with us privately. That’s empathy-driven service.
Erica: Right. Next, look at their digital habits. How do they find information? Are they on Facebook, Instagram, or Google? Do they text, or do they prefer calls or emails? Even older clients might be tech-savvy these days, so don’t assume—it’s about lifestyle, not age.
Bella: My grandma uses Facebook more than some millennials!
Erica: Exactly. Then look at their influences—who do they trust? Friends, online groups, family, local businesses? This ties into the buyer’s journey—awareness, consideration, and decision stages.
Bella: So true.
Erica: Once you understand all that, you can build your elevator pitch. This is a 30-second statement that connects emotionally. Don’t just say, “I’m a pet sitter.” Instead, say something like, “I help busy professionals give their pets consistent care even when their schedules are unpredictable.” That hits an emotional chord.
Bella: Exactly. And for business networking, you can say, “We help entrepreneurs like you give your pets a healthy, happy life even when you’re working long hours.” It’s personal and relatable.
Erica: Also, know your clients’ common objections—money, trust, schedule, or fear of strangers in their home. Prepare responses for each.
Bella: Yes, people often told me they’d have a neighbor do it or didn’t want to pay. We addressed that with transparency, flexibility, and professionalism.
Erica: Perfect example.
Bella: Well, I think we’ve covered so much. This might be my favorite training we’ve ever done.
Erica: Same here!
Bella: You guys, if your website looks outdated or DIY, please check out Erica’s websites. I seriously get thank-you notes from people I’ve referred to her. Don’t try to do it yourself—you’ll save time and stress by having it done right.
Erica: Thanks, Bella!
Bella: And next week, Erica will be in Jamaica (lucky her!), so Kate McQuillan from Ireland will join me to talk about Facebook contests. It’ll be another fun and insightful episode.
Thanks for jumping with Bella in Your Business. For more information, free articles, and coaching sessions, go to JumpConsulting.net.