Cloud automation provider Skytap was recently able to increase its sales leads 124 percent by using buyer personas to create targeted content, reports Single Grain. Better understanding of buyer personas enabled by big data is paying off, with companies seeing $13.01 returned for every dollar they spend on analytics, according to a Nucleus Research survey.

Start putting analytics to work for you by using customer service data to optimize your company’s buyer persona and sales process.

Collecting Information

Gathering data is the first step toward creating a buyer persona. As direct mail marketers have long insisted, your current customers are your best resource. Observe your customers’ behavior by using tools such as Google Analytics and Aspect Zipwire call center software. Phone polls, email, blog surveys, social media data and conversations, demographics research and industry reports are other tools you can use to collect information from both your current and past customers as well as other prospects.

Analyzing Your Data

Start analyzing your data by placing it in a number of categories. These include basic demographic information such as gender, age and profession. Also consider information relevant to spending behavior, such as what types of benefits lead customers to make a purchasing decision, how much they typically spend and their shopping habits. This type of information can be combined with customer service information such as how easily shoppers are able to find what they want on your store or website, how often they need help, how long they have to wait for assistance, what channel they prefer for receiving support and what types of issues they need help with.

Creating a Persona

Visualize your buyer as a real person by giving him or her a realistic name, backstory, job, title and hobbies, along with goals, challenges, values and fears. For instance, Old Navy directed one of its former marketing campaigns at an imaginary soccer mom named Jenny who is 25 to 35 and married to a working husband with children in elementary school. Create three to five buying personas to reach multiple markets.

Creating Targeted Content

Oracle Senior Product Marketer Kaila Garrison lists five sets of key questions you can ask when creating personas for content marketing. Her questions solicit information such as what motivates your buyers, what fears and frustrations concern them, where do they go to get information and what steps they go through before making a purchase. Answering these types of questions will help you design targeted content that meets your buyers where they’re at and addresses their needs.

Adjusting Your Sales Process

Customer service data can also help you improve your sales process by helping you give your customers what they want. For instance, a LivePerson survey found that for 82 percent of customers, the most important factor that makes a great customer service experience is getting their issue resolved quickly, while another 56 percent agreed that resolving the issue in a single interaction was important. Knowing this type of information can help you take steps such as reducing customer wait time to ensure that your customers remain satisfied and in a buying mood.

Contact The Sherwood Group to learn more optimizing your buyer persona using customer service data.

If you enjoyed this article, you may also want to check out these others:

7 Steps to Help Your Business “Get Found” on the Web
Pay Per Click Advertising: Is It Worth The Money?
15 Website Mistakes You Should Avoid (Part 1)
5 Simple and Easy Marketing Ideas That Work
How to Stop Working for a Paycheck and Start Creating for a Living
Is There Still Gold in Cold Calling?
Tips To Help You Decide How Much To Charge
5 Social Media Mistakes That Will Get You Unfriended/Unfollowed

This article is published by Will Sherwood | The Sherwood Group |Website Design | Graphic Design | Marketing Communications: The Sherwood Group has over 30 years of experience working with all sorts of companies, small and large. Our clients range from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 firms, in nearly every business sector, from across the street to around the world (and yes, even Europe, China, and South America). Our goal is to create advertising,  graphic design, website design, and marketing communication that still looks fresh and relevant 10-15 years later. Our mission is to stir your imagination and leave your competition shaken and wondering,  Now what do we do?”  We are located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Do you need help growing your business? Click here to check out the social media marketing and website design packages from The Sherwood Group. We’ll help you capture new business and achieve your goals.

“Like” us and/or “Follow” us at these social media sites and we’ll return the favor:

LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

Please comment. We’d like to know if you found this article informative or helpful?