Ditch buyer personas: Here's a smarter way to define your audience

Quick question: What method did you use to define your target audience? (Please tell me you at least tried defining your target audience and aren't marketing to "everyone" or "male or female business owners from 18 to 60+ in North America" 🙈) Raise your hand if you did it using a "buyer persona" approach 🙋‍♀️ You know, created a detailed description of a particular person: gave them a name and described their fictional life in great detail. Like: - how old they are - what they do - what car they drive - how many kids and pets they have - how they spend their spare time, etc. ...and even attached a photo you found online to imagine them better. I'm afraid I have bad news for you. Defining your target audience using buyer personas does more harm then good, because: ❌ It doesn't distinguish between characteristics that matter for a buying or hiring decision and introduces bias into your marketing, ...which leads to you wasting your efforts on marketing to the wrong people. Do they all matter or did you add some of that stuff just to make the story round? If your buyer persona Kate is a young mother and a cat person, does it mean that a middle-aged recently divorced dog person Jon won't be as likely to buy from you? #ThatsAMillionDollarQuestion 🤔 ❌It doesn't tell you explicitly why your target audience will buy from you (or what could prevent them to buy), ...which makes your marketing copy less persuasive, because you don't know what decision criteria it needs to fulfill and what objections it needs to address. Won't Jon not buy from you because he is middle-aged, recently divorced, or is it all the dog's fault? #weWillNeverKnow 🤷 (Is it a dog? It must be the dog! 🐶😁) Here's a (much) better way to define your target audience ✔️ Asking questions that reveal ONLY characteristics of your target audience that matter for a buying or hiring decision (and leave the unimportant stuff out to keep your marketing lazer-focused). Watch this video to find out how it works. [Video thumbnail](=.cae3EqKwNP4iAi70tTqcxhKXiF2C5mnkw6l27hmIBt8) By the way, this is a sample lesson of my online course that helps you define your target audience and uncover your unique value proposition. You can [get the 6 first lessons of the course for FREE here](=.m7WySVx0Q8qR8bX-CAW5AmAW_QfukSq-1K0auzJ4TtI) (valid for the next 14 days). The video I'm sending you today is from lesson #3. Meaning, you get free access to 3 lessons after this one, if you'd like to see how this approach works in action and use it to start zeroing in on your ideal clients. This would be all from me for the week. Warm greetings from Germany, Gill [Website review](=.GntcOymwgqqZfnezQaFclQq3OcTVUoRxVe-opXFNdOI) | [Copywriting](=.ix6ZcBCgIgLvcuxK_UYIScqihkuNrWWRyHsTYI1txQg) | [📙 My book](=.cCAmWX-96LQCKQ0aqJur_BBlvwnPtVWbx8GYNe0WHac) | [🖥️ My course](=.twoDAWF2v-TvxTM4NN8D64HrIc1CY8hfBdhoylbrVaY) P.S. This email may contain typos, and I'm fine with them because cloning humans is, unfortunately, still impossible. Spending more time proofreading my emails would mean I'll have to share fewer tips with you. And sharing more and better tips is more important to me than sharing tips that are grammatically perfect. I hope that's fine with you, too. [Gill Andrews] [gillandrews.com](=.nskZ1nfH2D-lSC2HO_BCQ1Tyij_2xMM95i8-4oXHAcQ) [Share to Facebook](=.VEJEBIqW3W7dDyTgfE-Cb_Ji18t1AMFBPjYZs0yPcvg) [Share to Facebook](=.hUfeuwHjdkd08VGEUJyLtgSmepT2qsoOXQ-vrDhGVng) [Share to Twitter](=.CkOn_FZEbd52UCY-IfV8uQEsSpisj5_WRRZD-vWsITc) [Share to Twitter](=.sGEwfKZhSGkJxKJ69ZQt_4tzqvz0CGqWvHZdU7nwDPs) [Forward email](=.9H250idiWVqrFMNkZugUEYww1IdckTqN0ZvnxWPX0wc) [Forward email](=.Ed86ZmJdqwjkkHmh4Etp__RQM0td8rXYrrcAuTDzLbM) Gill Andrews You received this email because you signed up to my updates. Changed your mind? No problem. Unsubscribe using the link below. [Unsubscribe](=.M0BoLHEYrkIkV7joUkuPgI67OAT1KmJ5u8n5h-VYJ5k)