User Persona/Customer Segment

Are you struggling to convince people to download your app?

Do you feel like you don’t know your customers? Do you feel like your customers don’t know you?

You need a user persona.

In an ITSMA survey, 90% of companies who used buyer personas had better clarity on who their buyers were. The same research also found that 82% of participants improved their value proposition by thinking about their customers.

One year from now, having a user persona could turn you into a market leader. You could increase your app downloads and convert more of your leads into sales. In some cases, you might even complete the sales process quicker.

It’s easier than you think to achieve all of these, too.

Today, you’re going to learn about:

  • The definition and benefits of a user persona;
  • How to make a mobile app user persona.

You’ll discover all the key steps towards the end of the article, so be sure to keep reading.

What Is the Purpose of Creating a User Persona?

The primary reason teams create a user persona is to understand who they’re selling to better. While analytics and reporting are essential, they need context. A persona makes this data more memorable.

Companies will also create these profiles to achieve more consistency. A mobile app user persona is vital for ensuring that marketing and sales are in-sync with each other. They also help to form cohesion with your branding and customer service.

The Benefits of Creating Personas

Create empathy. To achieve more app downloads, you need to do more than just knowing what you will sell. It’s also essential that you know how to sell.

When you make a mobile app user persona, your statistics have more meaning. It’s easier to relate to your customers because you feel like you’ve already created them. As a result, you’ll become a better listener and problem-solver.

Encourage proactivity. When you create a user persona, you understand market trends better. After all, a good profile needs in-depth market research.

When you understand what customers want, you can also predict future trends better. In turn, your team will be more productive and innovate better too.

Better market positioning and customer experience. Knowing what your customers *really* want is essential for positioning your product on the market. When you don’t know how to make a user persona for your app, you will guess more. And often, that guessing won’t be accurate.

In contrast, you will be more precise about what you offer and to who when you create a user persona. This will help you to tweak your messaging and stand out to your target customers.

How to Make a Persona for Your Mobile App: The Key Steps

So, now you know what an app user persona is. You’re also aware of the benefits having one can bring.

Does that mean you should go all-in and make them without thinking?

Well, no. Not yet.

The best user personas follow a similar pattern:

  • The concept stage
  • Preliminary research
  • First-hand research
  • Profile creation

In each of these, some sub-tasks need completing. The section below will outline the most critical steps in defining the target customers for your mobile app.

Step 1. Think About the Basics

Think about the types of people you want to target with your app. Ask yourself the following questions.

  • What are their demographics (age, gender, level of income, etc.)?
  • Are there any causes they particularly care about? For example, are they particularly passionate about alleviating poverty?
  • What are their individual goals?

You also need to think about the problems you’ll help them solve. For example, a millennial graphic designer earning $40,000 per year might be fed up of feeling burnt out.

It’s also a good idea to think about the kinds of content your buyer persona would already consume elsewhere, plus the brands they buy and so on.

Step 2. Divide Your Buyers Into Groups

Within the niche of customers your app serves, the chances are that there are various subgroups. And to put together a compelling persona, you will need to identify each of these.

As an example, say that your app wants to target young professionals. Within this, you could divide them by their career path. Marketing managers will have different goals than sales executives, and their needs will differ from a legal associate.

Step 3. Carry Out Specific Research

Great – so now you know a little more about who you’re looking to target. Next step: getting in-depth first-hand research.

You can collect information in a number of ways. Surveys, listening on social media and going through your analytics are three of these.

Make sure you get a good number of samples for each of your target groups. Once you have these, you can move on to the exciting final steps.

Step 4. Create Profiles

When you’ve done all your background research, it’s time to create your user persona profiles. These should have a complete overview of who your audience is, what they like and dislike, their common interests, and so on.

It’s worth noting that while these should provide a complete picture, you shouldn’t go into more depth than you need. Each profile should fit easily onto one page; you don’t need to create extensive PDFs outlining their first steps to what they had for dinner.

When creating your profiles, give each of them a name. Create a picture for them, too, so they’re more memorable and personal.

To create your user personas, you can use a variety of free online resources. For example, HubSpot has downloadable templates.

Step 5. Update Your Personas Regularly

Congratulations – you’ve created your user personas! Does that mean your job is done?

No. Far from it.

Your industry will change over time, and so will your users’ needs. The only way you can continue offering the best possible services is by updating your personas regularly.

Keep getting feedback and improving your app’s offerings. That way, you’ll continue to stand out ahead of your competition.

Now You’re Ready to Boost Your App Sales

A well-researched user persona is essential for all businesses looking to create a successful mobile app. Putting in the time to understand who exactly you want to target will save you a lot of wasted time and money in the long run.

Carry out the necessary research, divide your users into different groups, and be proactive with updating everything. Make sure you also gather opinions on your personas, so they’re not biased.

Once you’ve created your personas, you’re going to need a team of experts to help develop your app. Why not book a free consultation with us to see how we can help?

Akash Shakya

Coming from distributed computing background, Akash manages the Sydney operations. He is highly technical yet very business focused and is always driven to create successful business products for our clients.

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