Customer personas give you a snapshot of your real, ideal customers. We shared about how they are vital to a business’ customer experience and marketing strategy in our piece, “What Are Customer Personas? (+Why You’d Need One)”. Now, we’re sharing a nifty tool – The Customer Persona Canvas. It’s a simple, no-fuss template to help you accurately create the persona of your customer.
How To Complete The Customer Persona Canvas
Below, you’ll find a step-by-step guide on using the Customer Persona Canvas as an individual activity.
But if you’re thinking of tackling the canvas in a group setting, great choice! Whether it’s a close-knit team or a larger workshop with up to 20 participants, this exercise can be quite the collaborative experience. If you’re keen on running it as a workshop and making the most out of it, here’s the step-by-step guide.
Before you begin, download the pdf version of the Customer Persona Canvas.
Looking at the canvas, you’d notice that it is made up of 9 distinct sections. Each section reveals a different aspect of your customer, ranging from simple demographics to their most profound aspirations. Together, these sections paint a comprehensive picture of your customer base. By getting to know these facets, you can deepen your understanding of your customer base, and allow you to refine your products, services, and communication approaches to best suit their needs.
1. Pre-work
Think about the customers you usually see. If you’ve been in business for a while, lean on what you know about them. It’s always a good idea to back up your thoughts with some solid data or research. That way, your persona feels real, like it’s truly representing your customers.
Now, if you’re just stepping into the business and don’t yet have that information, no worries! Take a peek at what similar businesses are doing and the kind of customers they attract. It’s a starting point, and as you learn more about your own customers, you can keep refining that image.
2. Fill out the canvas
With this groundwork in place, go ahead and fill out the Customer Persona Canvas.
3. What’s Next?
Now that you’ve filled out your Customer Persona Canvas, you’ve got more than just a sketch. You’ve delved deep, gaining an intimate understanding of your target audience. This knowledge isn’t just for show; it’s a guiding light for your business strategies.
Here are just some examples of what you can use the canvas for:
- Crafting & Refining Products: Lean on the canvas insights about needs and pain points when shaping or tweaking your offerings.
- Personalised Marketing: Tailor marketing campaigns according your persona’s communication styles and inner values. If they lean more towards emails than tweets, then that’s your cue to focus there.
- Content Creation: With a grip on your customer’s daily life and passions, you can produce content that truly speaks to them, be it articles, visuals, or any other format.
Finally… Iterate, iterate, iterate!
Remember, your canvas isn’t set in stone. As your offerings evolve and you gather fresh intel, swing back to the canvas. Refine it using real-world feedback to either confirm or tweak your initial assumptions.
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