Having a well-defined reader persona allows you to meet your readers’ needs. You know where to find them on their favorite social platforms. And you know how to create content for their specific needs.
That enables you to transform them from casual followers to enthusiastic fans. Enthusiastic fans who are eager to buy your products. Why wouldn’t they? You created those products especially for them. Products created to solve particular problems are easy to sell.
Table of Contents
What is a Reader Persona?
First, let’s be clear on what a reader persona is. A reader persona is a representation of your average reader. As a food writer, you might create recipes. You create those recipes for a specific audience. A reader persona can represent that audience.
We get pushback from writers when we discuss finding a narrow, defined niche. And we get pushback when we discuss creating a reader persona.
“I don’t want to write for one person! I want to write for everyone,” writers tell us.
Think of a reader who says, “She gets me. She understands me. Every time I visit her website, I find something useful and I always look forward to what she’s going to post next.”
You can have droves of those readers if you construct a well-defined reader persona.
Let’s think of this as your first reader persona. You can adapt this persona as your readership grows. This is a place to start.
Benefits of Creating a Reader Persona
Next, let’s identify the benefits of having a reader persona.
A reader persona helps you to be clear in who you’re talking to … and who you’re not talking to with your content.
It helps you determine where your readers find information so that you can be there, ready for them.
Knowing your reader helps you create more focused content. When you write content for your readers, they come back for more. If you help them solve their specific problems, they become loyal fans.
If you know what problems your readers have, you can create content to help them solve those problems.
Remember our content is for our readers to use. We need to listen to our readers; we need to talk to them to find out what they want and need. One, that helps us create content they can use.
And two, then we take that information and create an ever more accurate reader persona.
Knowing your readers helps you to create the best products for them. They’re more likely to buy products created for their needs.
Questions to Ask Yourself
Already have some readers? Good, start with them.
No readers yet? Start with your content.
If you have some readers, ask yourself:
- Who is my current reader?
- Is there something they want to do better, easier?
- What do they worry about?
- Are there things that affect my readers? If Facebook ad prices go up, will that affect my readers? If Google changes its algorithm for product reviews, will that affect my readers?
- What’s positive feedback for them? When I want to say “Good job!” to a reader, where would that be most effective, most appreciated? Would they appreciate a shoutout on Instagram? Would they appreciate a congratulations GIF on Facebook?
- Who do they trust? And how can I become someone they trust?
If you don’t have readers, ask yourself:
- How will I find my audience?
- What problems does my content solve for my readers?
- Can my content make something better, easier, more interesting for my readers?
With or without readers, ask yourself:
- Who is my competition?
- What does my reader gain from my content over my competition’s content?
- Who will pay for my products?
- How will I sell my products?
- Am I being realistic or optimistic in answering these questions?
Study at your analytics. On your website, your social media platforms, anywhere you can see analytics. Look at your customer data.
Look at your well-performing content. Try to determine why it performed well. What about it appealed to your readers?
Next, take a look at your content that didn’t perform well and try to determine why. What about it failed to attract your readers?
Talk to your social followers on social media. If you can, talk to them one-on-one.
Communicate with them as a group through a survey. Use Google Forms for a free option.
How to Create a Reader Persona – By the Numbers
Make a list of the following qualities of your reader persona. Keep in mind everything you thought about and learned in the previous section.
- Location – Where does your reader live? In what part of the country? In an urban, suburban, or rural setting?
- Age – How old is your reader? (An age ranger or a specific number is fine.)
- Gender – What’s your reader’s gender? Do they use He and She pronouns or do they use They?
- Family – Does your reader have a spouse? Children? Parents and other relatives they’re close to?
- Employment – What sort of job does your reader have? What job do they want to have? Are you helping them to get their idea job?
- Income – What’s their income?
- Education – What sort of education and training does your reader have? Do they have special skills?
- Purchasing Power – Do they have a lot of disposable income? Or very little? Are they comfortable? Or scrapping by?
How to Create a Reader Persona – The Rest of It
- Needs – What does your reader need in order to be happy and successful? What do they need from you?
- Challenges – Are there obstacles in their way? What are those obstacles? How can you content help?
- Pain Points – What is difficult for them? What causes them pain? What makes them unhappy, uncomfortable? How can your content help?
- Frustrations – What frustrates your reader? Are the circumstances they has no control over? How can you help?
- Values – What does your reader value? Honesty? Hard work? The ability to outthink the competition? The ability to preserver?
- Activity Level – How active is your reader in moving forward? Are they just thinking about options? Or are they taking steps to improve and change their situation? Do they want to download some free content from you? Or are they ready for a webinar, an in-depth master class?
- Comfort with Technology – How comfortable are they with technology and social media platforms?
- Personality Traits (Introvert/Extrovert, Analytical/Creative) – Are they shy? Outspoken? Confident? Independent? Dependent on others? How can you shape your content to best serve their personality type?
- Interests – What interests them? What do they like to talk about? To think about?
Create as realistic reader persona as you can. Then the next time you sit down to write content or create social media, do so with your reader persona in mind.
And keep working on it. As you get to know your readers, make adjustments in the persona as needed.
Conclusion
A reader persona allows you to better meet your readers’ needs. Spend some time creating a reader persona, a representation of your readers. And then use that persona to write for. You’ll create more specific content that will answer your readers’ – your real readers – needs.
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