One question I always get is, “How do I create good content?” I can give you dozens of content ideas, but you have to target the right content to the right people. Defining prospect personas for your community is your first step. What is a prospect persona, you ask?
Prospect personas are profiles or mini biographies of your existing residents and prospects, as well as the market segment you plan to target. Prospect personas are much more than demographics. It is about really knowing and understanding your target market. The more you know, the easier it is to create relevant and successful content and enhance marketing effectiveness.
Developing your prospect personas will be the most difficult part of your marketing plan, but it is also the most valuable. The easiest way to tackle this is to start with the basics and then add to it over time. Your community will have more than one persona. Depending on your market, there will be 1-2 primary personas and a secondary. For your marketing to be successful, it is important to understand the preferences and likes/dislikes of each persona and to tailor your content accordingly.
So what questions will help you to develop a prospect persona?
- Who are your typical renters?
- What are their problems or challenges?
- What is important to them?
- What motivates them?
- What/Who influences their decision to rent or take action?
- What sort of images and information appeal to them?
- How do they consume information?
Answering these questions is a lot easier than you think. We have so much information about our residents because of the nature of our business. But keep in mind that these are not questions you would necessarily directly ask a prospect on a tour; rather they are things you infer or learn through conversation. When you engage your prospects in conversation, they are constantly giving away little clues. Pay attention to those clues. After tours and conversations, do you go back and add your notes to a file? Do you write down all of these little trigger moments?
In a way, we are re-learning how to talk to our residents and prospects. When I say this, I mean that as marketers, we are relearning how to talk with our content. If we do it correctly, our prospects and target audience feel like we are speaking directly to them. It is all about them and we have to use their language and their trigger points. Successful marketers have a very customer centric attitude.
All the automation and fancy software in the world won’t help you until you identify and understand your prospect persona. If you build your strategy around your prospect persona, you will be able to better target your content and marketing efforts. And, this means your marketing executions will be much more efficient, effective, and profitable.
Who doesn’t want that?
Misty Sanford
Social Insight Thought Leader
Renter’s Voice