A persona is a profile that a writer creates to embody the characteristics of the target audience for whom he or she is writing.
Personas are based on the profile of readers of your copy. Creating a profile is all about considering the characteristics of your readers and their needs and desires. When you are building this profile, there are a number of things that you should consider about your audience:
• Are they primarily male, female or a mixture?
• How old are they?
• What are their other demographics and psychographics?
Once you understand these simple characteristics, you can ask yourself some more in-depth questions. If you are selling something, questions include:
• How do they make purchasing decisions?
• Do they compare many service providers before selecting one?
• Do they make lists of questions and call in for assistance with decision making, or do they make purchase decisions spontaneously based on a special offer?
Understanding the reader profiles of your readers is an important process, and the best copy usually results from extensive time spent figuring out your audience.
Tailoring your copy to your audience does not necessarily limit you to one persona. Digital copy can be structured so that it caters for several personas. Also consider that your various marketing channels may have different audiences, so ensure that you have a persona for each main platform you use. However, you need to spend time understanding their needs before you are able to write copy that addresses these personas.
