By Colin Mathes, Content Marketing at Spingo

Do you really know your target audience, or do you make marketing decisions based off of assumptions or your own opinions?

Too often, we have nameless, faceless silhouettes that act as our buyer personas. We haven’t had the time to find out the personalities of the people who buy our products and services. We make decisions based upon what people inside the office think, rather than gathering data from the customers whose lives are drastically different from what we initially imagined. But who has time to sit down and listen to customers’ thoughts and problems? You do, and your business will thank you for it sooner rather than later.

When you take the time to listen to sales calls and interview customers both over the phone and in person, you will get a view into your customers’ minds and get out of yours for a little bit. Make sure you come up with a list of quality questions and take good notes as you listen to and capture what your customers have to say. With the information they openly share, you will create buyer personas that will enable you to create messaging that resonates, and make your marketing decisions data driven. Your marketing will become relevant and provide solutions to the problems your customers face. Your buyer personas will give your company or organization direction and can be implemented immediately for improved sales. If you haven’t already done so, creating a buyer persona is the most important thing you could be doing in your job.