How To Create Buyer Personas for Legal Services
To thrive in your business you must TRULY know your audience. To do that, you must put yourself in the shoes of your target client or customer. And, the best way to do it is to build buyer personas for legal services you provide.
As the name suggests, a buyer persona is an identity or character that lets you know who the buyer is. It tells you what your customers truly need and want, what their values and beliefs are. More importantly, a buyer persona helps you to address the demands of your target market. It aids in building a more efficient marketing engagement and sales approach. These increase your ROI and lessen unnecessary work.
What is a Buyer Persona
A buyer persona is a fictional representation of a law firm’s ideal client. Buyer personas are built out based on your ideal client’s characteristics such as occupation, age, pain points, lifestyle, etc.
How to Build a Buyer Persona
To create a credible buyer persona for your target audience, you can use the following focus areas and questions as a framework for your checklist. Depending on the area(s) of law that you or your firm deal with, some points may become more important than others. Use your best judgment to decide which will be most relevant for your specific situation.
✅ Personal Demographics
What is your gender? How old are you? Where do you live? Are you still single? Are you married? Do you have children? If yes, how many? What is the annual average income of your household?
Key Point: Demographic stats are easy to get. They also paint a more distinct and personal picture of your target market.
✅ Educational Background
What education level did you complete? Did you go to college? What university did you attend? What degree did you get?
Key Point: In this category, you need to be specific. For example, “NYU Tisch School of Arts” is better than just “film acting conservatory.”
✅ Career Path
What job(s) did you have before? How did you wind up where you are right now? Did you choose your profession based on your major in school? Have you ever been promoted?
Key Point: Like with the educational background, you need specific details here.
✅ Company
Which industry is your company in? What is the size of the business? How many employees are there?
Key Point: Learning the specifics of your persona’s company will help you create better forms for landing pages on your firm’s website.
✅ Role
What is your job title? What do you specifically do? Who is your immediate boss? What is his/her position? Who reports to you?
Key Point: If your firm handles business clients, these pieces of information are crucial. Case in point: if your buyer persona is well-versed in the ins and outs of the industry, no unnecessary intro is needed. They don’t need help from others to make a buying decision. If your firm is more consumer focused, look at the details as extra information to better understand the subtleties of your persona’s lifestyle.
✅ Skills and Tools
What are the skills you must handle as part of your job responsibilities? Where did you learn these skills? Which programs and tools do you use every day? Every week?
Key Point: Being aware of the resources and tools they use (and don’t) helps you determine parallels in your service. As such, you can make the necessary adjustments, if needed.
✅ Challenges
What are your biggest struggles right now? How do you plan to solve them?
Key Point: Your firm solves a specific problem your target clients have. Make sure to learn how these challenges affect their daily lives. Go into details. Pay attention to the nuances that underscore how their problem makes them feel.
✅ Lifestyle (Both Work and Off-Time)
How does your typical day go? What does a “busy work schedule” look like? What do you specifically do when you’re most productive? Outside of work, what do you do?
What hobbies occupy your time? What do you do for fun? What TV shows do you watch? What books do you read? How often do you use the internet? Do you have a social media account? Do you read blogs?
Key Point: This set should incorporate the activities and tasks your target audience does both in and out of work. To piece together how their typical day goes, it’s important to know how they stay informed. Once you learn how they get the news, you can create (or solidify) your presence in those places. You can also put more emphasis on building credibility on those platforms.
✅ Buying Habits
How do you prefer to shop? Do you do a lot of online shopping? Do you prefer going to physical stores? Do you like talking to a salesperson? How do you search for product information online? What is your most recent purchase?
Key Point: The experience of engaging your legal services should line up with your persona’s expectations. When you can predict their questions or objections, you can prepare for them from the get-go. You may even educate them through your marketing endeavors.
✅ Technological Advancements
What types of technology do you prefer? Are you using AI in your personal or professional life? How do you feel about emerging technologies, like artificial intelligence and legal tech tools? Are you expecting faster responses from law firms? Do you value personalized interactions and transparency in billing practices? How do you think law firms should adapt their strategies to meet your needs?
Key Point: The experience of engaging with legal tech services should align with your expectations. By anticipating your questions or concerns, firms can prepare effectively from the outset and educate you through their tech-driven marketing efforts.
Takeaway:
Once you’ve created buyer personas, make sure to review and update them every quarter. Updating will ensure each buyer persona you’ve created is the best possible representation of your target client. And once you’ve got the initial work done, keeping everything updated is a breeze.
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This post has been edited and republished from June 06, 2023.
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