Building Client Personas: A Practical Tutorial

Building on a previous article about why client personas are critical to the success of your real estate farming, today I am going to share with you:

1. An example of a real life persona we built for one of our real estate clients
2. Some quick tips for getting started building your first persona

So let's jump right in starting with a real life persona we built for a client. One of our clients approached us, looking to start farming an area near San Diego called Coronado Island. Of course, before we started working on his branding and marketing strategy, we had to build his client personas. Here is an example of one of the personas. We call this one "Admiral Adam."

ADAM - Adam is in his mid 40s and works for the United States Navy at the Naval Air Station North Island. He is married, has a child and has worked his way up the ranks in the Navy, building a nice career. He has a thirst for knowledge, holding advanced educational degrees and values the investment made in his family's home.

Being athletic and community minded, Adam spends his free time enjoying all the outdoor activities Coronado Island offers. He is also involved with local clubs and organizations, helping put together many of the local events in the area.

Adam is somewhat conservative, is a member of the political party and is very analytical. Because of his job, social media and online activities are held to a minimum. Phone, email communication and traditional "snail mail" are the majority of Adam's interactions with others.

So as you can see, this particular persona is detailed, but not specific to a certain person. It shows common behavior patterns, but is not specific to the actual farm area, per se. It contains general biographic and demographic information, and doesn't simply contain fluff.

How Did We Do This?

So how did we construct this persona? Are we extremely familiar with Coronado Island? Do we live in or near San Diego? The answer to both these questions is "No."

What we do know are some great places to look for resources to build these personas. I'd like to share with you a few places to look and a few ways you can gather the background research necessary to build your client personas.

1) Interview someone familiar with the area

In this particular case, our client lives in the area and has been there for many years. With that in mind, we spent roughly 30 minutes on the phone with him, asking him questions about the area and learning about all the possible types of personas we were going to be building for this campaign.

If you yourself are not familiar with the area, you can find somebody that is without tons of effort. Consider speaking with local political figures (mayor, city councilmen, heads of local charitable organizations, etc.). Given their dedication to community service, you can most likely get these folks to agree to speak with you for something as little as a free cup of coffee at Starbucks.

2) Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a wonderful resource with TONS of information. The trick with Wikipedia, though, is that you have to come to grips with the fact that while the site is a wonderful resource of information, Wikipedia is not always correct.

The one benefit you have with this is that the personas you will be writing are general in nature and not hyper-specific. Even though I highly advise everyone to ALWAYS do their due diligence, the general nature of personas will hedge your bet against any inconsistencies you may find in a Wikipedia entry.

2) City-Data

City data is another wonderful source of information about an area you are looking to farm in. City data has an amazing amount of information, including things like median incomes, area weather patterns, ethnic make up of the area, home sales data, education and marriage information, crime information and much, much more.

Will you need all this data when building your personas? No, you will not. That said, there is a slogan in our office that has become somewhat of a mantra. That is, "You can never have too much information."

If you grab everything you can, you will never hit a roadblock when building out your client personas.

3) Community Websites

Perhaps the most obvious spot to look for information on a community you are getting ready to start marketing to is community websites. Do a quick Google search and find as many city and local organization websites as you can to gain valuable insight into the community.

We generally start with the actual city's website. From there, there are often links out to other community and charitable organization websites, making our search even easier.

With all this information, you should be well on your way to building your client personas for your real estate farm area. I can't stress enough the importance of what client personas are and what they are not. Remember to refer back to my original article often, making sure you are following the best practices and building personas that are going to help you grow your real estate practice and the results you get with your real estate marketing.

To view the original article, visit the Leading Agent blog.