How to Create a Customer Persona to Strengthen Your Writing
Developing a distinct customer persona is a great way to get clarity on your brand messaging. A customer persona is basically an imaginary person you cater all of your writing and branding toward. It can really help you figure out your niche and develop a brand voice that appeals to the right audience!
The Basics of Every Customer Persona
When creating your customer persona, you should include all of the following, even if it feels silly:
Name - This may seem unnecessary, but the more specific you can get, the better! This helps you feel like you’re talking to a real person, making your writing more authentic.
Photo - Use Google or scroll Instagram to find one that looks like the person you're envisioning
Age - Not a range, but a specific age
Backstory - Who are they? What's their lifestyle?
Skills and education - Do they have any degrees or certifications?
Geographical location - Again, be specific
Hobbies - What do they do in their spare time? Where can they be found browsing the internet?
Bonus: If you're really into personality types like Myer's Briggs or Enneagram, take your customer persona through those quizzes to flesh them out even more
Every brand's ideal customer persona is different, but to help you figure out yours, I've given you three examples to build off of. These are pretty short and not fully developed, but will give you an idea of what yours can look like.
Anna: The Frazzled Working Mom
Age: 28
Skills & Education: Nursing degree
Location: Mt. Vernon, WA (hometown, not very large)
Backstory:
Emma is a single mom working as an emergency room nurse. She's doing well enough, but super overwhelmed and stressed, with a horrible work/life balance. She feels guilty even taking a lunch break because getting off earlier means her son spends less time at daycare. Her one indulgence is scrolling Instagram in bed at the end of a long day, and she just wants to feel relaxed, seen, and comforted by what she finds there.
Hobbies: Virtually non-existent, but she played viola in high school band and romance novels are her guilty pleasure.
Enneagram: 9
Myers Briggs: ISFJ (The Protector)
How to Write for Anna
Anna needs compassion, understanding, and support. Products and services will appeal to her when they recognize her complicated life and offer solutions and even distraction from the daily grind, while helping her form healthier habits.
Karen: The Type-A CEO
Age: 47
Skills & Education:
Location: Pasadena, CA (works in LA)
Backstory:
Karen is a successful businesswoman who knows exactly what she wants, how she wants it, and who she wants it from. She has zero filters and won’t waste time beating around the bush or trying to be delicate. She will be your loudest advocate or fiercest enemy. She hasn’t had much hardship in her life, so she isn’t very good at seeing other perspectives. However, her strength and confidence has brought her a lot of business success, and those close to her say she really does mean well.
Enneagram: 8
Myers Briggs: ESTJ (The Director)
How to Write for Karen
Writing for a Karen can be tricky. The name I chose was absolutely intentional - nobody wants to be called a Karen, but this is a strong persona that can’t be ignored, especially if they’re the right audience for your brand! Keep your writing short, sweet, and to the point. Karen doesn’t have time or interest in flowery language! Say exactly what you do and how it will benefit her, and share a lot of content that will inspire Karen to repost on Facebook. If you share an opinion she strongly agrees with, she will promote you to everyone she knows!
Naomi: Gen Z Valedictorian
Age: 17
Skills & Education: Still in high school, involved in every extra curricular possible
Location: Eugene, OR. Want to move to Arizona or Southern California
Backstory:
This girl is involved in way too many extra curriculars and good at all of them, and adores her family. Like all Gen Z kids, she’s obsessed with Tiktok and actually good at the dances. She loves all things 80s and isn’t afraid to say exactly what she’s thinking. Too cool 4 u and probably facepalming while reading this (considering this is based on my Gen Z sister).
Hobbies:
Enneagram: 4
Myers Briggs: ESFP (The Performer)
How to Write for Naomi
Dry, dark humor usually does the trick, as well as super sentimental throwbacks to her childhood. If your audience is Gen Z and you’re not on Tiktok, what are you even doing?? Find clever ways to embrace the latest trends and don’t be afraid of a healthy dose of self-deprecation mixed with confidence in exactly who you are and what your brand is about. If you’re being inauthentic, they can sense it a mile away, so just be real!
What If I Offend Someone?
I've had clients who really struggled with this fear because they want their business to be a welcoming space for everyone. They don't want a single person to feel alienated or disconnected from their message.
This struggle is especially common for women in business. As women, we grow up with this unspoken expectation that we will please everyone. It's our job to not be too loud or too opinionated or too any one thing. We're expected to be the caretakers, the hostesses, the demure and lovely supporting character in someone else's story.
If you allow this mindset to dominate your branding, you'll lose the power that comes with a clear voice. You can't be building a business on fear, because fear only leads to inaction. You need to build your business on a clear purpose and with a confident vision of who you're building it for.
