Buyer personas
and positioning
Buyer personas and positioning that a person running your ads can actually use: who the customer is, what triggers the purchase, what they fear, where they look. Then one clear sentence on where you stand against the alternatives.
Free: a 30-minute call, an action plan and a price range in writing.
Useful facts,
not a stock photo
and a made-up name
A persona earns its place only if it changes a decision about an ad, a page or an offer.
What's happening in their life or business when they start looking: a move, a broken furnace, a new location.
The moment they search. Often it's a date, a deadline or a bad experience with someone else.
Price, timing, trust, hassle. The two or three doubts your website must answer.
Where they look: Google search, Maps, Instagram, a Facebook group, a referral.
What one customer of this type is worth over a year, so you know how much to spend to win one.
From data
to a position
you can hold
Data
Sales, CRM, reviews, interviews and search queries.
Groups
Customers sorted by need and value, not by age and gender.
Profiles
Two or three personas with triggers, objections and channels.
Position
Where you stand against competitors, in one sentence.
Use
Targeting notes for Google and Meta, headlines for the website.
Part of the
marketing strategy
Final prices in Canadian dollars.
Personas and positioning together with the audit, research, channels, budget and KPIs.
- 2 or 3 buyer personas
- Positioning statement
- Targeting notes for ads
- Presentation on Zoom
Have personas already? I'll review them and tell you which ones help.
- First 30 minutes free
Buyer personas and positioning, without the fluff
Buyer personas and positioning have a bad reputation, and partly deserve it. Plenty of businesses have a slide with "Marketing Mary, 34, likes yoga" that nobody has opened since the workshop. That kind of persona describes a person, but it doesn't help anyone decide what to put in an ad.
The personas I build are working tools. Each one answers practical questions: what makes this person start looking, what they type into Google, what they're afraid of, how much they're worth to you, and where your ads can reach them. If an answer doesn't change a decision, it doesn't go in.
Where the personas come from
They come from your own data, not from imagination. I use customer research interviews, your sales and CRM records, your reviews and competitors' reviews, and the search phrases people use in your area. Customers are grouped by need and by value. Two homeowners of different ages who both need a kitchen finished before a family event belong to the same group; a property manager ordering for ten units belongs to another.
A typical result for a local service business looks like this:
| Persona | Trigger | Main doubt | Where they look |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urgent fixer | Something broke today | Will they come soon? | Google search and Maps |
| Planner | Project in 2 to 3 months | Will it stay on budget? | Search, reviews, Instagram |
| Repeat buyer | Seasonal need | Same quality as last time? | Email, direct call |
From personas to positioning
Once the customers are clear, the next question is: why you? Positioning is the answer in one sentence, written for your main persona and tested against the competitor analysis. It usually combines who it's for, what you do and the one difference that matters to them.
Good positioning is narrow on purpose. "Renovations for everyone" competes with every contractor in the province. "Basement renovations in Calgary with a fixed price and a start date in the contract" gives a specific customer a reason to call you first.
How I use them in campaigns
Personas only pay off when they reach the ads and the website:
- Google Ads: separate ad groups and landing pages for the urgent fixer and the planner, because they search differently and need different promises.
- Meta ads: creatives and hooks per persona; with broad targeting, the creative does most of the selection.
- Website: the first screen speaks to the main persona; the FAQ answers the doubts from the table.
- CRM and email: follow-ups that match where each type is in the decision.
When I run your Google Ads or Meta campaigns later, the personas become the brief I work from.
Keeping personas alive
Customers change. A new service, a price increase or a shift in the local economy can move your best buyers from one group to another. I suggest a quick review every six to twelve months: look at who bought in the last period, compare it with the personas and adjust. It takes an hour, not a workshop. If you're on a monthly plan with me, I do this as part of the regular reporting, because the ad data usually shows the shift first: one audience starts converting better, another gets more expensive. That signal is worth acting on before the season changes.
Canadian specifics
In Canada, a persona often has a language attached. A business in Montreal will usually have French-speaking and English-speaking customers with different search habits, and under the Charter of the French Language, French can't be an afterthought there. I work in English, so the persona notes which customers your own team or translator needs to reach in French. In many cities, newcomer communities form a meaningful share of the customer base, and a business that speaks their language has a natural edge. These details go into the persona, because they change the ads and the pages.
Personas and positioning are part of the marketing strategy for $2,400 CAD.
Where personas
get used
Personas and
positioning questions
What's the difference between a persona and positioning?
A persona describes the customer: their situation, trigger, doubts and where they look. Positioning describes you: the one reason a specific customer should choose you over the alternatives. You need the first to write the second. Good positioning without a clear customer tends to sound like everyone else's.
How many personas does a small business need?
Usually two or three. One main buyer who brings most of the revenue, one secondary group, and sometimes a third type you want to grow. More than that and nobody uses them. If a persona doesn't change any ad, page or offer, it's decoration and should go.
Are personas still useful now that ad platforms target automatically?
Yes, maybe more than before. Platforms like Meta and Performance Max lean on broad targeting, so the creative and the copy do most of the targeting. A persona tells you which message, which photo and which offer will attract the right people from that broad audience.
Can positioning work in a small town?
It often works better there. In a small market people compare two or three options, and a clear difference stands out fast: the only one with evening hours, the one who answers in Punjabi or French, the specialist rather than the generalist. Positioning gives word of mouth something specific to repeat.
How much does this cost?
Personas and positioning are part of the marketing strategy at $2,400 CAD, final, which also includes the audit, competitor and customer research, channels, budget and KPIs. To review personas you already have, a consultation at $70 an hour is enough.
Stop advertising
to everyone
Tell me what you sell and who buys it today. I'll reply within one business day, or we can start with a free 30-minute call.