How often should you audit and update your buyer personas?

[JorieMunroe]

Buyer personas can be created through research, surveys, and interviews — all with a mix of customers, prospects, and those outside your contacts database who might align with your target audience.

But like all data, even information you gather on your audience (your personas) can go out of date. After all, business models change, companies merge or shift direction, and your audience can (and likely will) evolve. In your professional opinion, how often should you audit and even update your buyer personas?

*To learn more about this, check out the Using Buyer Personas in HubSpot lesson via HubSpot Academy. 

[SKrause]

This would be depending upon the changes in the business.- If you add a new product line or there are other significant changes to the business, there would likely be reasons to re-examine the personas. If things are staying relatively the same, then at least annually, take a look at them to be sure everything is still accurate.

[JenMalins]

Yearly

[sfarshgar]

depends on the sales and marketing strategy and market changes that affect the buyer persona. evey 6 month would be good to review the personas.

[KKamlager]

annually, unless a major business change occurs. Most likely, dramatic changes will not happen, unless a major event happens to disrupt the customer/business model/etc.

[Lexlyb]

I think running an audit once a year would keep persona's relevant and up-to-date with industry and trend changes.

[RMero]

We update them yearly or more often when our offerings shift. We do review them quarterly when we have strategy sessions. 

[KenChis]

Annually or when a stragetic shift occurs.

[Gautambhalla777]

Every Quarter

[AndreaP]

I believe that it depends on our campaign objectives to update the buyer persona, but at least once a month per year.

[ESingletary]

The pandemic has shown us how fast an industry and their needs can change. I feel a good practice would be to check and update personas every 6 months whenever possible.

[aagg]

B2B Buyer Personas have not been fully developed for our team. We will need to identify 4-6 buyer personas and formualte what they are interested in based on the needs of the market. Evalution of the personas will need to be visited seasonally.

[AChristopoulo]

I believe that our Buyer Personas should be updated on an annual basis - therefore, allowing us to reasses and reorganize based on the various changes/new developments we recieve. 

[EYoung-Colliers]

In my opinion it would make sense to update it at the same time as your contact databse refresh. Why touch the same piece of information twice?

[MandyS]

We should update the personas annually.

[EMurphy5]

Yearly

[BWeinstein1]

I like to review them every 3 - 6 months, based on product release cycles, to see if anything has changed, and take a deep dive at the beginning of the year, looking at any insights that we may have from the last calendar year, in terms of engagement, conversion, etc.

[JT20]

Hi Jorie! I think that since its alot to be done, it should be updated atleast once a year. 

[CPage513]

For existing personas, yearly. But I would assess our goals every quarter to see if a whole new persona should be created.  

[MGallardo]

• When the goal changes or new ones are added 
• New products are added, taken away or changed/upgraded 
• You no longer serve your current persona/ your demographic changes 
• You serve a different market/ geographic location

[SSaeger]

Continuously!

[MTelepneff]

I would say, at least in the software market, every 6 months and sometimes consider additional buyer persona criteria based on a new product being introduced into a seperate market.