Which research methods have helped you curate your buyer persona?
A buyer persona is a fictional, generalized representation of your ideal customer. They help you understand your customers and prospective customers better. If you're in the process of conducting research to curate a buyer persona, tell us below! Give us your tips and tricks, and what research methods you've found success with. To learn more about buyer personas, check out the "Getting to Know Your Customer" lesson via HubSpot Academy.
Which research methods have helped you curate your buyer persona?
Over the past years, I’ve crafted data-backed buyer personas by combining multiple research approaches across real-world projects:
📊Deployed Targeted Surveys
I designed and distributed surveys to active customers and prospects through email campaigns and CRM automation (e.g. via HubSpot). This gave me rich demographic data, behavioral insights, and buying triggers at scale.
📈Analyzed Web & Behavioral Analytics
Using tools like Google Analytics, Hotjar, and HubSpot, I identified patterns in website behavior, including top-performing pages, conversion flows, and drop-off points. These insights informed our UX, content placement, and lead qualification strategy.
📞Collected Sales & Support Team Feedback
I collaborated regularly with sales and support teams to gather frontline feedback on recurring objections, buying hesitations, and common use cases. This real-world insight was key to refining persona pain points and messaging.
📚Researched Competitors & Industry Trends
Through competitive analysis, I benchmarked content, value propositions, and audience engagement. This helped me spot gaps in the market and tailor our positioning to differentiate based on real audience needs.
💬Monitored Social Media & Online Communities
I leveraged LinkedIn, Reddit, and niche industry forums to identify trending discussions, challenges, and unfiltered user feedback. These channels offered raw, unmoderated insight into what truly matters to our target audiences.
🛠️ Utilized CRM & Campaign Data
I pulled data directly from HubSpot CRMand other platforms to identify which lead sources and campaigns drove the most qualified opportunities. Lifecycle stages, lead scoring, and campaign attribution played a major role in persona prioritization and segmentation.
Which research methods have helped you curate your buyer persona?
2 tips that have worked for me.
1- Define an hypothesis of your customer based on the problem you are solving, then go out and speak with them to define the right persona 2- Give chatgpt the right prompt of the problem your product is solving and your vision then ask for the right buyer persona.
Which research methods have helped you curate your buyer persona?
1. Customer Interviews
Speaking directly with customers is one of the richest sources of insight. These conversations allow you to dive deep into a customer's motivations, frustrations, and personal experiences with your product or industry. You can uncover not just what decisions they made, but why they made them. Open-ended interviews often reveal patterns you hadn’t considered.
2. Surveys and Questionnaires
Surveys help you gather structured data from a larger audience. They are ideal for identifying trends across demographics, preferences, and behavior. Well-crafted questions can quantify common challenges, desired features, or buying habits. These tools are scalable and can be sent to both existing customers and new leads.
3. Analytics Tools
Digital tools like Google Analytics, HubSpot, or heat-mapping platforms reveal how users interact with your website and content. You can identify which pages get the most traffic, what sources bring people in, how long they stay, and where they drop off. This behavioral data helps you understand what interests and frustrates your audience.
Which research methods have helped you curate your buyer persona?
To build accurate buyer personas, I’ve found success combining these research methods:
1. *Customer Interviews* (Most Valuable) - Conducted 1:1 interviews with *current customers* to understand their pain points, goals, and decision-making process. - Also spoke to *lost deals* (who chose competitors) to identify gaps in our offering or messaging.
2. *Surveys & Questionnaires* - Used tools like Typeform or HubSpot Surveys to gather quantitative data (e.g., job titles, challenges) from a broader audience. - Added open-ended questions like, “What’s your biggest hurdle in [industry]?” for qualitative insights.
3. *Website & Social Media Analytics* - Reviewed HubSpot/Google Analytics to see which content/resources resonated most (hinting at persona interests). - Monitored LinkedIn/Twitter discussions to spot trends in my target audience’s conversations.
4. *Sales & Support Team Feedback* - Collaborated with customer-facing teams to compile common objections, FAQs, and success stories.
5. *Competitor Analysis* - Studied competitors’ reviews (G2, Capterra) to uncover unmet needs in the market.
*Pro Tip:* Avoid assumptions! Even if you think you know your persona, validate hypotheses with real data. For example, we initially targeted “marketing managers” but learned via interviews that directors were the actual decision-makers for our tool.
Which research methods have helped you curate your buyer persona?
I combined job experience, social media insights, and interviews to create my buyer persona. I was able to observe the needs and frustrations of our audience firsthand because I manage the community for a fashion brand. In order to learn about typical job duties and objectives in the sector, I also looked at competitor analyses, customer reviews, and LinkedIn research.
Using direct messages and comment sections to interact with customers was one of the most effective strategies; I received candid, unfiltered feedback that greatly aided in the development of my persona. I was able to organize everything and determine which insights are most important thanks to HubSpot's lessons.
Which research methods have helped you curate your buyer persona?
I think the most effective tools for buyer persona is social media and feedback as they help us to know our buyers choice and preferences and whether they are really interested in our company
Which research methods have helped you curate your buyer persona?
Surveys and Interviews, as gathering direct feedback from customers about their motivations, preferences, and decision-making processe, has helped me a great deal.
Which research methods have helped you curate your buyer persona?
Social media posts and surveys help gather data on which demographics engage with your brand. There are tools within social media that tell us who engages with our brand, how long they do, and what other forms of content they engage with.
Which research methods have helped you curate your buyer persona?
I used a combination of customer interviews, surveys, and website analytics to create my buyer persona. Interviews gave me personal insights into customer motivations and pain points. Surveys helped gather demographic and behavioral data. I also used Google Analytics to understand which content my audience engages with the most. Together, these methods helped me build a more accurate and helpful persona.
Which research methods have helped you curate your buyer persona?
When curating a buyer persona, several research methods can be super helpful to make it accurate, actionable, and tailored to your business goals. Here are some of the most effective ones: Customer interviews, surveys, sales team insights, CRM, Social media analytics, Competitors analysis.
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