Research to support the Buyer Persona

When developing the buyer persona, research is usually used to gather supporting evidence that reflects the attributes of the buyer persona  and to then determine if that persona is suitable for the product being offered.  

First hand data can be obtained through Email profiling, like Mail Chimp and survey websites like Survey Monkey, this is sometimes referred to as ‘primary research’. This type of research can be very effective at pin pointing specific buyer persona attributes. The downside to this type of research is it can be timely and cost more, which may not be a viable option when a business has a small marketing budget.

(thehartford.com)

Second hand research can be done by looking at Google analytics and Facebook insights which is often referred to as ‘secondary research’. 

For the purpose of this campaign, Instagram was used to source data by looking at high performing Social Media posts of Avalanches main competitors to determine why those posts were doing well and by examining the type of people most commonly liking or commenting on these posts. This type of research is helpful when making assumptions on a buyers persona.

After completing a competitor analysis, the competitors identified offer a range of 'cafe style' ready - to - mix coffee and other hot drinks. These brands are similar in that they are made for the adult market, for the purpose of being used at home and are sold at all major supermarkets.

The main competitors identified are:

Moccona, Nescafe and Greggs 

 

It is beneficial to look at these competitors social media pages in order to gain an insight to what type of buyer Avalanche could target in their own marketing campaign. 

 

Social Media Analysis 

 

Nescafe AU/ NZ Instagram page

 

Looking through the Nescafe Instagram page, it is obvious that they are targeting successful woman who are interested in the health attributes of the products they consume. This already matches some of the characteristics of Avalanches buyer persona and reinforces the idea that they are a competitor of Avalanche.

 

 

 

 

Figure 3. The above figure includes Instagram screenshots taken by the Author

 

 

Nescafé’s newest product range is a ‘plant based latte’ which one can argue is in direct competition with the Avalanche ‘Sugar free’ range.

The below image is of a post which advertises the plant based latte range and when looking at the 48 users that ‘liked’ the post, the majority are women and many of these women appear to be middle aged, married and with a family. All similar attributes to that of the Avalanche buyer persona.

Figure 4. The above figure includes Instagram screenshots taken by the Author