How To Align Your Sales Process and Content With Your Buyer's Persona

It would be a waste of resources if your content and sales message doesn't align with your buyer's persona and typical journey. How can you ensure that these two are the same page?

Linking Sales with CPG Marketing

Let's face it: Sometimes sales reps march to the beat of their own drum. That's okay if they're selling well and closing deals. But CPG marketing needs to align with its sales team. Their goal should be to create a buyer persona of the perfect customer. Then, use content and marketing to influence that customer and move them forward in their buying journey. When this all works as it should, sales reps should swoop in after all this happens and quickly close the deal.  

If you haven't created one more buyer personas, you should. A buyer persona is a representation of your ideal target customer. The persona is based on real data gleaned from the purchase behaviors, wants, needs, and priorities of your current customers. Having a better understanding of why your current customers made the decision to buy your products or services is precisely why the buyer persona is essential. 

Buyer Personas Can Target CPG Efforts

But CPG marketing simply may not be on the same page as the sales team. Alignment is critical so that all of these moving parts mesh together so that sales is singularly focused on closing the prospects you've been nurturing. Instead, the two departments often work at cross purposes. 

It's hard enough to make sure your CPG marketing content is doing what it should. Creating a buyer persona should help you get into the mind of your target potential customers. The right kind of content should naturally nudge them toward a sale. 

Planning content should focus on the three stages of the buyer's journey and speak to your target persona at each stage:

1. The Awareness Stage is when the potential buyer recognizes they have a problem that needs solving. This is where the Google search happens, which may lead them straight to your latest blog post or product features page. 
2. The Consideration Stage is when the potential buyer weighs their options on how to solve their issue. It's a research stage where they are weighing the pros and cons of you and your competitors.
3. The Decision Stage is where the rubber meets the road. If you've done your work well, they'll be ready to buy your stuff. This is the time when you want your sales team to swoop in with demos. But CPG marketing can help with smart calls-to-action and complimentary try-it-before-you-buy-it offers that will help your sales team win the deal.

For CPG marketing teams, meeting regularly with sales teams to discuss these strategies will help close any gaps between the two departments. But it all starts with the development of the buyer persona. There are a slew of digital marketing agencies (including Hangar12) that can help with developing solid personas. 

We have a free workbook to help you develop your own buyer persona. Fill out the form below to download it.