Bring Your Marketing to the Next Level with Personas

Understand your clients

Understanding your clients is an important part of your marketing strategy, one that takes some effort. Part of that effort should include spending a little time developing personas. While not as straightforward as, say, completing your Google My Business profile, it is a little easier for those in the remodeling business than in other industries. Because you basically ‘live’ with your clients for months while their projects move from the design through the build phases, you come to know your clients fairly well. 

Creating client personas takes that understanding to the next level. When you start adding elements such as needs, wants, desires, and mindset (psychographics), what was a concrete one-dimensional picture of just one client, now becomes a broader picture of an archetypical client - or persona. And that deeper comprehension allows you to tailor marketing strategies that attract these types of clients.

What do personas tell you? 

Personas give you an understanding of your clients and a window into what matters to them. The more you and your staff - sales, design, project managers, even subs - understand your clients, the more you can focus on leveraging that knowledge to find more clients like them. And the more dialed in you are to what will attract the right clients, the more cost effective your marketing will become. 

Persona Example - Family with young children – in smaller starter home

Typically in their 20s and 30s, these parents can’t afford to move and are strapped for space now that they have kids. They want to make the most of what they’ve got, both financially and in their house. They know they’re going to be in the home for a while because they can’t afford to move up. Function is key. There will be trade-offs and so this homeowner needs help prioritizing and choosing the right finishes to maximize what they get.

Practical Applications of Personas

Once you’ve spent a little time developing personas, you can get back to the practical side of marketing - what you’re going to say to attract the clients you want and where you’re going to say it. 

From the example above (below, to the side..,), you could create blog content around topics like those listed below. Or come up with ones from your own customer success stories.

  • How to make a bedroom work for two (or more!) kids 

  • Prioritizing your wish list to best meet your growing family’s needs

  • DIY projects that can stretch your remodel budget

 Then make sure to maximize this targeted messaging by creating blog content and sharing it via social media, in your newsletter, or in communication with prospective clients… anywhere you market. What you say about how you uniquely serve a specific client persona will build LIKE and TRUST, set you apart from your competition, and bring other similar clients along to take that next step to work with you. Sometimes it’s the little things that make the biggest difference!

Leverage what your Personas have in Common 

Your personas most likely reflect homeowners in two or three different stages of life. Identify what they have in common. This can include things such as: 

  • type and scope of the projects, 

  • desire for custom high-end finishes, or 

  • appreciation of your ability to make the most of a tight budget. 

Pro Tip: Use the common characteristics of your personas as the basis for your homepage content. In doing so, potential clients learn how you can help them, plus how you are different from your competition. 

Just remember: Put yourself in the shoes of your ideal client. Instead of telling them about you, think in terms of what they need to know to take action.


Ann Gusiff