{"id":4091,"date":"2025-10-23T11:00:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T11:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blissfulyogaandmassage.com\/?p=4091"},"modified":"2025-10-23T12:42:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T12:42:06","slug":"the-buyer-persona-gap-thats-costing-you-customers-and-making-your-marketing-less-authentic-the-fix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blissfulyogaandmassage.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/23\/the-buyer-persona-gap-thats-costing-you-customers-and-making-your-marketing-less-authentic-the-fix\/","title":{"rendered":"The buyer persona gap that\u2019s costing you customers and making your marketing less authentic [+ the fix]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Buyer personas are a foundational component of many brands\u2019 marketing strategy. Personas often serve as a blueprint that guides marketing campaigns, customer journeys, and even product development.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"cta_button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hubspot.com\/cs\/ci\/?pg=7faf1d61-e857-4d2c-9cf2-10b32f7880af&amp;pid=53&amp;ecid=&amp;hseid=&amp;hsic=\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"hs-cta-img \" style=\"height: auto !important;width: auto !important;max-width: 100% !important;border-width: 0px;margin: 0 auto;margin-top: 20px;margin-bottom: 20px\" alt=\"Download Our Free Buyer Persona Guide + Templates\u00a0\" height=\"59\" width=\"486\" src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/53\/7faf1d61-e857-4d2c-9cf2-10b32f7880af.png\" align=\"middle\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Even though buyer personas are highly effective, they often miss the helpful context that marketers need to effectively serve the various identities their ideal customers possess. As a result, personas aren\u2019t converting certain consumers at the rates that they could be.<\/p>\n<p>In this post, I\u2019ll share where traditional buyer personas miss the mark and how to fix it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#the-gap-in-most-buyer-personas\" style=\"font-weight: bold\">The Gap in Most Buyer Personas<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#consumer-identities-are-often-part-of-their-decision-making-process\" style=\"font-weight: bold\">Consumer identities are often part of their decision-making process.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#how-to-make-your-buyer-personas-more-effective\" style=\"font-weight: bold\">How to Make Your Buyer Personas More Effective<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a><\/a> <\/p>\n<h2>The Gap in Most Buyer Personas<\/h2>\n<p>As an inclusive marketing strategist and consultant, I work with my clients to audit various components of their customer experience. This often includes reviewing and providing feedback on their creative briefs as they work on creating campaigns. It also involves getting consumer feedback on what they make.<\/p>\n<p>Whenever I flag materials that can be improved regarding consumers with specific identities, brands have included specific buyer personas in their creative brief.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" width=\"650\" height=\"365\" alt=\"carmen is an aspiring creator who dreams of going full-time. she built her audience through written posts and image-based content, but knows platforms now prioritize video. since she doesn&#039;t have the budget now to outsource, she&#039;s looking for affordable tools that let her produce high-quality, professional-looking content herself. she often learns new skills through youtube tutorials, creator communities, and from observing design elements from creator videos on social. she gravitates toward brands that feel approachable, supportive, and align with her values.\" style=\"margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;width: 650px;height: auto;max-width: 100%\" class=\"lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/blissfulyogaandmassage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/inclusive-personas-2-20251006-8751739.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>However, the execution of the materials wasn\u2019t as successful. That\u2019s often because the personas lacked the depth of information about the various identities of the consumers that the brand wanted to reach.<\/p>\n<p>And as a result, the corresponding campaigns often fail to effectively engage consumers who are part of underrepresented and underserved communities that also fit the buyer persona profile. That\u2019s a missed opportunity. Getting it right makes buyers feel seen, supported, and like they belong.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some examples of challenges that arise with personas that lack specificity. I should note that these are all complaints I\u2019ve heard directly or seen consumers commenting on in various channels:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Magazine covers that don\u2019t have plus-sized people featured.<\/li>\n<li>General market ads that don\u2019t feature any Hispanic consumers.<\/li>\n<li>Website pages that don\u2019t take into account accessibility features to support consumers with disabilities.<\/li>\n<li>Ads that feature people from underrepresented and underserved communities but lack cultural intelligence elements. The messaging doesn\u2019t speak to their needs or objectives.<\/li>\n<li>Visual imagery that features people from underrepresented and underserved communities in a stereotypical way.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a><\/a> <\/p>\n<h2>Consumer identities are often part of their decision-making process.<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" width=\"650\" height=\"374\" alt=\"sonia thompson inclusive brand coach\" style=\"margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;width: 650px;height: auto;max-width: 100%\" class=\"lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/blissfulyogaandmassage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/sonia20thompson20inclusive20brand20coach.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Every consumer has identities that influence what they buy and who they buy from, whether they know it or not.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, I\u2019m a Black woman. I\u2019m left-handed. I follow a gluten-free diet for health reasons. My husband is a Spanish-speaking immigrant. And, together, we have a mixed-race bilingual child. As both a consumer and a business owner, at least one of these aspects of my identity influences what I buy in more instances than not.<\/p>\n<p>For example, as a business owner, I often look for success stories from other business owners who \u201clook like me.\u201d After relocating to the U.S. from Buenos Aires, when we went to buy a car, my husband and I chose our salesperson based on whether or not they spoke Spanish. When I buy clothes, dolls, and toys for my daughter, I intentionally look for options where the images reflect girls who have curly hair and match her skin tone.<\/p>\n<p>Other consumers don\u2019t have the choice of considering their identity when it comes to making buying decisions. That\u2019s because societal influences shape their experiences. How others respond to and\/or engage with them is different. That\u2019s especially true when compared to others who fit what has traditionally been considered the \u201cmainstream.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To illustrate, I worked with a client who had both service providers and the end consumers in their customer base. During research, we often heard from service providers that aspects of their identity (including race\/ethnicity and gender) impacted the way they were treated while doing their work.<\/p>\n<p>The service providers\u2019 identities did not impact how well they were able to perform at their craft. But, their identities sometimes impacted the kinds of experiences they had with others. That wasn\u2019t the case for people with identities that were part of the \u201cmainstream\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>As consumers, our identities are a core part of who we are. Most consumers don\u2019t compartmentalize or separate their identities when it comes to the buying process \u2014 even if marketers aren\u2019t necessarily considering or infusing identity effectively into personas.<\/p>\n<p>For buyers, their identity is so ingrained that they might not even realize how much it is a part of their decision-making process. And if marketers don\u2019t ask about it during research, their identities may never come up as a point of consideration.<\/p>\n<p>Therein lies the disconnect between many buyer personas and the consumers they are intended to represent.<\/p>\n<p>Marketers must remember that the customers they serve are both consciously and unconsciously looking to answer this fundamental question when engaging with your brand: Is this product for someone like me?<\/p>\n<p>That someone like me could be a variety of things:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A solopreneur.<\/li>\n<li>Someone who isn\u2019t tech savvy.<\/li>\n<li>Someone who is neurodivergent.<\/li>\n<li>Someone who speaks English as a second language.<\/li>\n<li>A woman.<\/li>\n<li>Someone with a bigger body frame.<\/li>\n<li>Someone with textured hair.<\/li>\n<li>Someone with kids.<\/li>\n<li>Someone without kids.<\/li>\n<li>Someone who is single.<\/li>\n<li>Someone who is married.<\/li>\n<li>Someone who practices Hinduism.<\/li>\n<li>A gay male.<\/li>\n<li>An immigrant.<\/li>\n<li>Someone with a disability.<\/li>\n<li>Someone who is 53.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And the list goes on and on.<\/p>\n<p>If a consumer doesn\u2019t feel like what you have to offer is for \u201csomeone like them,\u201d they will move on to something or someone else.<\/p>\n<p>Brands face a challenge: They must clearly and quickly communicate that their offering is for the specific identities of people who face the problem they solve. To meet this need, marketers need to call out those identities and acknowledge them in personas.<\/p>\n<p>So even though a neurodivergent consumer fits one of your buyer persona categories to a tee, that doesn\u2019t mean he will feel seen, supported, or like he belongs with your brand. That\u2019s especially true if your personas don&#8217;t mention any aspects of his identity.<\/p>\n<p><a><\/a> <\/p>\n<h2>How to Make Your Buyer Personas More Effective<\/h2>\n<p>One of the core tenets of customer acquisition is choosing the specific identities you want to serve as customers. By infusing those identities into your buyer personas, you\u2019ll set your brand up with the foundation needed to effectively serve <em>all<\/em> the consumers you want to target.<\/p>\n<p>There are two ways you can approach this.<\/p>\n<h3>1. Add identity layers within your personas.<\/h3>\n<p>This involves taking your existing personas and adding more of the identity-based context. The extra information will help marketers execute on campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s always a good idea when data can inform the identity-based layers you want to include. So whatever data you can access about your ideal consumers from an identity standpoint, dig into it.<\/p>\n<p>If you can\u2019t access that data from your own internal or third-party data sources, consider sourcing this type of information from surveys, 1:1 interviews, or other direct engagements. That way, you can start to build the layers of the identities into your buyer persona profiles.<\/p>\n<p>Once you have more specifics about what the identities are, be intentional about clearly and quickly communicating that what you have to offer is \u201cfor people like them\u201d throughout your customer journey.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what adding in more identity-based information could look like for Creator Carmen.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" width=\"650\" height=\"364\" alt=\"Carmen is an aspiring creator who dreams of going full-time. She built her audience through written posts and image-based content, but knows platforms now prioritize video. Since she doesn&#039;t have the budget now to outsource, she&#039;s looking for affordable tools that let her produce high-quality, professional-looking content herself. She often learns new skills through YouTube tutorials, creator communities, and from observing design elements from creator videos on social. She gravitates ward brands that feel approachable, supportive, and align with her values.\" style=\"margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;width: 650px;height: auto;max-width: 100%\" class=\"lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/blissfulyogaandmassage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/inclusive-personas-4-20251006-410218.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" width=\"650\" height=\"366\" alt=\"Carmen is an aspiring creator who dreams of going full-time. She built her audience through written posts and image-based content, but knows platforms now prioritize video. Since she doesn&#039;t have the budget now to outsource, she&#039;s looking for affordable tools that let her produce high-quality, professional-looking content herself. She often learns new skills through YouTube tutorials, creator communities, and from observing design elements from creator videos on social. She gravitates toward brands that feel approachable, supportive, and align with her values.\" style=\"margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;width: 650px;height: auto;max-width: 100%\" class=\"lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/blissfulyogaandmassage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/inclusive-personas-5-20251006-683115.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" width=\"650\" height=\"364\" alt=\"Carmen is an aspiring creator who dreams of going full-time. She built her audience through written posts and image-based content, but knows platforms now prioritize video. Since she doesn&#039;t have the budget now to outsource, she&#039;s looking for affordable tools that let her produce high-quality, professional-looking content herself. She often learns new skills through YouTube tutorials, creator communities, and from observing design elements from creator videos on social. She gravitates toward brands that feel approachable, supportive, and align with her values.\" style=\"margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;width: 650px;height: auto;max-width: 100%\" class=\"lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/blissfulyogaandmassage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/inclusive-personas-6-20251006-526642.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>These facts alone might be helpful to include in the narrative. But if a marketing team doesn\u2019t know how being visually impaired, an Afro-Latina, or speaking English with a Spanish preference potentially influences Carmen, that information isn\u2019t useful.<\/p>\n<p>Marketers need to understand how identity factors impact these three versions of Creator Carmen\u2019s decision-making process and buyer journey.<\/p>\n<p>My recommendation is to infuse more nuanced information into your personas like this:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" width=\"650\" height=\"365\" style=\"margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;width: 650px;height: auto;max-width: 100%\" class=\"lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/blissfulyogaandmassage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/inclusive-personas-7-20251006-9453761.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Then, supplement your identity-related challenges, frustrations, and wishes with supporting documentation. The extra information serves as a guidebook of what\u2019s different about Creator Carmen\u2019s experiences because of her disability versus a Creator Carmen who doesn\u2019t have one. You can then show up well for the various versions of Creator Carmen you want to reach.<\/p>\n<p>Customer interviews, focus groups, social listening, and other secondary sources can help you gain the cultural intelligence you need about identity.<\/p>\n<h3>2. Build identity-specific personas.<\/h3>\n<p>You might find that there are times when having a buyer persona specific to certain identities is helpful. However, the success of a persona depends on what your suite of buyer personas looks like or how they\u2019re categorized.<\/p>\n<p>This works well in the instances where it\u2019s necessary to create specific products, features, communications, experiences, and even core messaging.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, let&#8217;s say one of your product offers includes a customer segment of children under the age of 18. The needs, experiences, expectations, and ethics associated with how a brand communicates with them would be sufficiently different. With these constraints, it could be harder to make personas with identity-specific layers.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s another example for you. In this video, email marketing strategist Eman Ismail explains how her Muslim faith identity has impacted her experiences at business events. Brands that host any kind of event and want to create a space where Muslim attendees feel seen, supported, and like they belong could benefit from creating a separate identity-specific persona.<\/p>\n<p>You can listen to my entire conversation with Eman here on this episode of the <em>Inclusion &amp; Marketing<\/em> podcast.<\/p>\n<h2>It\u2019s time to make your personas more effective.<\/h2>\n<p>Buyer personas are powerful, but only when you create them to operate at their full potential. Move beyond traditional buyer personas to incorporate important elements of identity that your ideal customers are using to make buying decisions.<\/p>\n<p>The payoff: more authentic campaigns, more conversions, and greater impact.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" style=\"min-height:1px!important;width:1px!important;border-width:0!important;margin-top:0!important;margin-bottom:0!important;margin-right:0!important;margin-left:0!important;padding-top:0!important;padding-bottom:0!important;padding-right:0!important;padding-left:0!important\" class=\"lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/track.hubspot.com\/__ptq.gif?a=53&amp;k=14&amp;r=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.hubspot.com%2Fmarketing%2Finclusive-buyer-personas&amp;bu=https%253A%252F%252Fblog.hubspot.com%252Fmarketing&amp;bvt=rss\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Buyer personas are a foundational component of many brands\u2019 marketing strategy. Personas often serve as a blueprint that guides marketing campaigns, customer journeys, and even product development. Even though buyer personas are highly effective, they often miss the helpful context that marketers need to effectively serve the various identities their ideal customers possess. As a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blissfulyogaandmassage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blissfulyogaandmassage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blissfulyogaandmassage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blissfulyogaandmassage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blissfulyogaandmassage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4091"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blissfulyogaandmassage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4100,"href":"http:\/\/blissfulyogaandmassage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4091\/revisions\/4100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blissfulyogaandmassage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blissfulyogaandmassage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blissfulyogaandmassage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blissfulyogaandmassage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}