Buyer Persona Builder
Build personas that drive decisions, not decoration. A useful persona captures what the buyer is trying to achieve, what's stopping them, what triggers a purchase, and where they look — the inputs that shape targeting, messaging, and channel choice. Demographics alone ("35, urban, likes coffee") are the failure mode.
When to use
The user needs to define who they're selling to — for messaging, targeting, or to sharpen positioning.
Before you start
- Read the brand/product context (
.agents/product-marketing.md / .agents/aaj-brand.md) if present.
- Gather real signal wherever possible: current best customers, sales-call notes, support tickets, reviews, interview transcripts. Personas built only from imagination are guesses — say so when that's all you have, and frame them as hypotheses to validate.
- Decide scope: the ICP (firmographic/segment fit) and the 1–3 personas within it who actually buy or use.
Workflow
- Define the ICP — the segment where the product fits best (for B2B: company type, size, trigger; for B2C: situation/need state).
- Build each persona using the template in
resources/persona-template.md: role/context, goals, pains, buying triggers, objections, decision criteria, where they research, and their role in the purchase (decision-maker, user, influencer, blocker).
- Ground every field in a signal (a quote, a pattern, a data point) or mark it as a hypothesis to test.
- Note the buying-committee map for B2B — who else must say yes.
- Translate to action: for each persona, the one message that matters and the channels to reach them.
Present the result
Deliver the ICP plus each persona in the template format, with a "validate next" list of the hypotheses that need real evidence and the single message + channels per persona.
Guardrails & common mistakes
- Goals and pains over demographics. Behavior and motivation drive buying, not age or city.
- Ground it or flag it. Distinguish evidence from assumption; don't present invented detail as fact.
- Few, sharp personas. Two or three real buyers beat eight fictional ones.
- The buyer ≠ the user in B2B. Map both, and the people who can block the deal.
- Personas expire. Revisit as you learn; they're working hypotheses, not monuments.
Related AAJ resources
Related skills
customer-survey-design (gather the signal) · positioning-statement (sharpen the "for whom") · win-loss-analysis (the alternatives they weigh).
Credits
Original AAJ skill. The Agent Skills format and Corey Haines' coreyhaines31/marketingskills (MIT) were references for structure and coverage; this skill is independently written. See the repository README.
1---2name: persona-builder3description: Use when the user wants to build buyer personas or an ideal customer profile (ICP) — the target's goals, pains, buying triggers, objections, and where they research. Also use when the user mentions personas, ICP, target audience profile, customer avatar, "who are we selling to", or buyer journey. Produces structured personas grounded in real signals, not demographic guesswork.4license: MIT5---67# Buyer Persona Builder89Build personas that **drive decisions**, not decoration. A useful persona captures what the buyer is trying to achieve, what's stopping them, what triggers a purchase, and where they look — the inputs that shape targeting, messaging, and channel choice. Demographics alone ("35, urban, likes coffee") are the failure mode.1011## When to use1213The user needs to define who they're selling to — for messaging, targeting, or to sharpen positioning.1415## Before you start16171. **Read the brand/product context** (`.agents/product-marketing.md` / `.agents/aaj-brand.md`) if present.182. **Gather real signal** wherever possible: current best customers, sales-call notes, support tickets, reviews, interview transcripts. Personas built only from imagination are guesses — say so when that's all you have, and frame them as hypotheses to validate.193. **Decide scope:** the ICP (firmographic/segment fit) and the 1–3 personas within it who actually buy or use.2021## Workflow22231. **Define the ICP** — the segment where the product fits best (for B2B: company type, size, trigger; for B2C: situation/need state).242. **Build each persona** using the template in `resources/persona-template.md`: role/context, goals, pains, buying triggers, objections, decision criteria, where they research, and their role in the purchase (decision-maker, user, influencer, blocker).253. **Ground every field** in a signal (a quote, a pattern, a data point) or mark it as a hypothesis to test.264. **Note the buying-committee map** for B2B — who else must say yes.275. **Translate to action:** for each persona, the one message that matters and the channels to reach them.2829## Present the result3031Deliver the ICP plus each persona in the template format, with a "validate next" list of the hypotheses that need real evidence and the single message + channels per persona.3233## Guardrails & common mistakes3435- **Goals and pains over demographics.** Behavior and motivation drive buying, not age or city.36- **Ground it or flag it.** Distinguish evidence from assumption; don't present invented detail as fact.37- **Few, sharp personas.** Two or three real buyers beat eight fictional ones.38- **The buyer ≠ the user** in B2B. Map both, and the people who can block the deal.39- **Personas expire.** Revisit as you learn; they're working hypotheses, not monuments.4041## Related AAJ resources4243- Interactive tool: https://aajconsult.com/tools/persona-builder4445## Related skills4647`customer-survey-design` (gather the signal) · `positioning-statement` (sharpen the "for whom") · `win-loss-analysis` (the alternatives they weigh).4849## Credits5051Original AAJ skill. The Agent Skills format and Corey Haines' `coreyhaines31/marketingskills` (MIT) were references for structure and coverage; this skill is independently written. See the repository README.
sarojkjha