Leveraging Analytics
Analytics are your first major source of data for creating a real persona. Most tools provide demographics, location, and some hints of preferences.
Here are some of the main platforms you can use to gather insights.
Google Analytics is free and should be a default addition to any website. This platform can easily provide you with extensive demographic information about your web visitors, and even more if you have e-commerce tracking or conversion goals set up.
Facebook Insights can also shed light on your brand's fans. Facebook provides high-caliber demographic breakdowns into your page fans and even the people who end up seeing or engaging with your posts.
There are many other tools at your disposal. Most digital platforms provide some degree of data or analytics. Whether you're an app developer, e-commerce master, or content marketer, there are multiple avenues for learning more about your customers.