I first came across persona marketing when working for Apple. How well did it work?
The US had come up with persona who used this particular piece of software.
Each had a name, a stock image and some blurb. The US used them as a basis for ads including mighty big billboard posters.
Each had a business card. I thought this was neat. But the business card was way larger than our logo and in one case featured a massive business card with an Adobe logo.
“Sigh!”
Anyway I revisited persona marketing when I started getting my own clients as a digital marketing agency.
Why persona marketing?
Well. The more you know your customer the more you can create for them specifically. So, your messages are more focused and the recipient feels it is more personal.
You create a person
This is where it is handy to have a creative writing background because these persona become your characters.
You can test your content / copy by running it past the persona “would Jane respond to this post?’
Persona detail
I have a matrix, OK it’s an Excel spreadsheet, where I list the client’s persona. I give them a name, age, a brief description and more. For some I might list their preferred device for searching on and the keywords they are likely to use.
Then I plot them against their ‘mental shopping list’. This usually includes:
- The ‘pain’ they want to overcome
- Their needs
- Aspirations & Goals
- Frictions to buying online
Where do you start building your persona / characters?
Well, talking to customer facing team members. Asking a series of questions about objections and how they over come this. Complaints too are invaluable. Are the complaints similar? What is the main friction?
Demographic Data
Google Analytics claims to have demographic data but I’m loath to trust it. No. Start with Facebook. If you have a large enough following then Facebook Insights will break this down.
YouTube will also give insights into the demographics of your video plays.
Search & search again
Search in Google for the terms around your business. Look at what Google suggest for follow up queries.
Which websites are coming up? What is their social following reacting to and doing something with?
There are other tools worth checking out for volume of searches like the Keyword Planner in Google Ads or Answer The Public.
Imagination
I’ll confess now. I’ve written a lot of creative stuff, not sold much mind! But I have won stuff from Channel 4, professionally reader reports form the BBC and I’ve had a few bits on TV (ITV) years ago, plus stuff on stage. So, I have an advantage of using imagination to fill in the gaps.
Don’t let that put you off.
Let me know if you’d like to see a persona matrix.
About Conversion Detectives
Conversion Detectives is a full service digital marketing agency near St Albans, Hertfordshire.
We find the best quality traffic for your website and convert more of that traffic into sales or sales leads.
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