I presented with Kendall Bird at Pubcon - Las Vegas on October 9, 2014. We covered the creation of buyer personas and the importance of targeting those personas in social media contests. Correct persona identification can make or break your social contest and we went over some case studies illustrating why. We wrap it up with the five most important things you should remember about buyer personas.

1. Utilizing Personas in Your
Social Media Contest
Kendall Bird & Katy Katz
#pubcon | @katykatztc | @simplymeK October 9,
2014

2. Kendall Bird
2
Online Community Specialist,
Collegis Education
B.A. in Public Relations,
University of Northwestern – St. Paul
Follow me!
@simplymeK
plus.google.com/+kendallbirdD
#pubcon
@katykatztc @simplymeK

3. Katy Katz
Inbound Marketing Specialist,
Collegis Education
MBA, Benedictine University
BSB, Carlson School of Management
Follow me!
@katykatztc
plus.google.com/+katykatz
3
#pubcon
@katykatztc @simplymeK

4. #pubcon
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5. #pubcon
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6. #pubcon
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There will
be a test!
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7. What is a PERSONA?
7
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8. #pubcon
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Personas
A buyer persona is a
semi-functional
representation of your
ideal customer based
on market research
and real data about
your existing
customers.
- Hubspot
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9. #pubcon
@katykatztc @simplymeK
Creating a persona
 Conduct target market research
 Survey customers
 Create gated content to website
 Analyze social behavior
 Utilize an external partner (e.g. Simmons data)
 Divide results into persona buckets
 Create a story for each persona that you identify
 Edit, edit, edit – limit to the right number
 Make them personal and detailed
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10. What a persona should include
SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
• Information
seeker
• Fan
• Influencer
• Detractor
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NAME
JOB TITLE
• Where they work
• Details about their role
DEMOGRAPHICS
• Age
• Gender
• Salary
• Location
• Education
• Family
GOALS AND
CHALLENGES
•Values and fears
MARKETING
MESSAGE
• Elevator pitch
SOCIAL
PLATFORMS
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Pinterest
• Twitter
• Google+
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11. 73%
of marketers already use
segmentation for email, paid
and direct mail campaigns.
— getsmartcontent.com
#pubcon
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12. What do PERSONAS
have to do with
SOCIAL MEDIA contests?
12
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13. EVERYTHING.
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14. Social media is
customer service.
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15. Only 23%of
customers think that a
company values their
business.
- cbsnews.com
#pubcon
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16. 71%
of customers ended a business
relationship because of poor
customer service.
- forbes.com
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17. Consumers actually interact with a retailer’s
Facebook page
more than the retailer’s own website
(38% vs 36%)!
- Infosys
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18. #pubcon
@katykatztc @simplymeK
89%
of customers say their
social media interactions
impacted their
purchases!
- Infosys
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19. “Responsive social media is a
key differentiator
for businesses in 2014.”
- Paul Dunay, Social Media Today, June 2014
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20. communication
= an exchange of
information.
When you understand your customer,
you are able to communicate.
#pubcon
@katykatztc @simplymeK
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21. Communication is the key to social
If you create content your customers
actually care about,
they will want to engage with your
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brand.
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22. Here’s why you need
to know your persona …
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23. #pubcon
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Social Media Contest: NYPD
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24. “One of the most common reasons
why businesses fail to gain ROI
from their social media efforts
is their failure to
fashion their content to
target specific personas.”
— SquareFish, June 2014
#pubcon
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25. #pubcon
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Social Media Contest: Audi
Source: https://econsultancy.com/blog/65020-19-horrific-social-media-fails-from-the-first-half-of-
2014#i.1rztwh786ldexu
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26. #pubcon
@katykatztc @simplymeK
Social Media Contest: Audi
VS.
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27. Social Media Contest: Molson Canadian
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Source: http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2007/11/facebook-marketing-stunt-backfires.html
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28. Social Media Contest: Molson Canadian
#pubcon
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VS.
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29. So what does a successful
social media CONTEST look like?
29
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30. User-generated content (UGC) is
trusted 50%
more than traditional media.
— http://corp.crowdtap.com/socialinfluence, March 2014
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31. UGC campaigns are an excellent way
to
collect creative material
for marketing purposes,
to get photos of your products
on the social web and to
drive sales and brand engagement.
—Mashable, January 2013
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32. When you understand
your persona …
#pubcon
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33. Fans Share the Love: Eggo Waffles
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Source: http://blog.wishpond.com/post/52173284787/10-amazing-examples-of-branded-facebook-contests-done
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34. Fans Share the Love: Eggo Waffles
#pubcon
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Company: Kellogg’s
Product: Eggo Waffles
Persona: 38 year old mommy blogger
Contest: A Facebook recipe competition.
 Part 1: Fans submitting favorite recipes using Eggos.
 Part 2: Fans voting for their favorite recipe.
Lesson: Fans take food contests seriously and will go to great lengths to
share their love for the brand.
Statistics: 1,292 Followers to Pinterest Board + 24 Unique Recipes
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35. UGC is the Content: Brush Buddies
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Source: http://www.razorsocial.com/facebook-contests/
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36. UGC is the Content: Brush Buddies
Company: Brush Buddies
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Persona: 13 year old girl
Contest: A singing contest using Brush Buddies singing toothbrushes. The contest was
to find the best singer through fans uploading videos of them singing. Brush Buddies
fans could then vote for the best artist.
Lesson: When a contest is SO user-focused, including the end result (the prize),
fans will participate.
Statistics: Impressive results as there were only 30 contestants.
 34 Twitter Trends, 8 countries, 29,200 most votes for a video,
over 65,000 total votes, 23+ million impressions.
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37. #pubcon
@katykatztc @simplymeK
Inspire Customers: College A
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38. #pubcon
@katykatztc @simplymeK
Inspire Customers: College A
Company: Collegis Education client – College A
Persona: 26 year old female with two children
Contest: User-generated content through Instagram, asking fans to share
their dreams and aspirations for their lives through photos. Each week,
photos were put into a random drawing for a brand giveaway.
Lesson: Grab hold of what’s popular with your persona base and take
advantage of it with a UGC social media campaign.
Statistics: In 8 weeks, there were close to 300 photos entered.
 Over 2 million website views, 150+ hashtag mentions, 100+ new
followers.
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39. Let’s walk through
a few social media
contests together
39
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40. #pubcon
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Vera Bradley
Source: http://www.toprankblog.com/2012/11/winning-social-contests/
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41. #pubcon
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Vera Bradley Persona
Gender: Female
Age: 24 - 35
Interests: Shopping, socializing with
friends,
photos that show their creativity
Social Behavior: Fans
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42. #pubcon
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Lay’s
Source: https://www.facebook.com/lays/app_291012370991143
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43. #pubcon
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Lay’s Persona
Gender: Male
Age: 15 - 25
Interests: Sports, easy snacks
Social Behavior: Influencers
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44. The 5 things you need to know about personas
 They should be a person, not a segment
 Know their inputs & their outputs
#pubcon
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 Understand their story
 Be personal to what they care about
 All content should be directed at a persona
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45. 45
Thank you!
#pubcon| @katykatztc | @simplymeK
Copyright Collegis LLC. Proprietary and Confidential.