Personas in Search Marketing
Ian Lurie
Portent Interactive

Personal
Models?...

“Fictitious characters that are created to represent the different
user types within a targeted demographic that might use a site
or product.”
Wikipedia

“Your brand’s imaginary friends.”
Ian

Why do we care?
“All good marketing requires empathy.”
David Ogilvy

Using Personas in SEM
1. Research.
2. Brainstorm.
3. Write.
4. Create your campaign.
5. Segment your audience.
6. Measure, adjust, repeat.

Research: Demographics
Geography, gender, income, family, ethnicity

Research: Demographics

Research: Psychographics
Personality, likes/dislikes, ambitions

Data Sources: Free Sites
AdCenter Labs: adlab.msn.com
Quantcast.com
Compete.com
Prizm: Claritas.com
Trellian Keyword Discovery
WordTracker
Google Suggest
AdWords

Data Sources: People
Trainers
Sales Team
Customers (surveys)

Brainstorm & Write: Avoid Like The Plague
The CEO Data Source
Stereotypes
Quest for Perfection
Thesauritis

Brainstorm & Write: Sample Persona

Brainstorm & Write: Sample Persona

Brainstorm & Write: Sample Persona

Campaign Creation: Keywords
Good: Bad:
Portent Interactive Internet Marketing Training
Internet Marketing Tricks
Internet Marketing Firm
Internet Marketing
Internet Marketing Agency
Web 2.0
Internet Marketing Consulting Marketing 2.0
Seattle Internet Marketing SEO/SEM

Campaign Creation: Ad Copy

Campaign Creation: Ad Copy and Keywords

Campaign Creation: Resolving Conflicts
CEO-itis
“I know my customers.”

Segmentation

The Feedback Loop

Resources
ConversationMarketing.com/Personas
GrokDotCom.com/category/personas/
PracticalPersonas.com
Opposing view: 37Signals.com/svn and search for
‘personas’