1.
Marketing Personas
Charles Dimov
@CDimov
StrategyD.org

2.
Agenda
• What
• Why
• How
• Tools
• Best Practices…
Photo:TheFashionApprentice.com<http://ow.ly/MYl80>

3.
How well we
communicate is
determined not by
how well we say
things but how well
we are understood
- Andrew Grove -
Photo:LegoFan-Tastic<http://ow.ly/MY3Qv>

4.
What

5.
Marketing
• CEB: studied 1,400+ B2B customers across industries revealing that
57% of a typical purchase decision is made before a customer even
talks to a supplier (1)
• SeriusDecisions:
67% of the buyer’s journey is now done digitally (2)
KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS
Sources:(1)“TheEndofSolutionsSales,”CEB,2013<http://ow.ly/MX1vO>
(2)“TheMythsofthe67%statistic”MeganHeuer,SeriusDecisions,Jul2013<http://ow.ly/MX32z>

6.
Defining
Personas are fictional,
generalized representations
of your ideal customers(1)
Source:(1)“ThedefinitionofaBuyerPersona,”Hubspot,Mar2014<http://ow.ly/MX5yy>

7.
Examples

8.
HOW to use it?
• Targeted Messages
• Engaging Content (Web, Product Marketing…)
• Content speaks to Needs customers
(wants, goals, desires, pain points, needs)
• Common understanding of ideal customer
• Consistency (Product Marketers, Social Media Planner, PR Person…)
• Channel: Where to communicate
• Speak in customer’s language

9.
Why

10.
Marketing
• Ideas@Work: Personas to develop email campaigns: (1)
2x Open Rate
5x Click Through Rate (CTR)
• Hubspot: Personas for Websites
2x – 5x more effective & easier to use (2)
Persona for Email campaigns:
+14% CTR
+10% Conversion
18x more revenue than Generic Email
Sources:(1)“ROI&BuyerPersonasinB2BMarketing,”VanMorris–Ideas@WorkBlog
(2)“TheScienceofBuildingBuyerPersonas”Hubspot,Dec2014

11.
How

12.
5 Steps
• Define Target Market
• Research
• Summarize Persona & Attributes
• Communicate
• Revisit

13.
Target
• Who are recipients of
my communication?
• Who do I want to
educate, update,
influence or
inform?
• Customer Segments

14.
Research
• Questions to ask
• Assumption Maps
• Ethnographic
• Multiple Choice Surveys
• Focus Groups
• Analytics
• Internal Data
Photo:JayBrick’sBlog<http://ow.ly/MXBjm>

15.
Research
• Start at the End
• What helps team the most?
• Define Persona profile
• Interview Audience

16.
Research
• Twitter Analytics
• Google Analytics
• Facebook Insights

17.
Persona Elements
• Demographic
Summary
• Goals
• Pain Points
• Quotes

18.
Persona Elements
• Demographics
(age, income, marital status,
kids…)
• Pressure / Challenges
• Desires (business / family / life)
• Media preference
(email, direct mail, Twitter,
Facebook, chatter, phone call …),
• Typical workday, favourite time to
engage with media,
• Geographic area / building
• interests: work – life – hobby
• Key Objectives: grow sales, cost
reduction, optimize resources,
improve efficiency, create strategy
• Psychological profile: DISC /
Birkman Quadrants / Standout
• Position: influencer, decision
maker, budget owner, problem
owner, champion, mentor…
• Concerns (product opportunity,
industry, position, hot buttons)
• Direct Quotes from customers
(language / style / voice)

19.
Summarize
• Data Analysis
• Cluster Interviews
• # Personas needed
• Key Attributes
• Create Personas

20.
Summarize

21.
Communicate
• Project Team
• Team Driving Initiative
• Change Agents
• Key Stakeholders
• Communicators
• Explain how to use Personas
Source:www.Conrad.com<http://ow.ly/MXXL7>

22.
Revisit
• Customer change
• Needs change
• Revisit Personas
(every 3 – 12 mo. Internal)

23.
Tools

24.
Free Web Tools

25.
• Create Interview questions
• Structure your approach
• Templates
• Writing/Talking style quotes
• Personalization story
• Impactful Summary
Free Web Tools

26.
Extensio

27.
Extensio

28.
HubSpot

29.
Kayak

30.
Best Practices

31.
Best Practices in Your Firms?

32.
Key Points

33.
Keys Points (5 Steps)
• Define Target Market
• Research
• Summarize Persona & Attributes
• Communicate
• Revisit

34.
Resources
• Strategy D for Digital Marketing
http://strategyd.org/marketing-personas-still-relevant/
http://strategyd.org/personas-5-quick-steps/
http://strategyd.org/persona-tool-review/
• Ideas@Work Blog
http://blog.mltcreative.com/ROI-Buyer-Personas-in-B2B-Marketing
• Hubspot
http://knowledge.hubspot.com/contacts-user-guide/how-to-create-personas

35.
Final Thought

36.
How far can you take it?
Photo:“ThescienceandengineeringbehindLegoMan’sballoonvoyage”MaryOrmsby,TorontoStar
<http://ow.ly/MXHvy>

37.
Marketing Personas
Charles Dimov
@CDimov
StrategyD.org