Presentation by Molly Castelazo for Business Marketing Association (BMA) Phoenix on developing buyer personas and using them to drive content marketing.

1. It’s All About the Audience:
Using Buyer Personas to Drive Content
Strategy, Development, & Marketing
Presented by Molly Castelazo, Chief Content Strategist
Castelazo Content (formerly Castelazo Marketing)

2. About Castelazo Content
 Castelazo Content (formerly Castelazo Marketing
Ltd.) is an Arizona content development firm. By
producing high-quality, relevant, engaging
whitepapers, articles, blog posts, marketing
collateral, website copy, and more, we help our
clients engage their audiences and communicate
their messages online and off. Our clients range from
start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations, non-profit
foundations to governmental agencies. Across the
globe, these clients are in a wide range of industries,
with a concentration in technology.

3. Agenda
 Using Buyer Personas in content development
 To determine the media
 To determine the message
 Using Buyer Personas in content marketing
 To determine the outlet
 To determine the place to “join the conversation”
This will be much more enjoyable and productive if it’s
interactive, so please don’t be shy, and feel free to
interrupt with a question anytime

4. The only rule you need to know: it’s
all about your audience
“My play was a complete success.
The audience was a failure.”
 English author Ashleigh Brilliant

5. Using Buyer Personas in content
development
 To determine the media
 To determine the message

6. Using Buyer Personas to determine the
media
 Written content
 Blog post on your site?
 Guest blog post on industry website?
 Bylined article in trade publication?
 Bylined article in mainstream publication?
 Whitepaper published by you?
 Whitepaper published by or with a partner?
 Video
 Interview of you as subject matter expert?
 Interview of client?
 Webinar?
 Voice-over PowerPoint?
 Infographic

7. Using Buyer Personas to determine the
message
 Rule #1: Engage
 What does it mean to engage?
 It means evoking emotion, developing a connection
 LOL cats are engaging…

8. Using Buyer Personas to determine the
message
 Rule #2: Be relevant
 LOL cats are engaging…but they’re not relevant
 In B2B being engaging and relevant can be tricky,
but it is possible
 Oil & Gas technology service provider well integrity
example – emotion is fear, message is relevant, and
service provider is the (implicit) solution

9. Using Buyer Personas to determine the
message
 Rule #3: Provide value
 Quickly and succinctly provide value to your Buyer – actionable
insight that will help him make his life better
 Establish you as the thought leader in your industry
 Implicitly articulate your value proposition
 Before writing, ask “Who is my target audience?” and
then “What does my target audience care about? How
can I provide them value?”
 What to write?
 What does your target audience care about? What kind of
information would provide value to them (make their lives
easier)?
 From that list, in what areas are you a thought leader?
 Remember, be engaging and be relevant. Offering insight into a
timely issue can be a very effective strategy.

10. 5 ways to add value
1. Tell them something that they don’t already know that
they’ll feel proud to be smart about
 Why Does China Own So Much U.S. Debt? whitepaper
2. Illuminate an industry trend, providing insight they can
act on to get ahead
 Bylined article about Dodd-Frank
3. Tell them how to avoid making a big mistake
 Well integrity data analytics whitepaper
4. Tell them how to leverage an opportunity that very few
know about
 How the rise of consumerware will affect app developers
whitepaper
5. Provide a tool they can use to make a decision
 Managed data center cost of colocation calculator

11. The intersection between Buyer Personas &
Content: the Messaging Matrix
*The Messaging Matrix is a proprietary framework
developed by Castelazo Content. If you would like to
learn more about the Messaging Matrix and see it in
action, please email molly@castelazomarketing.com*

12. Buyers are people, and people like
stories
 Whitepapers, blogs, articles,
and other types of content are
stories
 Journalists don't use the term
“article”; instead they refer to
their work as “stories”.
 FiREapps example

13. Using Buyer Personas in content
marketing
To determine the outlet
To determine the place to “join the conversation”

14. Using Buyer Personas to determine the
outlet
 Who is your audience? Go to where they are
 Both online and in print, bylined articles help you reach
your target audience where you know they are at – and
then drive them toward your website and additional
content there.

15. Using Buyer Personas to determine the
place to “join the conversation”
How to develop and execute an
online outreach strategy
 Where is your Buyer?
 What are the ways you can
engage where they are?
 Guest blogging
 Commenting
 Joining discussion forums
 Social media
Online outreach is
about developing
this:

16. Questions?
Stay in Touch
 Molly Castelazo, Chief Content Strategist, Castelazo
Content
 t: 480-987-7958
 e: molly@castelazomarketing.com