Our second content strategy deep-dive #ContentChat conversation was on how to create personas. We got the scoop on how to create killer personas on a budget from marketing agency founder Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo).
Q1: What is a persona and why do content marketers need personas to define and document their #contentstrategy?
There are a few different ways to define personas.
A1a: A persona is a demographic, behavioral, and psychological snapshot of your best customers and the people who influence them. You want to explore and understand all of the people who impact the decision to buy or not buy your product. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/myBdIQumfZ
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) May 14, 2018
A1: Personas are a sketch of your ideal customer. By having a strong customer image in mind when you are creating content, you can create much more focused, useful content. – @rebekahmeyer #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/NpTkivgFXF
— CHARGE (@CHARGEgoforward) May 14, 2018
A1: An audience persona is a method for identifying the people who aren’t yet customers, but could benefit from your content. A buyer persona is a similiar method for organizing the people within your customer database by similiar traits, circumstances, needs, etc. #contentchat
— Bill Skowronski (@BillSkowronski) May 14, 2018
A1 Personas aren’t the “end-all, be-all” generalization about every customer you have, but are a way you can think about how _significant_* groups of customers interpret and respond to various marketing efforts. #contentchat
*interms of percentage of your customer base— Derek Pillie (@dpillie) May 14, 2018
A1. I think of a persona as a character—or maybe the hero—in a content journey or story. What motivates them, scares them, helps them reach a happy ending? #ContentChat https://t.co/O27qx1ScSq
— Carmen Hill (@carmenhill) May 14, 2018
It’s also helpful to understand what a persona is not (and what’s not a persona).
A1: It’s important to note that personas for #contentmarketing are NOT the same as advertising demographics/personas. Content-focused personas focus on the unique needs and challenges your community faces that your content can support. #ContentChat https://t.co/9T05KUsQm4
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 14, 2018
A1b: Also note, “C-Suite” and “Fortune 500” are NOT personas. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/QWdBEwrmQ9
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 14, 2018
Personas put a name and a face to your customer attributes.
A1b: Personas are a helpful way to bring together implicit assumptions, customer experiences, customer data and give them a face and a name. When you make them human and real, helping them solve their challenges with your product/service is easier. #ContentChat
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) May 14, 2018
A persona is a combination of the demographic and psychographic traits that one of your audiences generally has, used to form a fictitious person of sorts. It’s an exercise that helps you really drill down and get to know your audience. A1 #contentchat
— Maggie schott (@mckeatingsols) May 14, 2018
A1. A persona is a composite of your ideal customers, prospects or audience—a fictional stand-in for a real person’s interests, challenges, objections, success metrics, etc. #ContentChat https://t.co/O27qx1ScSq
— Carmen Hill (@carmenhill) May 14, 2018
You’ll want to craft personas for both your ideal buyers and the influencers in their purchasing process.
A1c: Personas should be based on your most profitable and most strategic clients as well as the stakeholders that influence those decisions. #ContentChat
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) May 14, 2018
Personas help you understand the right messages that will resonate with your audience.
A1: Personas could act as a roadmap to the appropriate language, CTA, imagery, or meaning a targeted category of customers will find interesting and want more. #ContentChat
— Alan Fleming (@alan_fleming) May 14, 2018
Q2: Are personas just useful for big, #B2B companies with corresponding big budgets?
Personas actually may be easier—and more relevant—for smaller businesses.
A2: Absolutely not! Smaller companies have fewer barriers between the workers and the customers. Use that to your advantage to create laser-focused content that your customers will love. – @rebekahlmeyer #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/4NdO0BxyVx
— CHARGE (@CHARGEgoforward) May 14, 2018
A2: I’d say the opposite is true. The smaller your company, the better you should be able to clearly define your personas and organize your content. #contentchat
— Bill Skowronski (@BillSkowronski) May 14, 2018
A2: Personas are impt for all companies, and can also help small companies w/ things like resource alignment. Ex.: Get a new content request? Ask “Who is the persona?” & “What is the goal?” If you can’t answer those, you may be committing a random act of content. #contentchat
— Dominic Garcia (@dominicgarcia) May 14, 2018
Personas are helpful for both B2B and B2C companies of all sizes.
A2: Although B2B companies need them to understand the various roles people in the organization play in the decision making process, I’ve seen personas used to help build a deeper understanding for consumer products as well. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/1Kq3gLeSg3
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) May 14, 2018
A2b: For purchases under $100, B2C can better understand why people buy their products and their motivation for doing so with a healthy look at what role their product plays in their life. #contentchat
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) May 14, 2018
A2c: For products over $100, you want to understand who is truly the buyer of the product and who else weighs in on that process. Know all of your buyers and build content to educate them on why your product is the clear choice. #ContentChat
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) May 14, 2018
A2: Knowing who you target with a message is beneficial for any organization, regardless of size or industry. Having that shorthand helps. #ContentChat
— Alan Fleming (@alan_fleming) May 14, 2018
A2 “Data is the primary point of failure of most campaigns” – unknown
That is true of all companies/organizations no matter the size. If you don’t understand who you are trying to “speak” to how do you expect to “talk” to them? #contentchat— Derek Pillie (@dpillie) May 14, 2018
A2: No way. I’ve worked in large and small agencies and currently one half of a team marketing B2C. In all of these spaces identifying who your audience is and nailing down how to address them has been important. #ContentChat https://t.co/xugBwZLFiP
— Aisha White (@itsaishawhite) May 14, 2018
Big companies have more resources which can lead to more accurate/defined personas.
A2: No, but they’re probably able to access the resources to make better, more accurate ones than smaller businesses #ContentChat
— Kristen Hicks (@atxcopywriter) May 14, 2018
Q3: OK, so maybe I DO need to define personas for my brand. What do I need to know or have in-hand before I get started?
A3: When creating personas you should have the following information:
* Profitable Customer Data
* Client Stories
* Client/customer to Share their Thoughts
* Data from Advertising Campaigns
* Analytics/online User Data
* Products + Services List#ContentChat— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) May 14, 2018
A3: Depending on how long you’ve been in business, any analytics you can find on who is currently your customer is a great place to start. Then, identify using market research who is in need of what you can offer them. #ContentChat https://t.co/fvJDL9WwKH
— Ashley Hoffman (@ashhmarketing) May 14, 2018
A3 I’ll second the motion that this is a great list. One thing we’ve found invaluable in the past is front-line customer interaction. It’s a great way to figure out what questions might be common to particular groups of folks and how they interact with the brand. #ContentChat https://t.co/ORCkr3sOEE
— Derek Pillie (@dpillie) May 14, 2018
For a content-focused persona, I want to know where they go to for industry information, what they are measured on at work, and what their biggest challenges are vs. their age, degree status, and income. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 14, 2018
A3: Demographic data on your typical customers along with interviews with specific customers and any data you can collect from customer surveys – being able to hear from them directly who they are and why they buy is an important component #contentchat
— Kristen Hicks (@atxcopywriter) May 14, 2018
Q4: What are some inexpensive ways to conduct competitive research as it pertains to understanding my market and how my target customer differs from my competitors’?
Start with competitor research.
A4: Understand your competitor by scouring their websites. Document products/services, message, content types, format of their pages, blog topics, categorizations, look and feel, & brand voice. Highlight gaps to see where you might be able to shine. #ContentChat
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) May 14, 2018
A4c: I actually build a spreadsheet that tracks off of this information so there are easily recognizable gaps to know where you have opportunities in the market or gaps in your own offerings as compared to your competitors. #contentchat
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) May 14, 2018
A4: Consider taking on the role of the consumer when it comes to competitors. What messages are they sharing? How do they interact with their audience? #ContentChat https://t.co/7HWLOUEgoB
— Aisha White (@itsaishawhite) May 14, 2018
Survey your customers and your customer-facing employees.
A4: Customer surveys are great and inexpensive. You should also talk to your front-line employees, like cashiers or service reps. They interact with your customers all the time. What have they learned? – @rebekahlmeyer #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/GxMdaPjT0o
— CHARGE (@CHARGEgoforward) May 14, 2018
A4: Send a reader’s survey to your email list and ask them about the blogs they read, favorite books, podcasts, etc. Test your assumptions with ranked choice Qs too. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 14, 2018
A4a Survey is powerful. Don’t forget to ask how they get information about your brand and how they like to receive information about your brand. Personas are great but if someone is telling you the prefer email or (egads) postal mail, respecting that will help! #ContentChat
— Derek Pillie (@dpillie) May 14, 2018
Do a google search.
A4b: Do a google search. Document where they come up for industry key terms. See what other vendors come up. Where do you come up? What is the title of the page and meta information? Are they doing paid search? Do they have a PR strategy? #contentstrategy #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/SpicS7Hp4G
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) May 14, 2018
A4: Searching on “[Company name] sucks” can give a quick peek at where a competitor is falling down on the job.#contentchat
— Jim P. (@NWContentTech) May 14, 2018
Engage in social listening.
A4: Getting in the trenches on social media and joining in/observing related conversations can tell you a lot #contentchat
— Olivia Griffin (@OliviaGriffinMA) May 14, 2018
Attend customer industry conferences.
A4: Surveys, polls, competitor audits, conference attendees. A variety of inexpensive options are available for persona development. #contentchat
— Alan Fleming (@alan_fleming) May 14, 2018
Q5: How do I find people to talk to for my persona research?
Start with your current customers.
A5: Look at your customer list, offer a reason (discount/free product) to talk with you. Search your name on social/web communities, reach out to ones who mention you a lot.
– @jesseghiorzi #ContentChat— CHARGE (@CHARGEgoforward) May 14, 2018
A5: As you are building the personas, look at who has engaged with you the most, reach out and ask if they would help answer a few questions. Reward them with some swag if they say yes. Thank them if they say no. #ContentChat
— Josh Kohnert (@JoshKohnert) May 14, 2018
A5: If you’re in B2B, talk to your sales teams. They can intro you to customer champions that may model some of the personas you’re trying to formalize. Also see if your company has a Customer Advisory Board you can talk to. #contentchat
— Dominic Garcia (@dominicgarcia) May 14, 2018
Join relevant online groups.
A5: Social media is a great tool. I’m a part of a few Facebook groups full of those in my target persona that I’m working to establish close relationships with. It’s not all one-sided, which is key to remember. I want to use my resources to help them succeed as well! #ContentChat https://t.co/GFVg5fARdL
— Ashley Hoffman (@ashhmarketing) May 14, 2018
A5. You can also find people to reach out to in relevant industry events, associations, social media groups/chats and media mentions. #ContentChat https://t.co/6S7dloq6sm
— Carmen Hill (@carmenhill) May 14, 2018
Work with sales to also talk to prospects who didn’t choose you.
A5. If possible, work with your sales or account folks to talk to existing customers, as well as prospects who may have chosen another company. #contentchat https://t.co/6S7dloq6sm
— Carmen Hill (@carmenhill) May 14, 2018
Interview your internal teams.
A5: You’ll want to talk to those clients who fit the profile of most strategic, most profitable. Learn about them. Then go talk to your sales people, learn about the trends they see, finally talk to your CEO, understand their vision for the products/services. #ContentChat
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) May 14, 2018
A5: Your sales and customer service team should have an idea of some of the customers who would be willing to chat with you #contentchat
— Kristen Hicks (@atxcopywriter) May 14, 2018
Talk to your engaged social community.
A5: Engage the followers you have. Take your questions to them to gauge interest and identify a need within that community. They will help define your persona. #ContentChat
— Aisha White (@itsaishawhite) May 14, 2018
Q6: What are the most important questions to ask during persona interviews?
Keep asking why until you get to their core needs.
A6: Persona interviews should focus on the underlying challenge that the person is facing. Focus on asking 5 “Why” questions to help you dive deeply into their immediate challenges, the pressures they’re facing outside, the industry and personal motivation #morewhy #contentchat
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) May 14, 2018
A6. I think @SuperDeluxeMo said it best: “WHY? WHY? WHY?” #ContentChat https://t.co/1wTXjC6t06
— Carmen Hill (@carmenhill) May 14, 2018
Seek out their core motivation and fears.
A6: The key question for us is: What are the core human emotions/fears/needs that drive a customer’s interaction w/ you? A person going to a mechanic is worried about their kids’ safety & getting through their commute, not just spark plugs & brakes. – @RebekahLMeyer #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/02S2ydlhq3
— CHARGE (@CHARGEgoforward) May 14, 2018
A6: Ask questions that highlight things that are important to that person. It could vary from family to work and general interests. #ContentChat https://t.co/rHRlC6EXh0
— Aisha White (@itsaishawhite) May 14, 2018
A6b: Ask them about what was keeping them up at night. Ask them who was pressuring them. Ask them if they were just frustrated by a problem they encountered. As about their research process. Ask about their personal motivations to solve the problem. ASK SO MUCH. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/xXohxkdcIW
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) May 14, 2018
Learn why and how they make their decisions.
A6: I think this varies per industry/purpose, but ultimately you want to get down to who they are as a person and why they make the decisions they make. Where do they find their content, what do they respect, etc. will help you gain clarity. #ContentChat https://t.co/IXHbDpzjnS
— Ashley Hoffman (@ashhmarketing) May 14, 2018
Ask them how they find information—what are their go-to research sources?
A6: Always ask “How do you find information?” The answer may surprise you – if it’s more from industry events or forums (it may not be Google!), you need to consider how that impacts you content channels/distribution. #contentchat
— Dominic Garcia (@dominicgarcia) May 14, 2018
Q7: What if I can’t do interviews? How else can I get what I need to define my personas?
Look into online surveys—your own, and ones others have conducted with your ideal customer audience.
A7: Online surveys with @surveymonkey or @google forms or surveys. Searching what people are saying about you online. Looking through customer data like zip code, etc. – @jesseghiorzi #ContentChat
— CHARGE (@CHARGEgoforward) May 14, 2018
Become part of active online communities and associations your customers belong to. They may even have member research available.
A7: Try to join online communities that your target audience belongs to. You can see the kind of questions they ask and topics they discuss #contentchat
— Kristen Hicks (@atxcopywriter) May 14, 2018
Spend some quality time with LinkedIn.
A7. One great trick I learned from @ardath421 is to look at LinkedIn profiles for people who fit your buyer personas. How do they describe their job/experience? What do people say about them? What content are they sharing? (Etc.) #ContentChat https://t.co/0JS6rIIo7Q
— Carmen Hill (@carmenhill) May 14, 2018
Become BFFs with your sales team and sit in on sales calls.
A7: If you can’t get a customer start with your sales team to share their customer stories and sit in on prospect conversations and tap your marketing teams who own data for information about customer journey, content consumption, and closed deal data. #contentchat
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) May 14, 2018
Mine your internal customer data.
A7b: Ask yourself, which have been our fastest closing clients (from first touch to close)? Which have been our most profitable clients? Which clients/customers have been strategic partnerships that helped us sell more? #contentchat
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) May 14, 2018
A7: If you cannot conduct interviews, make use of analytics. It cannot replace the effectiveness of an interview, but it is quantitative data that answers many important questions. #ContentChat https://t.co/MT8sMJW9HA
— Aisha White (@itsaishawhite) May 14, 2018
Interview your executives.
A7c: If you can keep the executive out of it, interview them separately to understand their vision and focus. Don’t let them dilute the conversation with what SHOULD BE vs. what actually is. Record sessions to help educate them. #ContentChat
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) May 14, 2018
A7 Keep asking the exec what the criteria for success of the project should be. Keep asking until they run out of answers. It’s a Franklin Covey strategy that works really well at fleshing out possible wins for them… then ask them to prioritize the list of answers! #ContentChat
— Derek Pillie (@dpillie) May 14, 2018
Look for other relevant published interviews.
A7. Find interviews that other people have done. There is often relevant research/reports/articles that include quotes that you can use to flesh out your personas. #ContentChat https://t.co/0JS6rIIo7Q
— Carmen Hill (@carmenhill) May 14, 2018
Interview your customer success team.
A7: How about interviewing your CSRs that man the phones?#ContentChat
— Jim P. (@NWContentTech) May 14, 2018
Q8: How do I move from a bunch of interview notes, industry data, and competitor research into an easy-to-consume persona?
Make a spreadsheet and track recurring themes.
A8: Look for commonalities – facts, themes or words that come up often. Try to find the why behind those. – @jesseghiorzi #ContentChat
— CHARGE (@CHARGEgoforward) May 14, 2018
A8b: The spreadsheet format allows you to align their demographic, short form behavioral and psychological aspects with your products and services. This also gives you a chance to aggregate their best formats, lengths, periodicals and interests. #contentchat
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) May 14, 2018
Consider using both a spreadsheet and a storybook format.
A8: We use two different formats: spreadsheet format/storybook format. For longer narratives to help deepen the connection with the customer, we create a storybook that takes you through their loves, hates, motivations, desires, and frustrations. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/WiytZF7NdE
— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) May 14, 2018
And whatever form it is, make sure it’s consumable. We always put ours in a format that can be printed out and taped up on a cube wall. Make it as easy as possible to stay close to your readers. #ContentChat
— Rebekah Meyer (@RebekahLMeyer) May 14, 2018
A8: Short answer: storytelling! We’re content creators, we should have that part down 😀 #contentchat
— Kristen Hicks (@atxcopywriter) May 14, 2018
Leave a Reply