By Manuela Burki, IMS Marketing Strategy Analyst
Personas are fictional characters that represent a group of users of similar key characteristics. Personas are useful at any stage of a company’s digital transformation, from inception to re-branding, and are indispensable for both small and large businesses.
The modern day customer expects customised experiences. If the answer to any of the above questions is yes, then you are not realizing your full marketing potential. Defining customer personas is a crucial first step in order to ensure that you are not doing business blindly.
Creating a digital marketing plan without knowing your personas is like packing a suitcase without knowing where you are going.
When done correctly, personas are an effective tool that can produce powerful results across your entire digital campaign.
You should be able to plot a typical customer journey from beginning to end. Have you identified and prepared for possible deviances throughout the various stages of the customer lifecycle? A detailed understanding of your customer will enable you to execute an engagement strategy that responds to each persona’s evolving needs. There are many great techniques you can use for persona creation, the suitability of which varies depending on whether your business is B2B or B2C. The most comprehensive mapping techniques consider the different channels your persona is most likely to use or be influenced by.
Aside from customer journeys and content creation, customer personas can also help you refine your Brand Value Propositions(s), design a powerful landing page for your website, adopt an appropriate tone for social media engagement, tailor your FAQ page, improve your SEO, and guide digital marketing campaigns.
You don't have to conduct in-depth market research! Use existing client data from in-site surveys, Calls to Action, Google Analytics, social media profiling, and sales.
Demographics are not enough! Consider factors such as the persona's main concerns, preferred medium of communication, and keywords used when searching related topics.