personas blue paper

4imprintcom

Personas

copy 2014 4imprint Inc All rights reserved

F ict ional prof i les of your customers to ass ist in market segmentat ion

Walking a mile in someone elsersquos shoes Clicheacute Yes Uncomfortable Yes

Someone elsersquos shoes never feel quite right But letrsquos get a little uncomfortable

to better understand your customers and why they buy Walking a mile in your

customersrsquo shoes can help you uncover what motivates them

After all how well do you really know your customers and

your users If you walked a mile in their shoes what would

you find Would you discover that you actually know a lot

about who uses your services or buys from you Or would

your findings be surprising

Enter personas Personas are visual fictional stories that

describe actual customers Using customer personas helps build a strong

understanding of who your customers are what drives them to buy from you and

what problems you can help them solve Personas can guide you to more targeted

and customer-centric businessmarketing approaches and help to

1 Shift an organizationrsquos perspective to the customerrsquos

2 Provide insight into customersrsquo and usersrsquo decision-making priorities1

3 Offer greater detail on the different messages audience segments

respond to2

Never heard of personas You might be surprised that personas have been right

in front of you for years Case in point Jared the Subwayreg guy Sixteen years

ago Subway learned of Jaredrsquos success losing 245 pounds by swapping fast food

lunches for Subway meals Jared was an exact match with one of the companyrsquos

target segments working professionals short on time that wanted to lose weight

and eat healthy3 Subway struck gold when they turned a real customer aligned

with a key persona into the franchise spokesperson Sales tripled after Jaredrsquos

ldquooversized pantsrdquo became famous growing from $31 billion in 1998 the year

before Jared was introduced to $115 billion in 20114

Personas are not new but their popularity is exploding due in part to their

multiple uses While companies donrsquot often publish their persona work because of

its highly valuable strategic and competitive nature a 2011 survey found that 65

1 Eisenberg Bryan ldquoContent Marketing Personasrdquo Bryan Eisenberg Np 7 Sept 2012 Web 16 Sept 2014 lthttp3A2F2Fwwwbryaneisenbergcom2Fcontent-marketing-personas2F)gt

2 Ibid3 Horovitz Bruce ldquoJared and Subway Whorsquos the Biggest Winnerrdquo USA Today Gannett 23 Feb 2013 Web 25

Oct 2014 lthttpwwwusatodaycomstorymoneybusiness20130223jared-fogle-subway-diet1928793gt4 Ibid


percent of usability professionals said they were using personas in user-centered

design work5 Adoption of buyer personas has been much slower however A

2014 study found that only 44 percent of business-to-business (B2B) marketers are

currently using personas That said persona adoption is forecasted to rise

in the coming years6 In fact 29 percent of respondents to the 2014 study said

they expect to be using personas in the next 12 months7 Interest in personas

mirrors the rise of customer experience digital marketing and the ever-increasing

emphasis on content marketing as shown in the Google Trends graph below8

(Figure 1)

Figure 1 Google Trendstrade graph illustrates the rise in the number of persona

searches over time

Personas support market research and work as a piece of an overall marketing

strategy9 Putting a personality behind your data makes it come alive and aids

in market segmentation applications By giving life to business data personas

become useful across the organization They generate return on investment (ROI)

by acting as a focal point for marketing sales and operational activities and they

keep your company focused on your primary target audiencemdashyour customers

Personas also

bull Provide assistance in objective planning Using personas provides critical

audience insights needed to construct targeted marketing messages10

bull Give your team insight into how buying really takes place which enables

5 Sauro Jeff ldquoThe Methods UX Professionals Userdquo Measuring Usability Np 30 Aug 2011 Web 23 Sept 2014 lthttpwwwmeasuringusabilitycomblogux-methodsphpgt

6 Schwartz Julie ldquoIncreasing Relevance with Buyer Personas and R2I MarketingrdquoITSMA Online Survey (nd) n pag ITSMA Mar 2014 Web 23 Oct 2014 lthttpwwwitsmacomresearchpdf_freeITSMAPersonasandB2I_AbbSumpdfgt

7 Revella Adele ldquoGot Buyer Personas 44 Say Yes but 85 Arenrsquot Using Them Effectivelyrdquo Buyer Persona Institute Blog Buyer Persona Institute 6 Aug 2014 Web 23 Oct 2014 lthttpwwwbuyerpersonacom201408got-buyer-personas-44-say-yes-but-85-arent-using-them-effectivelyhtmlgt

8 ldquo Google Trends - Web Search Interest - Worldwide 2004 - Presentrdquo Google Trends Google 17 Sept 2014 Web 17 Sept 2014 lthttpwwwgooglecomtrendsexploreq=buyer20personas2C20marketing20personas2C20design20personasampcmpt=qgt

9 ldquoMarket Segmentation Definition | Investopediardquo Investopedia Np nd Web 22 Sept 2014 lthttpwwwinvestopediacomtermsmmarketsegmentationaspgt

10 Yang Suttida ldquoWhy Understanding Buyer Personas Is Key to Content Marketing Successrdquo LinkSmart Np 8 May 2014 Web 16 Sept 2014 lthttpwwwlinksmartcomunderstanding-buyer-personas-key-content-marketing-successgt


you to detail buyer needs and deliver tailored messaging throughout the

buying cycle11

bullCreate a uniform messaging development platform for your entire team12

As you walk with us through this Blue Paperreg we will explore how personas can

help you identify and connect with customers in an effort to be more targeted

and personalized in your marketing approach Wersquoll reference a fictional persona

Chelsie to help illustrate the building and usage of personas while also providing

you with a step-by-step guide to creating and implementing them within your

organization

Lace up your shoes Personas expla ined Personas help you get into your customersrsquo shoes to gain more insight on their

perspectives about your company And like any shoes those shoes come in

a variety of categories that have similarities gym shoes heels hiking boots

and more Your customers and potential customers naturally fall into groups

as well based on commonalities they share in other words through market

segmentation Investopediatrade explains the basic traits used to identify segments

1 Homogeneity mdashcustomer or users with common needs13

2 Distinctionmdashcommon characteristics that make groups unique

from each other14

3 Reactionmdashgroup has a similar response to the overall market15

Since we are talking shoes letrsquos look at a fictional

athletic shoe company Greater Gear Shoe Co to

better demonstrate these traits Greater Gear has

multiple market segments that include basketball

players runners (sprinters and long distance) gym

rats baseball players and even yogis These groups

have their own needs for footwear (homogeneity)

No two groups are the same due to their unique

needs (distinction) Basketball players will have a different response to the

footwear market than yogis and the sprinters will have a different reaction than

the long distance runners (reaction)

Personas are an extension of market segmentation and while they have a sole

connection the two concepts are not the same Market segmentation is a method

11 Ibid12 Ibid 13 ldquoMarket Segmentation Definition | Investopediardquo Investopedia Np nd Web 22 Sept 2014

lthttpwwwinvestopediacomtermsmmarketsegmentationaspgt14 Ibid15 Ibid


for breaking down your large target markets into like-minded groups Personas

bring those pre-established groups to life by giving each group a potential

representative personality Market segmentation does not actually tell you what is

driving your customers but adding personality behaviors goals and motivations

to the data can

Personas are always one of two types user or buyer Both forms of personas have

separate but parallel histories A buyer persona uses both market research and

real data about existing and potential customers to create detailed descriptions

or profiles of targeted customers16 Angus Jenkinson developed buyer personas

in 1993 with the goal of going beyond typical market segmentation to grasp the

essential characteristics and needs of buyer groups17 His work created the concept

that customer segments can be seen as communities with a group identity

Customer engagement agency OglivyOne Internationalreg adopted this concept

for use with clients as ldquoday-in-the-life archetype descriptionsrdquo18 Jenkinson and

researcher Michael Jacobs teamed up to write a series of papers on persona

development methods for the OgilvyOne online knowledge base19 Jenkinson and

Jacobsrsquo research was then used in over 40 countries to build customer service and

client loyalty20

During the same time period Alan Cooper a software development pioneer was

developing the user persona concept21 Starting in 1995 Cooper began exploring

how specific users interact with software Cooperrsquos goal was to increase the

usability of computer programs and websites22 Where buyer personas focus on

buyer behaviors and motivations user personas strive

to paint a picture of user goals tasks and skill level

Personas soon received some major media attention

in an unlikely way Enter the 1995 Denver City Council

Elections and 1996 presidential elections In 1995 City

Council candidate Susan B Casey introduced the world

to the soccer mom persona when she branded herself

as ldquoA Soccer Mom for City Councilrdquo23 She realized

16 Kusinitz Sam ldquoThe Definition of a Buyer Persona [in Under 100 Words]rdquoThe Definition of a Buyer Persona [in Under 100 Words] HubSpot Inbound Hub 8 Mar 2014 Web 16 Sept 2014 lthttpbloghubspotcommarketingbuyer-persona-definition-under-100-srgt

17 ldquoAskDefine | Define Personaerdquo Define Personae AskDefinecom nd Web 23 Sept 2014 lthttppersonaeaskdefinebetacomgt

18 Jenkins Angus ldquoJournal of Direct Data and Digital Marketing Practice (2009) 112 124-139rdquo Journal of Direct Data and Digital Marketing Practice 112 (2009) 124-39 JSTOR Web 23 Sept 2014


20 Ibid21 Ibid22 Cooper Alan ldquoThe Origin of Personasrdquo Cooper Journal Np 15 May 2008 Web 16 Sept 2014

lthttpwwwcoopercomjournal200805the_origin_of_personasgt23 Macfarquhar Neil ldquoWhatrsquos a Soccer Mom Anywayrdquo The New York Times The New York Times 19 Oct 1996

Web 25 Oct 2014 lthttpwwwnytimescom19961020weekinreviewwhat-s-a-soccer-mom-anywayhtmlgt


that this ldquoevery neighborrdquo persona represented a large number of voters in her

district24 After Susanrsquos win using the soccer mom slogan the marketing teams

behind Bob Dole and President Clintonrsquos presidential campaigns realized their

candidates needed to appeal to this group of voters on a national level25 This

group of voters was personified as suburban middle-class working mothersmdashand

even more importantly they were swing voters

You could find these moms driving their kids to sports

practices and club meetings pacing the sidelines at every

game and dedicated to family well-being But between

work and family commitments these women were short

on time This group of voters became so important to

the electionrsquos outcome that Bob Dole even spoke directly

to the soccer moms while concluding his address at the

Republican National Convention Despite his personal

attempt at connecting President Clinton was the one to

gain favor among the soccer moms and won the election

As time passed more marketers and Web developers jumped on the persona

bandwagon when they saw the benefits of using personas (both buyer and user)

to increase customer-centricity and positive customer experiences both in on- and

offline activities Today both B2B and business to consumer (B2C) companies are

making use of personas in a variety of capacities rooted in customer-centricity and

operational efficiency Buyer personas can be helpful for marketers because they

help align decisions messages and programsmdashand therefore dollars with what

real customers actually want instead of just what we think they might want26

In other words wersquore really starting to understand what itrsquos like to walk in our

customersrsquo shoes

Are you ready to hit the trail Next wersquoll tackle the dos and donrsquots for persona

development with this step-by-step guide

Eight steps to perfect personas

What makes the perfect persona And what information should your personas

include How specific should your characters be And can they be general

personalities that represent your market segments or do you need to spell out

everything from what kind of toothpaste they use to how they take their eggs

You probably have a lot of questions about building and implementing personas

24 Ibid25 Revella Adele ldquoPower to the Soccer Mom How Just One Buyer Persona Revealed This Winning

Strategyrdquo Buyer Persona Institute Np 4 June 2014 Web 25 Oct 2014 lthttpwwwbuyerpersonacom201406power-to-the-soccer-mom-how-just-one-buyer-persona-revealed-this-winning-strategyhtmlgt

26 Revella Adele ldquoWhat the Bleep Is a Buyer Personardquo Buyer Persona Institute Np 8 Nov 2006 Web 19 Sept 2014 lthttpwwwbuyerpersonacom200611whats_a_buyer_phtmlgt


Have no fear mdashwersquoll walk you through each of the following eight steps of

persona-building basics in detail

1 Getting started

2 Brainstorming

3 Research and interviews

4 Persona identificationprioritization

5 Write personas

6 Discuss and finalize

7 Putting personas to work

8 Persona measurement and refinement

Before we get started letrsquos introduce the sample persona for the Greater Gear

Shoe Co we referenced earlier Meet Chelsie As a 25 year-old physically fit

female who enjoys running and group fitness activities she is part of Greater

Gearrsquos target audience Chelsie will be with us as we work through each step in

the persona-building process Wersquoll use Chelsie and her persona characteristics to

help illustrate key points throughout the process

Step one Getting started

Your very first step is to look at the current market segmentation your company is

using If yoursquore not currently using any some basic segmentation will be essential

to building accurate personas Use these segmentation tips to get started

B2B companies consider segmenting your target audience by

bullWhat they do (industry sector public vs private and size)

bull How they operate (how they use your product and

the technology available)

bullBuying patterns (size and frequency) and

bullBehavior (loyalty and attitude toward risk)27

B2C companies can think about grouping their audience by

bullLocation

bullBuyer profile (demographic information)

bullLifestyles and

bullBuyer behavior28

Greater Gear Shoe Co relies heavily on B2C segmentation factors and you can see

all of these elements reflected in Chelsiersquos persona For example we know that

Chelsie is an urban-dwelling (location) twenty-something (demographic data)

with a passion for local road races (lifestyle) who is an avid social media user and

27 ldquoSegment Your Customersrdquo Quebec Info for Entrepreneurs Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal 2009 Web 25 Oct 2014 lthttpwwwinfoentrepreneursorgenguidessegment-your-customersgt

28 Ibid


online shopping enthusiast (buyer behavior)

With market segmentation in place either basic or extensive you can now

examine your existing segments Ask yourself the following questions

bullAre the current segments growing

bullAre the segments areas you can compete on

bull Is the segmented group large enough to have activities and messages

tailored to it

bullWill it be profitable to target this group

Are you answering yes to these questions If so start your persona development

here to ensure you have personas that reflect each of your core segments

Step two Brainstorming

Brainstorming is up next It is time to generate personality characteristics for

each of your data segments Conduct this brainstorm by inviting both customers

and employees from across the company to help think of traits and personality

adjectives that represent your customers and stakeholders Then lay them out

in grid format Yoursquoll want to list the brainstormed traits in a 2X2 grid with

ldquoinformation-processing stylerdquo on the horizontal axis and ldquodecision-making

stylerdquo on the vertical axis29 The grid will move horizontally from ldquoemotionalrdquo

to ldquologicalrdquo and then vertically from ldquoquick-to-deciderdquo to ldquodeliberate decision-

making30rdquo You can see what we mean in the customer characteristics grid for

Greater Gear Shoe Co below (Figure 2)

Figure 2 2X2 Grid of customer characteristics

29 Eisenberg Bryan J ldquoPersonas The Magic behind the Mirror by TheGrokrdquoBryan Eisenberg Np 4 Oct 2013 Web 23 Sept 2014 lthttpwwwbryaneisenbergcompersonas-magic-behind-mirrorgt

30 Ibid


After completing your grid review where the clusters of traits lie You can then

group these characteristics by placing colored shapes over the traits that seem

like they could or would be the same persona The illustration below (Figure 3)

demonstrates this colored bubble method of grouping similar characteristics

Figure 3 2X2 Grid of customer characteristics with colored bubbles

demonstrating similar characteristics

We start to see Chelsiersquos caring personality loosely reflected in the lower bubble

She is dedicated and confident in her career In her work place she sets goals and

works hard to meet them her sense of commitment carries through to her active

lifestyle While Chelsiersquos personality is evident in this lower bubble the other

bubbles should connect with Greater Gearrsquos other audience segments

After you complete your grid or ldquopersonality adjectives maprdquo you should have

three to seven colored circlesmdasheach of which should surround the traits that could

all belong to one persona But thatrsquos only the beginning Yoursquoll need to conduct

additional research to help crystallize and support your personality adjectives

map findings

Start by utilizing the customer data you have available Helpful records may

include general customer contact information demographics psychographics

andor transactional data This information will help either support or disprove

general assumptions you made about your customers during brainstorming

Are you finding yoursquore short on customer research and in need of answers to

additional questions about your customers before you start the interview process

Supplement the data you have with these data sourcing tools Give Googletrade

Consumer Surveys (GCS) Quoratrade or Feedback Armytrade a try31 These tools provide a

range of cost-effective options for accessing customer feedback

31 Saracino Adria ldquoBuild a Better Buyer Persona 5 Creative Data Sourcing Ideasrdquo Content Marketing Institute Np 17 Sept 2013 Web 24 Sept 2014 lthttpcontentmarketinginstitutecom201309build-better-buyer-persona-data-sourcing-ideasgt


Before leaving this step compile all of your data to help identify potential

personalities from the personalities map that match key segments in your

customer data This information will help inform your interviews and the

following persona development steps

Step three Interviews

The research you compiled in step two will help identify potential personalities

that match key segments in your customer data making the interview stage much

easier During interview selection find buyers who match your key segments and

mapped character traits but also some who donrsquot to ensure your personas are

reflective of your buyers

With Greater Gear Shoe Co in mind letrsquos plan to interview their customers Wersquoll

want to keep the following tips in mind

bull We need to interview actual recent buyers

bull Have the buyers walk through their decision and purchasing process Did

they buy from Greater Gear online or shop at the physical location Did they

use the Greater Gear website to research the product before going to the

store to finalize fit and style Map out their purchasing process

bull Interview a variety of people who purchased different Greater Gear products

to provide the best and most accurate perspective

bullAnd make sure to ask why they chose to buy from your company32

And finally prep for your interviews by formulating a list of questions for the

customers you are interviewing33 The focus of your interviews will vary based on

your companyrsquos needs and the type of personas you are writing but herersquos a list

of potential interview questions to consider for both buyer and user personas

Buyer persona information considerations

bull Demographic information (Age address marital status number of children)

bull Details about their professional career (What job do they have Where do

they work and how long have they been there What

are their professional goals)

bull What does their typical day look like (How far from

home do they work What media do they consume

throughout the day What does their workday look

like What community organizations are they involved

in What people matter most to them How do they

prefer to spend their time What do they do for fun)

32 Ibid33 Eridon Corey ldquo9 Questions You Need to Ask When Developing Buyer Personasrdquo Inbound Marketing

HubSpot Inbound Hub 19 Jan 2012 Web 25 Sept 2014 lthttpbloghubspotcomblogtabid6307bid309079-Questions-You-Need-to-Ask-When-Developing-Buyer-Personasaspxgt


bull What process do your target customers use to explore

and select a product service or solution34

bull What are the pain points experienced in using your

product or service (If you have a customer journey

map pull it out during this step35)

bull What are three to five problems the target customer

may dedicate time budget or political capital to36

bull Are their tangible or intangible metricsrewards that

the customer associates with success Examples may

include ldquogrow revenue by Xrdquo or a discountother promotion37

bull Uncover unseen factors like competing interests politics (internal

or governmental) or history with your company by asking about

perceived barriers38

User persona information considerations


bull Computer and Internet skills

bull Preferred Internet browser

bull Goals for completing processes relevant to your website or design project

bull Perceived barriers to successful use of projects (product or Web design)

similar to yours

bull What are their pain points in using your product service or website

bull What factors determine the usersrsquo perceived successes when using your

website product or service design

Step four Persona identificationprioritization

Yoursquoll want to sort through the customer research and personality adjectives map

to identify and prioritize potential personas Try and prioritize between three to

seven personas per business line Too many personas can be confusing however

we also caution you from trying to roll traits into an average user as doing so will

not be effective Bryan Eisenberg digital marketing and personas guru offers up

some helpful advice for determining the number of personas needed ldquoUltimately

the number of personas should reflect the number of primary motivations to

purchase your productservice that exist within your customer base Sometimes

personas have identical motivations but dramatically different needs39rdquo

34 Ibid35 ldquoWhy Buyer Personas Can Fuel Your Companyrsquos Success - BoldThinkrdquoIndianapolis Inbound Marketing

Branding Website Design BoldThink 10 May 2013 Web 25 Sept 2014 lthttpboldthinkcreativecombuyerpersonasfuelgt

36 Revella Adele ldquoHow to Avoid 4 Buyer Persona Mistakesrdquo Content Marketing Institute Np 23 Aug 2012 Web 24 Sept 2014 lthttpcontentmarketinginstitutecom2012084-common-persona-mistakes-to-avoidgt

37 Ibid38 Ibid 39 Eisenberg Bryan J ldquoPersonas The Magic behind the Mirror by TheGrokrdquoBryan Eisenberg Np 4 Oct 2013

Web 23 Sept 2014 lthttpwwwbryaneisenbergcompersonas-magic-behind-mirrorgt


For example within Greater Gear Corsquos running shoe product line there are

mothers looking for shoes for their student athletes there are recreational

runners like Chelsie as well as competitive sprinters All of these buyers are

shopping the same family of products but they have dramatically different

goals and motivations These differing goals often alter their paths to purchase

indicating that each audience could potentially be a unique persona

Step five Write personas

With prioritized persona characteristics in hand letrsquos get focused and start

writing Your personas really need to connect with the actual customers you

want to target You are creating fictional characters that directly mirror your

real-life customers This step is where all of your marketing data the personality

adjectives map and customer interviews really become one You will use all of

this data to develop the fictional representations of persona characters identified

and prioritized in the previous step The goal Write personas that detail real

customersrsquo needs wants and pain points40 Figure 4 outlines all of the factors that

need to be included in a complete persona41

Figure 4 Factors for building a complete persona profile

Avoid stepping into the wrong shoes with some dos and donrsquots for persona

writing Dodge the urge to stereotype your personas In other words stay away

from the techy-geek urban hipster typical teenage girl etc When we stereotype

our personas they become difficult to engage with Rather make sure to develop

a dynamic true-to-life character instead of a flat stereotype To avoid creating

flat stereotypes use the ldquocharacter diamondrdquo a tool used to give your personas

defining characteristics that anchor their personalities and add dimension42 The

character diamond simply gives depth to your character when you give him or her

40 Schwartz Nancy E ldquoCreate Personas to Bridge the Gap with Target AudiencesrdquoGetting Attention Helping Nonprofits Succeed Through Effective Marketing Nancy Schwartz amp Co 2014 Web 02 Oct 2014 lthttpgettingattentionorgarticles202audience-researchnonprofit-audience-research-personahtmlgt

41 Martin Stanley ldquoHow to Build an Epic Buyer Persona Profilerdquo Writtent Blog Np 17 July 2013 Web 07 Oct 2014 lthttpwrittentcomblogbuilding-an-epic-buyer-persona-profile-a-totally-comprehensive-guidegt

42 Eisenberg Bryan J ldquoPlease Donrsquot Stereotype Your Personasrdquo Bryan Jeffrey Eisenberg Np 3 Nov 2014 Web 07 Oct 2014 lthttpwwwbryaneisenbergcomplease-dont-stereotype-personasgt


three to five defining traits or points on the diamond43 These defining character

traits work to give your personas a real personalitymdashthe spark that brings

personas to life

Letrsquos look at Chelsiersquos persona profile In the graphic below you can see how the

customer data from steps one through three is used to build Chelsiersquos personality

Segmented customer data was matched with traits from the personality

adjectives map to create a personality that matches one segment of Greater Gear

Shoersquos customers Demographic customer data was then used to fill in Chelsiersquos

most basic information like her location and income But Chelsie is not just

demographic customer data that embodies the stereotypical young physically fit

female instead she has a story hellip and that is what makes her a persona The three

following characteristics make-up Chelsiersquos character diamond As an extrovert

Chelsie enjoys her membership with a local running club she stays goal-oriented

by participating in local road races and as a tech-savvy event planner she is

now tracking all of her workouts with a mobile application From those three

traits and the basic details we were able to build out Chelsiersquos shopping habits

personal goals work day and value characteristics

Does the persona writing process seem daunting Yoursquore in luck there are tools

to aid the writing process We like the following free resources Up Close amp

Personatrade is a persona creation template that helps get you started and streamline

the process Usabilitycom also features a similar tool And Storyboardthatcomtrade

offers useful tools to help you create storyboards of the persona characters

you create

Interested in making your personas even more personable Try drafting a story

for each persona using the factors and traits you just developed Herersquos a simple

43 Ibid

Chelsie

ldquoA morning jog with myrunning club is a great way to

stay fit while socializingrdquo

Demographic InfoAge 25

Status Single

Income $56000

Occupation Non-profit

communication specialist

Education Bachelors degree

Geography Inner city

rents apartment

Social media usage Active user

shares content about interests

and activities follows health and

fitness gurus

Shopping habits Conducts impromptu research online with

smartphone likes discounts seeks out coupon codes scans

reviews shops local checks nutrition labels and balances price

with quality

Personal goals Seeks physical fitness travel and new

cultural experiences

Work day Travels to work using public transportation During

commute she connects with national news family members and

industry trends using a smartphone Enjoys the fast pace of her

work environment but seeks online tools to help stay

organized Looks forward to a group workout class or cocktails

with friends to unwind after a busy day

Values Career-driven focused on a healthy lifestyle and

committed to family and friends


formula for drafting your buyer persona story44 It works in the persona factors

we used to develop the original persona As a (buyer persona) hellip I wantneed to

(goal) hellip The information I need (topic) hellip and is most helpful (preference) hellip so

that I knowin order to (value)45

Herersquos Chelsiersquos persona story as an example Chelsie might say hellip I need new

running shoes that provide support for my arches (goal and preference) To

ensure that I can keep running and enjoy an active lifestyle with my friends

(value) I need information about what shoes provide lasting arch support and

cushion for the rest of my foot (topic)

Step six Discuss and finalize

Persona drafts at the ready you feel ready to sprint to the end of the trail But

not so fast hellip like any marketing process personas cannot be complete without

team and leadership review discussion and finalization Get your key stakeholders

together to review all personas and be prepared to address concerns about

implementing this new tool You may find that some teammates are concerned

that focusing too much on a particular user will limit the uses of a new product

or tool46 Other teammates may be concerned that adding personas just increases

the amount of paperwork they deal with47 Help your teammates by explaining

personasrsquo power to unite the teamrsquos vision of the customer by providing a realistic

yet fictional buyer Assure those teammates worried about new processes and

paperwork that personas are designed to improve efficiencies by helping team

members think through the userbuyers perspective with greater agility48

After your team leadership and other stakeholders have

given their stamp of approval print and distribute It

might also be helpful to feature the personas in places

your team will see them often Remember to add

finalized personas to your ongoing content audit

Step seven Putting personas to work

Make sure your persona work doesnrsquot end before it starts Creating personas

and then shoving them in a file folder essentially ends any organizational impact

personas can make Avoid that fate with these tips to help make personas work

for you

44 Zambito Tony ldquoAccelerate Content Marketing Effectiveness With The Power of Buyer Persona Storiesrdquo Tony Zambito Np 28 July 2013 Web 07 Oct 2014 lthttptonyzambitocomaccelerate-content-marketing-effectiveness-power-buyer-persona-storiesgt

45 Ibid46 Rind Bonnie ldquoThe Power of the Personardquo Pragmatic Marketing nd Web 23 Sept 2014

lthttpwwwpragmaticmarketingcomresourcesthe-power-of-the-personap=2sthashG2lz0kCgdpufgt47 Ibid48 ibid


First make the most of your personas by fully integrating them into your

processes If you are using buyer lists segment those lists by persona to help you

develop more personalized experiences for current and potential buyers49

Next it is a good idea to reallocate your ad spend with your personas in mind50

You now know where your personas spend their time on- and offline Use this

new knowledge to better target your ad spend

Personas can also be used to reallocate people resources51 Make sure you are

hanging out where your target audience is located If they are all on Twittertrade

have someone there to monitor questions If itrsquos Google+trade they frequent yoursquoll

want someone there to watch the conversation and chime in when it is relevant

for your company to do so Participate in conversations with your audience

membersrsquo both where they are and in the language they use In other words hellip be

relevant hellip but not creepy

After integrating personas with your buyer lists and shifting resources based

on personas audit existing content for persona alignment52 Double-check to

make sure content aligns with the newly created personas If not tweak existing

content to be a better fit Content strategy aligned with personas can have big

pay-offs but if not aligned your personas are not going to drive the traffic you

need We can all learn a thing or two about success with personas from Skytapreg

a provider of self-service cloud automation solutions They triumphed aligning

their personas with their content strategy to drive sales after launching content

marketing that included a focus on personas in May 2012 By January 2013 they

saw the following results when compared with the previous year a 55 percent

increase in organic search traffic a 210 percent increase in North American site

traffic and a 97 percent increase in leads from online marketing53

So how does Skytap incorporate one of their

three personas into each and every piece of

content Website case studies and testimonials

all feature one of the personas and their blog

can be sorted by ldquovirtual trainingrdquo ldquodevelopment and testingrdquo and ldquoproduct

developmentrdquo Those three categories mirror the roles occupied by personas

Blog posts and website copy also speak to those same specific roles Nate Odell

Skytaprsquos Marketing Director shared their constant persona focus with Marketing

49 Ibid 50 Devaney Eric ldquo14 Ways to Get More Use Out of Your Buyer Personasrdquo Inbound Marketing HubSpot Inbound

Hub 22 May 2014 Web 07 Oct 2014 lthttpbloghubspotcommarketingways-to-use-buyer-personasgt51 Ibid52 Ibid 53 Sutton Adam ldquoContent Marketing Targeted Persona Strategy Lifts Sales Leads 124rdquo Marketing Sherpa

Np 23 Jan 2013 Web 25 Oct 2014 lthttpwwwmarketingsherpacomarticlecase-studytargeted-persona-content-marketing-strategygt


Sherpa He said ldquoInstead of just saying lsquoLetrsquos go understand everybodyrsquo we need

to be very methodical and say lsquoLetrsquos understand the particular use-cases and the

individuals we typically see and really understand what they are looking forrsquordquo

Take the Skytap approach and if you have content that just doesnrsquot work with

the new personas and isnrsquot generating traffic and leadsmdashget rid of it Ensure

continuous persona focus by integrating personas into every step of the content

development process And merge your personas with customer lifecycle stages to

help generate new content ideas that match where your customer is in the buying

cycle54 You are now talking to the right customers at the right time

Another Skytap lesson Tailor your website to meet persona needs55 No need to

have a generic website when you have personas Use dynamic content and display

different messages to users based on the persona assigned to them

And last but not least remember that personas can be helpful in discovering data

trends Using personas Orbitztrade discovered that buyers who fit the Macreg userrsquos

persona spent 30 percent more per night on hotel rooms56 This data let Orbitz

serve up a more customized user experience Merging personas and data to

deliver customized customer experiences thatrsquos a win for you and your customers

Step eight Persona measurement and refinement

On the trail we measure distance covered and if we get off course we take a peek

at the trail map and adjust The same is true with personas We measure their

effectiveness and then refine personas over time to always accurately depict the

target segments Whatrsquos the best way to measure persona impact That depends

on how you are using each persona

User personas that aid product designers can be

measured with in-person product tests When

user personas are developed for Web design their

effectiveness can be measured with user testing and

Googlereg Analytics funnels

In Web user testing an anonymous user is recruited

to complete tasks provided by a moderator The user

is asked to verbalize their thought process as they complete their tasks and their

voice and screen are recorded for results analysis Interested in user testing

54 Ibid 55 Ibid56 Revella Adele ldquoOrbitz Reveals Too Much About Mac Buyer Personardquo Buyer Persona Institute Blog Buyer

Persona Institute Marketing Personified 27 June 2012 Web 08 Oct 2014 lthttpwwwbuyerpersonacom201206orbitz-reveals-too-much-about-mac-buyer-personahtmlgt


Check out our Blue Paper on AB Testing and take a look at the online resource

UserTestingreg

Google Analytics funnels are artificial goals set up to determine if website users

are able to complete desired tasks For example if you developed a user persona

aimed at lead generation you might set up a funnel to track how many actual

users filled out the contact form after visiting

the same pages your persona would visit

Buyer personas used in content marketing can

be evaluated based on website traffic lead

generation and other typical content marketing

analytics We suggest taking a look at the

content marketing Blue Paper for more on

appropriate analytics

Cautionary note If you donrsquot see results right away by adding personas donrsquot

toss them to the wind just yet Double check to make sure your persona usage is

authentic to the actual persona Also remember that the best user persona is not

always the same as the best buyer persona and vice versa If your personas are not

driving the results you want double check to make sure you didnrsquot make

this error

Personas do evolve over time Think back to the soccer moms This persona played

a huge role in the 1996 election and the 2000 election as well But after the

attacks on September 11 2001 the persona shifted to ldquosecurity momrdquo as women

became more concerned about national security and the overall safety of their

families than ever before57

And donrsquot let your personas get outdated It can be helpful to check-in with a

representative from each persona group every quarter58 Just give them a quick

phone call to find out what they need now59 Ask the same questions from your

original interview and then note any shifts in response The same concept can

be applied to social media and other ldquolistening postsrdquo Stay tuned-in to changes

in sentiment about your organization60 Use these updates to help keep your

personas updated and relevant

57 Macfarquhar Neil ldquoWhatrsquos a Soccer Mom Anywayrdquo The New York Times The New York Times 19 Oct 1996 Web 25 Oct 2014 lthttpwwwnytimescom19961020weekinreviewwhat-s-a-soccer-mom-anywayhtmlgt

58 Ritchie Anna ldquo3 Tips for Keeping Your Buyer Personas Fresh and Aliverdquo Content Marketing Institute Np 18 Apr 2013 Web 08 Oct 2014 lthttpcontentmarketinginstitutecom201304tips-keeping-buyer-personas-freshgt

59 Ibid60 Ibid


4imprint serves more than 100000 businesses with innovative promotional items throughout the United States

Canada United Kingdom and Ireland Its product offerings include giveaways business gifts personalized gifts

embroidered apparel promotional pens travel mugs tote bags water bottles Post-it Notes custom calendars

and many other promotional items For additional information log on to www4imprintcom

Trailrsquos end

Yoursquove navigated the trail and you learned a few things along the path You are

now equipped to begin your own persona-building process Letrsquos recap key trail

takeaways First we laced up our shoes and explored some persona basics Then

we moved down the trail and through the entire persona building process When

creating your own personas remember to use customer data the personality

adjectives map and character diamond to create personas that really feel like your

actual customers Make sure to continuously use completed personas to connect

with your audience Donrsquot forget to measure your efforts refine your personas

and keep hiking to greater marketing success


F ict ional prof i les of your customers to ass ist in market segmentat ion

Walking a mile in someone elsersquos shoes Clicheacute Yes Uncomfortable Yes

Someone elsersquos shoes never feel quite right But letrsquos get a little uncomfortable

to better understand your customers and why they buy Walking a mile in your

customersrsquo shoes can help you uncover what motivates them

After all how well do you really know your customers and

your users If you walked a mile in their shoes what would

you find Would you discover that you actually know a lot

about who uses your services or buys from you Or would

your findings be surprising

Enter personas Personas are visual fictional stories that

describe actual customers Using customer personas helps build a strong

understanding of who your customers are what drives them to buy from you and

what problems you can help them solve Personas can guide you to more targeted

and customer-centric businessmarketing approaches and help to

1 Shift an organizationrsquos perspective to the customerrsquos

2 Provide insight into customersrsquo and usersrsquo decision-making priorities1

3 Offer greater detail on the different messages audience segments

respond to2

Never heard of personas You might be surprised that personas have been right

in front of you for years Case in point Jared the Subwayreg guy Sixteen years

ago Subway learned of Jaredrsquos success losing 245 pounds by swapping fast food

lunches for Subway meals Jared was an exact match with one of the companyrsquos

target segments working professionals short on time that wanted to lose weight

and eat healthy3 Subway struck gold when they turned a real customer aligned

with a key persona into the franchise spokesperson Sales tripled after Jaredrsquos

ldquooversized pantsrdquo became famous growing from $31 billion in 1998 the year

before Jared was introduced to $115 billion in 20114

Personas are not new but their popularity is exploding due in part to their

multiple uses While companies donrsquot often publish their persona work because of

its highly valuable strategic and competitive nature a 2011 survey found that 65

1 Eisenberg Bryan ldquoContent Marketing Personasrdquo Bryan Eisenberg Np 7 Sept 2012 Web 16 Sept 2014 lthttp3A2F2Fwwwbryaneisenbergcom2Fcontent-marketing-personas2F)gt

2 Ibid3 Horovitz Bruce ldquoJared and Subway Whorsquos the Biggest Winnerrdquo USA Today Gannett 23 Feb 2013 Web 25

Oct 2014 lthttpwwwusatodaycomstorymoneybusiness20130223jared-fogle-subway-diet1928793gt4 Ibid










(Figure 1)


searches over time







Personas also












buying cycle11







organization









from each other14






















to the data can













client loyalty20





























































1 Getting started

2 Brainstorming



5 Write personas





















bullLocation


bullLifestyles and







28 Ibid








tailored to it

















30 Ibid

















map findings





































































similar to yours



















































personas to life




















you create



43 Ibid

Chelsie




Status Single

Income $56000





rents apartment




fitness gurus




with quality











































for you














































































UserTestingreg

















this error















59 Ibid60 Ibid






Trailrsquos end



















(Figure 1)


searches over time







Personas also












buying cycle11







organization









from each other14






















to the data can













client loyalty20





























































1 Getting started

2 Brainstorming



5 Write personas





















bullLocation


bullLifestyles and







28 Ibid








tailored to it

















30 Ibid

















map findings





































































similar to yours



















































personas to life




















you create



43 Ibid

Chelsie




Status Single

Income $56000





rents apartment




fitness gurus




with quality











































for you














































































UserTestingreg

















this error















59 Ibid60 Ibid






Trailrsquos end












buying cycle11







organization









from each other14






















to the data can













client loyalty20





























































1 Getting started

2 Brainstorming



5 Write personas





















bullLocation


bullLifestyles and







28 Ibid








tailored to it

















30 Ibid

















map findings





































































similar to yours



















































personas to life




















you create



43 Ibid

Chelsie




Status Single

Income $56000





rents apartment




fitness gurus




with quality











































for you














































































UserTestingreg

















this error















59 Ibid60 Ibid






Trailrsquos end















to the data can













client loyalty20





























































1 Getting started

2 Brainstorming



5 Write personas





















bullLocation


bullLifestyles and







28 Ibid








tailored to it

















30 Ibid

















map findings





































































similar to yours



















































personas to life




















you create



43 Ibid

Chelsie




Status Single

Income $56000





rents apartment




fitness gurus




with quality











































for you














































































UserTestingreg

















this error















59 Ibid60 Ibid






Trailrsquos end



















































1 Getting started

2 Brainstorming



5 Write personas





















bullLocation


bullLifestyles and







28 Ibid








tailored to it

















30 Ibid

















map findings





































































similar to yours



















































personas to life




















you create



43 Ibid

Chelsie




Status Single

Income $56000





rents apartment




fitness gurus




with quality











































for you














































































UserTestingreg

















this error















59 Ibid60 Ibid






Trailrsquos end

















tailored to it

















30 Ibid

















map findings





































































similar to yours



















































personas to life




















you create



43 Ibid

Chelsie




Status Single

Income $56000





rents apartment




fitness gurus




with quality











































for you














































































UserTestingreg

















this error















59 Ibid60 Ibid






Trailrsquos end


























map findings





































































similar to yours



















































personas to life




















you create



43 Ibid

Chelsie




Status Single

Income $56000





rents apartment




fitness gurus




with quality











































for you














































































UserTestingreg

















this error















59 Ibid60 Ibid






Trailrsquos end




































































similar to yours



















































personas to life




















you create



43 Ibid

Chelsie




Status Single

Income $56000





rents apartment




fitness gurus




with quality











































for you














































































UserTestingreg

















this error















59 Ibid60 Ibid






Trailrsquos end










































personas to life




















you create



43 Ibid

Chelsie




Status Single

Income $56000





rents apartment




fitness gurus




with quality











































for you














































































UserTestingreg

















this error















59 Ibid60 Ibid






Trailrsquos end










































for you














































































UserTestingreg

















this error















59 Ibid60 Ibid






Trailrsquos end




















































































UserTestingreg

















this error















59 Ibid60 Ibid






Trailrsquos end















Trailrsquos end










personas blue paper

Business