A Persona For Every Product

A Persona For Every Product

Before a brand unleashes any marketing campaign, a customer persona must be defined. And so, the knowledge quest begins, driving all known resources forth to learn what makes their customers tick. This highly-regarded process, of course, goes by the name “market research”. Its ideal result is a vivid picture of a customer’s wants and needs. Marketers correctly assume that knowing the customer, is connecting with the customer. The big question is – “how accurate will the resulting picture be?” A good way to achieve the desired accuracy is to create a customer persona.

A customer persona is a fictional character in the marketing drama. It is an amalgamation of all known data about prospects. Familiarity with this fictional construct enables marketers to channel productively their budgetary and time investments. Consider the buyer persona a universal blueprint shared at all marketing levels — a guide and foundation on which a well-targeted campaign can be built.

As with any good fictional character, a buyer persona is multi-layered, each layer contributing to the overall structure of the imaginary buyer. Marketers can begin persona construction by focusing on this character’s daily routine. What does the typical day of this individual consist of? What dramas and comedies might unfold in the course of 24 hours? It’s the same kind of thinking that guides the development of characters for stage, screen, and literature. Imagination meets the hard facts culled from market research.

Also important to define are persona goals. These, again, will reflect info collected through market research. One persona goal might be the attainment of improved concentration. Ideally, marketers will integrate the stated goal with the daily routine discussed above. A multi-dimensional character begins to form. More layers follow.

Once the fictional character is fully layered and solidified, it becomes a formidable idea-generator. Stimulated to a creative frenzy by this lovable person, marketing teams can dream up powerful concepts – concepts that likely would have remained dormant in a conventional research data system.

If you have any questions or comments about developing buyer personas for your brand, or about any other brand-related topic, feel free to send them our way.