Page 50 - index
P. 50
BUZZWORDS
Motivation and
needs determine
your Buyer Personas
These days, customers expect brands to deliver continu- Ideal customers only
ous personal experiences that connect their mobile web
interactions with the brick-and-mortar ones and improve In general, consider the definition of Buyer Personas,
both. This process requires a detailed audit of the chan- which states that it is not about representatives of all
nels you’re already using, an assessment of new chan- your customers, but your ideal customers, which means
nels you could be using, and a realistic evaluation of how those who make the most revenue, remain loyal, com-
much effort it will take to create or repurpose content municate interactively in social networks and elsewhere,
across those channels. etc. So, if you already have a customer value analysis
or criteria for ideal customers respectively, then you
But most importantly, you need to learn to connect should consider utilizing them in the development of the
touchpoints based on how customers want to interact buyer personas.
and to do this, you need to really understand who your For instance, imagine creating a profile on a dating por-
customers are and what drives them to you. The ‘Buyer tal and ask yourself if you really want to appeal to all the
Persona’ methodology is the perfect way to align your available singles or rather prefer only those who really
marketing and customer communication in a more tar- suit you? The same is true with Buyer Personas. They
geted manner with your ideal customers. It is a general- act as a stand-in to develop your content in a way that it
ized representation of your ideal customers that can be corresponds to specific customers (groups) explicitly,
used for your communication strategy to help you design which should be at the very best the customers who
the content according to the wishes and needs of your bring in profits, share your values and/or recommend
target group. your products.
Less is more Furthermore, don’t be tempted by target group specific
superficial characteristics such as age, gender or place
As things change rapidly in the digital marketing industry, of residence, as Buyer Personas are determined pri-
you’ll need to constantly re-evaluate your understanding marily by their motivation: Why is the person interested
of your customer and constantly immerse yourself in in your product? Why would he/she want to buy it and
what your customer needs. Only then you’ll always be what information does the potential customer need to
prepared when new channels or opportunities arise. become a buyer? Therefore, the motivation and needs
of a customer should be fixed at the core of Buyer Per-
Although most companies have already heard about the sonas and be one of the central distinguishing charac-
Buyer Persona method and use it, the representation teristics, while ensuring that the number of your Per-
profiles often just become a list of the existing customer sonas stays limited.
base rather than a concentration of customers that really
bring excess value. By the way, for B2B customers not only the motivation,
but also the department, hierarchy or decision-making
Be aware that having too many Buyer Personas can di- level counts, since usually more than one contact per-
lute your customer approach and jeopardize talking to son is involved in a B2B purchase cycle (as opposed to
the right customers and keep in mind that it is not a most B2C purchase cycles). Here, you should consider
question of reducing the Buyer Personas, but merely what information is really important for the respective
developing them in such a way that they actually provide contact person, be it the CEO, IT or department manag-
marketing with a useful template for customer interaction er.
and content, rather than creating content chaos by their
sheer number. Make your life easier with useful Buyer Persona devel-
opment tools, such as for instance those from Hubspot
or DemandGen, to support your effort. ◊
By Daniela La Marca
50 December 2016 - Customer Experience – Brand Experience goes Omnichannel
Motivation and
needs determine
your Buyer Personas
These days, customers expect brands to deliver continu- Ideal customers only
ous personal experiences that connect their mobile web
interactions with the brick-and-mortar ones and improve In general, consider the definition of Buyer Personas,
both. This process requires a detailed audit of the chan- which states that it is not about representatives of all
nels you’re already using, an assessment of new chan- your customers, but your ideal customers, which means
nels you could be using, and a realistic evaluation of how those who make the most revenue, remain loyal, com-
much effort it will take to create or repurpose content municate interactively in social networks and elsewhere,
across those channels. etc. So, if you already have a customer value analysis
or criteria for ideal customers respectively, then you
But most importantly, you need to learn to connect should consider utilizing them in the development of the
touchpoints based on how customers want to interact buyer personas.
and to do this, you need to really understand who your For instance, imagine creating a profile on a dating por-
customers are and what drives them to you. The ‘Buyer tal and ask yourself if you really want to appeal to all the
Persona’ methodology is the perfect way to align your available singles or rather prefer only those who really
marketing and customer communication in a more tar- suit you? The same is true with Buyer Personas. They
geted manner with your ideal customers. It is a general- act as a stand-in to develop your content in a way that it
ized representation of your ideal customers that can be corresponds to specific customers (groups) explicitly,
used for your communication strategy to help you design which should be at the very best the customers who
the content according to the wishes and needs of your bring in profits, share your values and/or recommend
target group. your products.
Less is more Furthermore, don’t be tempted by target group specific
superficial characteristics such as age, gender or place
As things change rapidly in the digital marketing industry, of residence, as Buyer Personas are determined pri-
you’ll need to constantly re-evaluate your understanding marily by their motivation: Why is the person interested
of your customer and constantly immerse yourself in in your product? Why would he/she want to buy it and
what your customer needs. Only then you’ll always be what information does the potential customer need to
prepared when new channels or opportunities arise. become a buyer? Therefore, the motivation and needs
of a customer should be fixed at the core of Buyer Per-
Although most companies have already heard about the sonas and be one of the central distinguishing charac-
Buyer Persona method and use it, the representation teristics, while ensuring that the number of your Per-
profiles often just become a list of the existing customer sonas stays limited.
base rather than a concentration of customers that really
bring excess value. By the way, for B2B customers not only the motivation,
but also the department, hierarchy or decision-making
Be aware that having too many Buyer Personas can di- level counts, since usually more than one contact per-
lute your customer approach and jeopardize talking to son is involved in a B2B purchase cycle (as opposed to
the right customers and keep in mind that it is not a most B2C purchase cycles). Here, you should consider
question of reducing the Buyer Personas, but merely what information is really important for the respective
developing them in such a way that they actually provide contact person, be it the CEO, IT or department manag-
marketing with a useful template for customer interaction er.
and content, rather than creating content chaos by their
sheer number. Make your life easier with useful Buyer Persona devel-
opment tools, such as for instance those from Hubspot
or DemandGen, to support your effort. ◊
By Daniela La Marca
50 December 2016 - Customer Experience – Brand Experience goes Omnichannel
