For personas to become useful tools, they must be based on interviews gathered from salespeople, customer service interactions and the buyers (customers) themselves.
And not just any kind of interview will do. The conversations must be focused on what the buyer is trying to achieve.
- What's important to them and what's driving the change?
- What's impeding or speeding their need to change?
- How do they go about change?
- What do they need to know to embrace change?
- Who do they turn to for advice or information?
- What's the value they visualize once they make a decision?
- Who do they have to sell change to in order to get it?
- What could cause the need for this change to lose priority?
In essence, personas must help us identify how we can help buyers manage and expedite change. That's really what buying is all about.
If we build personas in this way, then they become instrumental in the development of our content strategies and marketing programs. But there's another bonus to be had from the intentional development of buyer personas as a tool.
They're useful to customer service, to salespeople, to lines of business, to product development and R&D. And, if you involve them in the process, they'll have an investment in helping to apply them to the business in ways that count.
As Vince questioned in his post:
"Is 'personas' one of the buzzwords we toss around to feel and sound like cutting-edge marketers? Or are we cutting to the chase, doing the good and hard work, and making the investments of time and resources necessary to research, refine and buy into meaningful, actionable buyer personas?"
Very good questions, indeed.
Are your personas in the closet? Or are they front and center driving your content strategy and customer-facing business processes?
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