What is a Marketing Persona, and Why Do I Need Them?
It’s surprising how often we get this question here at the Forum. In summary, a marketing persona is a descriptor. It describes, in as much detail as possible, a key segment of the audience you wish to reach. Who is your customer? Where do they live and work? How much do they spend on your product or service? How do they make key decisions?
Important: A business, unless it is small and quite niche in its work, will often have multiple buyer personas.
Why do Marketing Personas Matter?
It comes down to pain points. Your company can provide excellent service to the community, something truly critical, and it likely won’t resonate until you tap into what the customer wants and needs. So often brands make a habit of introducing themselves and what they do without ever diving into the problems they address for their clientele! Then they wonder why they haven’t truly connected, and why sales are down.
Below are two sample radio ads for a medical clinic. The first ad comes before marketing personas are created and analyzed. The second incorporates data from marketing personas, addressing patients and potential patients in a way that builds trust.
Sample 1:
Greenwood Medical Clinic is here for you and better than ever! We provide high-quality healthcare at low costs, including emergency, reproductive, and mental health services. A variety of programs are available in 6 different locations across San Diego County. We’re open 6AM to 6PM Monday-Saturday, with no appointments needed! Come see us today.
Research using marketing personas has revealed that many of the Clinic’s patients struggle with their medical bills, often taking up to 6 months to pay them in full. In addition to being low-income, they also tend to crowd the final hour that the clinic is open. Over 70% of patients are revealed to be working parents who must take time away from the office to be seen, or have their children seen. Based on this new information, a brand-new radio campaign is revealed. It lays out policy changes put into place immediately.
Sample 2:
At Greenwood Medical Clinic, we are here to help you in times of need. Our clinics across San Diego are now open seven days a week, including weekends, with evening appointments available. New patients do not have to make an appointment or pay up front for services such as prenatal support, mental health checkups, or dental; our support staff can tell you all about the many payment plans that work for you. Come see us today!
The new radio ad campaign succeeds in speaking to a target demographic for the medical clinic. It also indicates major changes behind the scenes; a new schedule for the doctors and staff, a new focus on patient billing and debt monitoring, etc.
Working with An Agency
Any reputable marketing agency understands the importance and potential applications of a solid set of marketing personas. It’s an advantage of working with the experts; B2C and B2B clients lacking their own marketing department cannot get a good grasp of who they are selling to otherwise.
You’ll also see offers on the internet for “automated” marketing personas created by software. We’ve had clients come to us who fell for the deal because it was slightly cheaper; but the information returned to them was generic, and therefore useless. Don’t fall for the scam!
We hope this is helpful for understanding how a marketing persona can—potentially—help you to gain great insight into your business and who uses it. We say “potentially” because not all marketing personas are created equal. Click here to set up a first call with Forum Digital Marketing here in San Diego so that we can learn more about your specific needs, and how a marketing persona can help. You can also learn more about what we do and our process here.