As we begin to see the term digital marketing as simply marketing, we see trends circling back, including the development of marketing personas.
Let me state first, that I welcome the trend, if you even call it a trend. You cannot visit a marketing blog without reading about the tips and tricks needed to develop personas. And thanks to the development of these personas, you are able to get a better picture of your target audience.
Related: What is Account-Based Marketing
In a time of personalized customer experiences, a B2B marketer can no longer get away with approaching one homogeneous target group. We know it is necessary to segment your primary target group to meet different requirements that potential customers may have, but this should not be the starting point for your persona development process. The goal of developing a marketing persona should not be to classify a target group but to better understand situations and scenarios where a person is central.
The best source for research is, of course, your existing customers. In terms of strategy, you can opt for a survey or an in-depth interview, but there is still an underrated source of information, customer service. Who knows the practical problems of your customers better than your sales or customer service team? By taking the time to understand your customer’s questions or concerns, or by simply analyzing the FAQ section of your website, you will discover a wealth of information useful to develop your personas.
Related: Which Marketing Automation Platform Software is Best for your Company?
Three Free Tools to Create Your Marketing Personas
The marketing automation specialists, HubSpot, has long been aware of the importance of personas and therefore developed the HubSpot Persona generator. By going through a few simple steps, you get a nice clear view of your persona.
In addition to four useful templates that you can adjust (online), you can also use (after registering for a free account) the more extensive persona template in Xtensio. Also useful is the ‘User Persona Comparison’ template in which you can compare different elements of your personas.
Would you prefer to get started pragmatically with Excel? Then the Demand Metric templates might be more convenient for you. With different tabs, you can easily and clearly fill in your personas.
The templates provide allow even more than mentioned above. Like always, it is important to remember, the template that is most suitable for you depends on your individual situations, goals, strategies and well-conducted research.
Interested in developing marketing personas and leveling up your account-based marketing strategy? Contact our experts today!
