Leveraging Data to Build Better Customer Personas

It’s like the popular movie, The Hunger Games. Every individual that lives within the districts automatically qualifies to have their name-card in the reaping one time when they turn 12 (whether they like it or not). No matter how fast they run or how far they go, that card has a way of tracking them down and delivering the unfortunate realities that may be awaiting them in their future. While the citizens within the the capital can’t wait to watch another broadcasted bloody battle, the people of the districts dread this day each and every year.

Some automated mailings aren’t received with the warm welcome that marketers would desire as their outcome. When it becomes too personal — for example, marketing to a customer’s relationship, politics, birth, death, or divorce — these are lines most marketers are discouraged from crossing.

By creating customer personas and sub-personas, marketers are better able to engage their audience at specific points in their lifecycle with the brand. For example, if we take customers with the same income level, the self-employed woman business owner will respond differently to an offer from Entrepreneur Magazine than would a woman executive securely employed by a Fortune 500 organization. 

By factoring in firmagraphics and demographics, marketers create opportunities to reach and engage customers at different points in their personal journeys. In most situations, customers appreciate the tailored marketing offer. New parents buying diapers at the local grocery store will appreciate the coupons printed on the back of the store receipt for baby formula and other supplies. Snowbound, winter weary homeowners will be more receptive to marketing offers for Visit Florida, in addition to the promotions for discounts on shovels, snow blowers, ice scrapers and salt.

If you are a B2B company, then building customer profiles is something your organization should be holding as a high priority. To properly grasp what information an individual needs in order to make a decision, organizations must start by understanding the role and authority of differing people that they are marketing to. According to MLT Creative, using buyer personas in an email campaign improved open rates by 2x and clickthrough rates by 5x. Personas drive the education process, content strategy, and even the sales process.

Marketing to personas also makes your job much easier, because it can help you better define and identify the people who are likely to respond to what you have to say. Rather than just defining broad groups of people based on a single factor, like age, create several personas of people and write your messages accordingly.

If you’re interested in learning more about identifying and leveraging customer personas to better engage your customers, be sure to visit our Win New Business page to download the buying personas guide!