Audience Persońas?We don’t need no stinkin’ audience persońas!

We already know who our audience is.

Personas aren’t useful for the type of marketing we do.

They’re too expensive to develop.

They take too long to develop.

#1 Find new segments to target

• Client was targeting repair shops, used car salesmen

and “gear heads”

• There was no content for Steve.

• Huge segment with a very large combined budget

#2 Find existing segments that were hidden

• Client had top-level navigation for “Sports Complexes” including:

• basketball, baseball, football, tennis…

• There was no category or content for Golf

• Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (data goldmine)

• Already purchasing, but with low CR due to poor user experience

#3 Connect with influencers of a segment

“Funeral director Caleb Wilde is an undertaker for the overshare generation.”

#5 Uncover Highly-Targeted Advertising & Biz Dev. Opportunities

#5 Uncover Highly-Targeted Advertising & Biz Dev. Opportunities

…Creepy Right?

#5 Find Expert Authors

Don’t ask general copywriters to write for experts!Think about what you’re an expert at. I bet you can tell if someone is faking it, right?

They didn’t tell me I’d be writing about PBX Phone Systems in Journalism class.

Amy Milshtein is a freelance writer who specializes in facilities management topics. She wrote an article about Effective Exterior Surveillance for Facility Executive’s blog and can probably submit other content to that site as a vetted contributor.

Leah Grout Garris is a freelance writer within the commercial buildings industry. She also does ghostwriting, which might make her an excellent fit for the client. Her niche seems to be high-rises.

Michel Theriault provides consulting services across a variety of management fields, which includes facilities management. He has written a book on FM called Managing Facilities and Real Estate, and he contributes regular pieces to media outlets like Forbes.

#6 Develop the right content for the right personand presented it to them at the right time in their buying cycle

Introducing The Persona Topic Matrix!A handy tool for persona-based content gap analysis

https://goo.gl/h61nBZ

Give it a Try!

These folks aren’t cheap!

Fortunately, there are ways to speed up the process and lower the cost - while using data that’s often more accurate than what you might get from Google or Quantcast.

#1) Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good, useful, affordable and on-time

#2) Ask the right questions and focus on what YOU need, as opposed to what other marketers think should be in a persona.

But what was the question?And why was it so important to ask?

“Yes, I thoughtit over quite thoroughly.

It’s 42.”

#3) Leverage research that has already been done by others.

Where to Get Your Data:#1 Non-Profits and Industry Trade Groups

Tru Stile sells high-end doors to interior designers.

The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) publishes a report each year with various industry statistics and demographics.

Rememberthese things?

When all else fails: pick up the phone!

#2 Magazines and Other Publications

You Run an Online Pet Supply Store

.Example Searches:

#3 The Client!

#4 These Folks!

Everett Sizemore – Director, R&Deverett@goinflow.comwww.GoInflow.com

• Slideshare Version of This Deck: http://goo.gl/lHCNc8

• Audience Persona Research Template: https://goo.gl/hwprpy

• Persona Discovery Call Agenda: https://goo.gl/jsTuVI

• Persona Topic Matrix: https://goo.gl/h61nBZ

• The Art and Science of Understanding the Person Behind the Visit (Mike King)

https://moz.com/blog/personas-understanding-the-person-behind-the-visit

• The Persona-Driven Keyword Research Process (Mike King)

http://ipullrank.com/the-persona-driven-keyword-research-process/

• How Inflow Does Audence Personas (a little dated now)

http://www.goinflow.com/audience-profiles-aka-personas/

Questions?@balibones

#ConfluenceCon