Persona marketing is not new in traditional marketing space. The best Direct Mail marketers create personas even before writing a single line of copy. It allows them to group together potential clients according to demographic, goals, desires and purchasing power. Can we replicate this model for the web and attract our ideal client?
Here are some action steps that can help you attract the ideal clients to your website
1) Define your target personas: Brainstorm with your team and list the following attributes of your target persona: Demographic, Motivation, Desires, Goals and Pain Points
2) Map Target Personas to your Products/Services: Once you have a clear idea on your target personas, list the products/services that would make your target persona's life easier. It would take lot of brainstorming sessions to find out what the attributes of the product/services that your target personas value. If you are not able to come up with your unique value proposition, the reason might be you. Not in a negative way! You are in the middle of the whole process and this might blind you from a having a unique perspective on your product/services. Invite an independent consultant and ask him to evaluate your product/services. Ask the consultant to list things that he finds interesting. From interesting observations, you can find your strengths. To know whether the observations are unique, visit you competitor's service/product page and go through the "plan/pricing" page. Have they listed your unique feature as their strength? If they have, then keep searching and brainstorming.
3) Perform comprehensive Online Research: Once you have listed your USPs, it is time to do your online research. What key phrases are used by your target personas? How can you create news release/articles/blogs that will answer the concerns/questions of your target personas? The article should also motivate the persona to take action (download your whitepaper, subscribe to your newsletter, register for your webinar or contact you over the phone).
Is Persona marketing the answer for better conversion?
The biggest secret in effectively integrating persona from your marketing to content creation is to understand that this is not a rigid framework. There should be constant iteration of your target persona. The target persona in paper might behave differently in websites. Understanding that this is natural and the buying cycle influences persona is crucial in creating effective personas for the web.
For Example: John, a Banker, methodically completes his research on the best possible gifts for his kids on Christmas. He knows what his son Geoffrey likes and the gifts that would make his daughter Alice smile. He normally takes 1-2 weeks to complete his research. Now if you write your product page for this persona then it should have multiple tabs that go into a lot of aspects of the gifts:
1) Product Description
2) Image
3) Price
4) Payment Options
5) History of the Gift (Created date, Tradition, Occasion for the Gift)
6) Safety of the Gift
7) Testimonials about Product
8 Social Proof (is the Gift popular among Geoffrey and Alice’s friends)
9) Testimonials about Shipping
10) Reward Points
11) Exchange Offers
Now let us consider a scenario where due to other commitments, John is just four day away from Christmas. Would you highlight all the information to John or show information that would help him make a decision. Of the 11 information sections, which information should you highlight? You should probably focus on the following:
1) Product Description
2) Image
3) Testimonials about the product
4) Testimonial about Shipping
5) Safety of the Gift
All other information would have been ideal for this persona but since John is already in the Buying cycle and value fast delivery and testimonials about the gift over Reward Points and History of the Gift, your product page should highlight only the information that are necessary. If you have gone by the initial plan, your articles would have been long and John would have missed crucial information about your product that would motivate him to take action. John will completely miss your unique value proposition. It is important to understand that you have to create news release and blog posts according to the buying cycle, addressing the primary motivation of the persona.
If you want us to create articles according to your target persona, contact us or you can call us at: India (Ph): +91 9497189032, UK (Ph): +44 (0)20-3371-9976 or US (Ph): +1 650-491-0004
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