Meet Bill, he is the owner and manager of the company is growing, medium-sized manufacturing companies. Bill was in his early 40s, wears glasses and is trying its best to squeeze in an early morning workout whenever you can. He prefers to wear golf shirts and khakis, donning a suit only when they must. Bill drives a late model SUV with a booster in the back seat of his four-year-old daughter. He was harried, and worries about managing his company's growth. He wants to use technology to increase operational efficiency and customer satisfaction, and to offset the increase in operating expenses, but do not know where to start.
Helen is his director of sales. She is 32, single, competitive runner, and is partial to 80s rock. She drives a new BMW convertible. She struggles with managing a dozen dealers, many of which are 10-15 years older than her. Helen wants the company to invest in a new CRM system to replace the management of contacts they have long outgrown, but wonders how to convince Bill and company CFO to spend money.
Bill and Helen are not real people, but they are examples of one of the most powerful tools you can use to better connect with prospects and customers: persona-based marketing
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Persona-based marketing is part Hollywood characterization and part business analytics. It involves the construction of a fictional customer - based on actual data and intelligence - and then use that figure as a criterion for promotion and sales decisions
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Persona-based marketing goes beyond simple demographic data
Persona-based marketing describes who a prospect or customer is also answering questions about their behavior, such as: what is this person awake at night? How to spend your time? How is it being sold?
This concept can help you, as business-to-business marketer by creating a vivid, tangible picture of your best prospects or customers and then design marketing messages that relate to their concerns and move them to inquire and buy.
Getting back to the Bill and Helen. Suppose you are a system integrator who is targeting medium-sized companies such as Bill's. Using what you know about Bill as a representative of a typical business owner, you can create a tactical marketing decisions.
Because Bill is pressed for time, he probably will not attend the full day seminar, meeting or an evening dinner - he's got family responsibilities after work. However, he would be interested in a 45-minute, executive-level Web seminar could attend from your desk. He can also say "yes" executive breakfast meeting with their peers from other local medium-sized companies.
This is a fictional CEO can even help decisions on issues such as minute brochures or web site design. Because you know that Bill is over 40 and wears glasses, you will ensure that the font is large enough for him to read easily. And because you know that time is under great pressure, you will break the key messages in bullet points he can scan quickly.
Helen, your client's Surrogate Sales, meanwhile, will respond to the offer that says that she needs. It can raise their hands to a half-day seminar on "convincing your CEO and CFO to invest in CRM. " It also may request a white paper entitled "How to get salespeople to use your new CRM system." Because she's younger and has upscale tastes, she would probably attend the seminar lunch in the hot new bistro in town. It is also more likely to notice an ad or seminar invitation or other promotional materials are designed in modern and colorful way.
Granted, Bill and Helen are complex characters, not real people. However, referring to them as they formulate and execute your messages can make your marketing more effective. And it can prevent your promotions from becoming too generic to be noticed. Performed correctly, your persona-based decisions will stop the "i think" and start being about "what would be our client or prospect think ?"
How do you start?
1 Convene a group of employees which they interact with their customers and prospects. Bring lunch and the white board and ask them to help you build a persona for each of the target customers.
2 Begin by describing a customer's role in their society: CEO, CIO, CFO, COO, sales manager, purchasing agent, user, and any other important influencers
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3 The following describes the type of company they work for. What is the industry? What is it? How up-to-date is it? Is there much competition?
4 Then describe the person and their behavior: Give each persona name, title, year, and describe how he or she looks. How to dress? What kind of car they drive? What he does in his spare time? What kind of education she has?
5 The body is as much an attribute you need to give a full, rounded picture of who that person is. Then, contact your persona problems and goals.
6 Think about what this person's daily calendar look like? What are his or her most pressing concerns? What product or service attributes would be most helpful in solving the problems of these people? Is he or she want to roll up 20 databases into one, getting ready for the IPO, which deals with a new competitor who has just entered the market?
7 Then, when formulating your marketing messages , think about what this time a prospect or customer might pursue to solve this problem. Will he or she turn to white papers or articles in trade publications and Web sites? Should the client or prospect request information from the speakers at a networking group of their peers? Let the personas steer the route, which you can open with information that can help your potential clients and customers move forward in regard to the buying process.
If you've never used a person-based marketing before, give it a try. This can be a powerful way to focus your business-to-business marketing messages and offers, driving more leads and sales.
