It is a fact that the digital world is a very competitive market and the more information you know about your target audience, the more advantages you will have over the competition. However, some companies maintain the idea that digital marketing works in the same way as traditional marketing, where messages are intrusive and sent to customers. We already know that this does not work and that, in fact, what these messages do is to drive the consumer away. I bet the dear reader must be asking himself, “Why are you talking about this?” Simple: what I’m talking about has a name and that name is Persona.
According to our friend Wikipedia, “personas are fictional characters created to represent different types of users within a defined demographic, attitude and/or behavioral target that could use a website, brand or product in a similar way”. In other words, a persona is a fictional “character” based on real data from customers who end up representing the ideal customer of a company.
No, the persona is not the same as the target audience, since it is more comprehensive, the persona contains more specific details about the person, such as the workplace, personal characteristics, interests, among others. Thanks to these characters, companies are able to carry out a Marketing campaign more focused on the type of people they want to reach, in addition to making it possible for the company to better understand the needs of its consumers.
Were you confused by the explanation? Don’t worry, we will give an example of a character. I present to you:
Raquel – 32 years old, graduated in journalism and works in an advertising agency. Single, she has no animals and she is a workaholic. Raquel would like to have more free time to be able to catch up on her reading, but since she doesn’t like to have a very heavy suitcase, she can’t. Raquel’s goal is to look for something that will keep her reading and that doesn’t weigh too much.
In this case, the company you manage (hypothetically), which sells tablets with the highest technology on the market, will help Raquel in her search for a product that solves her problem, that is, you can create a campaign that shows the benefits of your product and, of course, with a focus on weight and simplicity.
After meeting our dear Raquel, I bet you are thinking: “But this is the same thing as my target audience!”. And I answer: No! Let’s go deeper into the topic, don’t worry. This doubt is more common than knowing who was born first, whether the egg or the chicken.
The most common and most used criteria for assembling a persona (remember, the more information the better for creating a good result), are:
- Name;
- Age;
- Genre;
- Where does he/she work;
- Interests;
- Why are you interested in your product or brand;
- How much does he/she get per month?
- Does he/she have children?
- Does he/she have any pets?
- What are his/her hobbies?
- Daily challenges;
- Contents he/she consumes.
The target audience, as mentioned above, is a more general, broader representation of your consumer, or the person you want to reach, the characteristics are all the same. when we talk about social class, in the scope of the target audience, we always use a specific class, class A, B, C…. Let’s take the example of a good target audience: women, between 25-40 years old, middle class, Portuguese, live in Lisbon, trained in journalism and who work.
Did you notice the difference between our persona example and the target audience example? Most of the time, to describe a target audience, we use the following criteria:
- Level of education;
- Social class;
- Genre;
- Age;
- Nationality;
- Profession;
- Geolocation;
Now let’s put our knowledge into practice, are you ready? Let´s go!
1. Collect data
Yes, I already talked about this and I will continue to talk until the end of this article, because without a good data collection, your campaign will hardly work. Now the question that does not want to remain silent: “How do I get the most information?”.
The most common way to obtain information for a persona is through research, a good way would be to interview clients and people who work within the company. Nothing better than the public itself to help the company better understand its standard of behavior. However, it is always good to know the level of relationship your interviewee has with your brand. After all, it is not worthwhile to interview a person who does not know your brand.
Setting up a plan is the best way to organize yourself with the topics of the interview, filter as much information as possible. A tip: Try to separate the subjects that will be covered in the interview:
- Demography;
- Personal matters;
- Content;
- Content consumption.
2. Data analysis
The second step can be a little tiring, but I guarantee it will be worth it. One way to analyze the data is to look for common characteristics among the interviewees, in other words, try to find common themes, problems that more people are going through, praise and criticism about the brand.
After that collection, it becomes clearer to know what these people have in common. There is no limit to the number of questions or data to collect, it will depend on how you want to create your persona and it is important to keep in mind that these created personas will stay with you until the end of your campaign or strategy.
3. Structuring the persona
The third step is considered the most important, as it requires organization and a lot of attention. In this part, we talk about putting everything that has been filtered into practice, or as they say, putting everything on paper. Our tip for this part is: customization!
Give your persona a name, an age (try using the age that most appears in the results), write down that person’s habits, you can even tell a story if it helps you describe your persona based on the data you have collected.
4. Sharing the results
Now that you have reached the final stage, my advice is: share with your entire team the result you obtained and present the persona or personas that were created for your company’s next campaign, don’t be shy.
After these tips, we wish our reader good luck and excellent research!
How about contacting us to talk more about the topic?
Pedro Montijo
References:
Resultados Digitais – “Persona: como e por que criar uma para sua empresa”