Personas and cohorts are emerging as key elements in the B2B marketing puzzle, aiming at driving more relevant content and offers to the right customers, in the right context. But it’s now time to bring Personas to the boardroom, and use it as a foundational element in the company’s business plan, instead of limiting it to campaign design.
A Persona it’s not a real, named individual but a representation of a type of customer, based on his or her behavior. Personas have both psychographic and demographic information, based on a rigorous combination of qualitative and quantitative research, using primary and secondary sources such as industry reports, interviews, and social media listening. Typically, a Persona profile would include: a demographic profile, description of role, responsibilities, daily routine, professional challenges and personal motivation, thought process, reporting line, span of control, vendor relationships, learning style, social networking preferences, external Influencers, communication preferences…
By thinking through the needs and behaviors of a representative Persona, marketers can better infer what a real person might need and lead to more responsive, more effective interactions between the brand and the client. But this is just the beginning.
Starting with (and centered on) the specific Persona profile, marketing, sales and product leaders should work together to:
- build the right personalized / contextualized messaging, that is best delivering the value proposition and differentiating your company from the competitors;
- infer market size not just the macro picture, but at the cohort level, by applying descriptive and predictive analytics to the quantified profiles;
- design a plan to maximize customer reach, optimizing touch (marketing, digital sales, face to face sellers, resellers) across the buyer journey, and based on buyer preferences; and delivering outstanding customer experience at every touch;
- articulate a revenue plan across the sales funnel from customer touches, to responses, then leads and wins. With details about how each channel will contribute to lead generation and deal closing;
- lay out a clear action plan, orchestrating all the execution steps;
- execute, track and continuously validate the plan, defining corrective actions based on customer response.
This approach requires a new set of skills, integrating design thinking into strategic planning. It requires balancing focus on single transactions with a systemic view of how the company operates in the market and interacts with clients across multiple dimensions. It mandates a new level of cooperation between Sales (the Yin) and Marketing (the Yang), giving CMOs a higher stake in the boardroom. Who is ready for this challenge?
Ultimately, it’s very simple: it all starts with the buyer. And end with it. Enjoy the ride.
2 Comments
In my new role asa a CMO of sorts I must subscribe to your post with one caveat: if we finally allow the Customer in the Boardroom, should we not kick everybody else out ?
maybe not everybody else… but for sure all the ones that are keeping the customer out, and are focused only on internal processes, metrics, politics.