The Anatomy of a Perfect B2B Persona
by MGB2B
Personas are a key part of any content marketing plan. For the purposes of content creation, a persona is a fictional character who represents a buyer in one of your audience segments. Each piece of content you create should be written for a specific persona. Let’s say you’re a manufacturer with prospects in five different verticals, two of which are defense and medical devices. Each of the five will have a different persona for whom you create content. This is because the content that appeals to your defense prospects is not going to appeal to your medical prospects and vice versa.
The more relevant content you share with the defense guy, the more he’s going to keep coming back for more. Send him something that doesn’t resonate, and you may lose him for good. You might even create different personas for job titles within each vertical (Purchaser, CEO, etc.).
So now you know why you need personas. But do you know exactly how to create a B2B persona?
Here are the Elements that Make Up a Perfect B2B Persona:
The Name. Get creative with it. Give them a personality. No-Nonsense Nancy. Type-A Todd. Decisive Dave.
The Photo. A lot of brands skip this step, but it’s nice to put a face with a name. What does Decisive Dave look like? What does he wear? You’re only using this internally, so feel free to find a picture online and use that. Visualization can help your content team write the appropriate content.
Age, Title, and Type of Company. These are likely demographics you’re already targeting. But no persona should be without them. They are the perfect jumping-off point for the rest of your persona development.
What His/Her Day Is Like At Work. Sitting in front of a computer all day is not what we’re looking for here. You want to have an idea of how they interact with staff, what their short- and long-term goals are, and what they need to help them do their jobs better.
At What Point He or She Is Involved In Decision Making. This is important. Is this a person that introduces ideas to their boss? Or the person that makes the final decision about purchasing? Is it someone who is more concerned with money than quality or vice versa? Are you talking to engineers or IT people? That’s a whole new ball game. All of this can and should influence your content.
Media Consumption. How does this person find new products? What do they read when they need insights to help them thrive in their position? When do they read articles online? How often?
What Home Life Is Like. This may seem irrelevant, but it’s not. Does Nancy have a husband and two kids or is she single? Is Todd married? Does he spend too much time commuting? Any little bit of personality you give to your personas is helpful (as long as it’s not completely off-base).
What He or She Does in His/Her Spare Time. Does Decisive Dave spend a lot of time on the golf course? Is Nancy a world traveler? Again, this stuff is gravy, but it can make a big difference for certain types of content. For instance, let’s say you’re targeting doctors, and you have solid information that the majority of doctors like to golf on the weekends. Amidst all of the insights you send their way, you might mix in a comparison between a golf game and the manufacture of medical devices. This is a unique B2B approach that will draw them in and keep them engaged.
These are the elements you need to look at while creating your brand’s B2B personas. Getting them right is one of the most important things you can do for an effective Content Strategy. Need help getting started? Drop us a line.
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