Persona

The personification of the target group

03 Jun 2022

Personas are ideal-typical representatives of a target group. They enable customer-centric work by providing important points of reference for company departments such as marketing and product development. By illustrating certain customer types, it is therefore possible to adapt the offer to the real customer. But what is important when creating personas? And how can they best be integrated into corporate practice?

WHAT IS THE IDEA BEHIND PERSONAS?

The original idea of personas (or "buyer personas") can be traced back to the software developer Alan Cooper, who developed an innovative concept in the 1980s out of dissatisfaction with the poor user-friendliness of computers: He no longer wanted to work on the basis of an abstract, theoretical idea of target groups, but wanted to ensure an adequate reference to reality through interviews and subsequent analyses. The information gained from personal contact made it possible to develop ideal-typical personas. These should subsequently help to make realistic assumptions about the behavior and needs of customers.

Personas are characterized by their "human" attributes: Information about the person's curriculum vitae, demographic characteristics (such as age, gender, occupation) and behavior create a realistic image of a real identity - with their own first and last name and a photo. These personas therefore do not represent the gray average of a target group, but concrete individuals who are fictitious, but still realistic. Today, companies usually work with several personas, as each one represents a single segment or an ideal-typical representative of the target group.

Personas are used in various business areas, for example

- in sales,
- in marketing
- in requirements engineering,
- in product development and
- service and support.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TARGET GROUPS AND PERSONAS

The target group is a part of the overall market that is potentially willing to use a specific product or service. On the basis of common characteristics, it can be specifically addressed by defined communication measures. So although a narrowing down already takes place here, the image of the customer remains faceless and impersonal.

In marketing, it is therefore preferable to resort to personas: instead of a confusing group of people (the entire target group) whose members share some characteristics but otherwise have little in common, the persona reflects a specific, relevant type of customer. By knowing his or her personality, needs and behavior, it is much easier, for example, to tailor communication measures to this person.

THE FEATURES OF PERSONAS

Personas are created on the basis of certain characteristics. The question for each company should be which information is relevant for the development of products and services as well as the corresponding marketing measures. The following characteristics are usually always taken into account and can be added individually:

First and last name
Photo
demographic characteristics (age, gender, place of residence, marital status, occupation, education, income, etc.)
psychographic characteristics (opinions, values, needs, fears, etc.)
Interests, hobbies and skills
Characteristics of purchasing behavior (price behavior, media use, payment behavior, etc.)

THE COLLECTION OF DATA

The corresponding data for the personas can come from two possible sources of information.

Proto or ad hoc personas draw on existing knowledge about the target group. Proto personas are not very detailed and usually focus exclusively on the needs of the fictitious customer without going into depth about the individual characteristics. Especially at the beginning of a project, they provide a rough orientation for all those involved and therefore have their raison d'être. However, they should not serve as the basis for long-term work or for strategic decisions.

In contrast, data-based personas are more accurate and therefore more reliable, with information obtained from interviews, market research, observations by representatives of the target group, surveys or evaluations of previous studies. This approach corresponds to the original concept of Alan Cooper. Online marketing in particular now offers a wide range of options for collecting and evaluating customer-related data.

THE APPLICATION OF PERSONAS IN DIFFERENT PROJECT PHASES

The concept of personas can be applied not only to different areas of the company, but also to the individual project phases. Various goals are pursued in the process.

1. PROJECT PREPARATION AND START

Project participants who already have information about the wishes and requirements of the customers in the planning and development phase can effectively include them in the work. In this way, any difficulties in use can be responded to in advance and the product can be tailored to meet user objectives.

2. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

Personas also help during the ongoing project to keep goals and developments in focus and to counteract problems.

3. ONGOING OPERATIONS

Personas also help with optimization during ongoing operations. For example, an order process can be checked to see if and when a particular persona cancels the purchase process. During the subsequent optimization, the question then arises as to which aspect (such as navigation) could have caused difficulties for the persona. In this way, potential for improvement can be quickly identified.

ADDITIONAL TIPS FOR IMPLEMENTATION

The development of several personas is recommended, as they represent different segments of a target group. The idea behind this is that a target group is not a homogeneous mass, but a multi-layered entity consisting of different personality types.

The personas should also be created as realistically as possible - the goal is to have a "real" person in front of you. To do this, it helps to determine the characteristics in as much detail as possible, as long as these details are useful in the objective (in product development, marketing, or some other area). Also, a photo especially contributes to the goal of making the person seem real to everyone involved, which automatically promotes understanding of them and creates a human level. This makes it clear that the persona and their needs and requirements for a product or service are at the center of all efforts.

For an even stronger illustration, the visualization of the results is a good idea, for example in the form of printed out wanted posters that are present for all participants.

Incidentally, once the personas have been completed, the process is not considered finished: Changes and new insights into the target group are only a matter of time and require corresponding adjustments.

THE ADVANTAGES OF PERSONAS

Personas enable companies to bring abstract target groups to life and make them tangible. This gives stakeholders the opportunity to develop a better understanding of their customers, which they can incorporate into the development of products and services.

Personas are helpful in project preparation, during project implementation, and also during ongoing operations - especially through appropriate visualization, the target persons remain permanently in focus and exert a positive influence on decision-making in the relevant areas of the company. Working with personas thus promises above all a strong customer orientation based on identification and empathy.

Through the use of personas, user stories can be played out even before the implementation of your customized digital solution, helping to align the final product with your target group. With the help of our strategic consulting, we at GAL Digital can fully support the process from conception to marketing of your digital solution. Feel free to contact us if you need more information about our services, we will be happy to help you.