And Another One! Part 2 of personas is here!
In my first persona post, I describe social media personas (both legit and my version of what it means). Here is a re-cap:
So what is a persona?
Sprout Social’s definition of social media persona:
“Social media personas are fictional representations of your ideal customers. Taking into account factors such as demographics, desires and pain points, personas paint a picture of the individuals you’re trying to sell to.
In other words, a profile of your perfect customer.”
Mecca-Amirah’s definition of a social media persona:
“A fun way to visualize who exactly you want to target (And creating weird scenarios in your mind and letting it run rampant until I am tempted again to play Sims.)”
I also give some context of the project below–this is an example from a class I took in my MBA program. It was a group project! So these personas were a group effort and not all of my own 🙂 Anddd, our team were creating personas for Sephora:
Last time, we were introduced you to your next bff Millennial Maddie, a young gal ready to take on the town. To diversify and better understand the Sephora experience for another perspective, my group thought of Busy Brianna, a busy mom of three who owns her own practice, prefers to save time by shopping online and also loves a good deal or discount! (Who doesn’t? 😉) (*Looks at bank account and winces*). Any-whoozles.
Demographic:
Here, we paint the picture of Busy Brianna–a 38-year-old wife and mother. Brianna has been married for 7 years (you go girl!) and has 3 kids Leo, 6; Aubrey, 4; Caleb, 1. As you can see, we had fun creating this persona enough to even name her hypothetical children. Brianna is a bo$$ bi**ch who works full time as an Acupuncturist and has her own practice in her hometown. She even shares her office space with a massage therapist. Wow, looking back at this now, we REALLY got into this lol. And now that I’m looking at this again, I think she would make more than $110,000. But let’s say Brianna got student loan debt so will help shave off some 0’s. So, Brianna has a lot going on in her life but does have $$ to spend at Sephora. So, let’s look at her shopping preferences to see how we can help her buy some cosmetics.
Shopping Preferences:
As a busy mother of 3, Brianna doesn’t have much time to go to the mall on her own, so she prefers to buy everything online. (I don’t have 3 children and I still struggle to get the urge to physically go to the mall). Similarly, Brianna also does her grocery shopping online and has a bi-weekly subscription to Blue Apron for 2 dinners a week. Good for her–it must be difficult balancing her own practice and finding the urge to make dinner throughout the week. Here we flesh Brianna out further– she signs up for loyalty programs, uses coupons, and waits for seasonal sales (4th of July sale, Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday/Cyber Monday, etc.) Brianna belongs to some local Mom groups on Facebook and she follows some influencers on Instagram. Are you able to picture this person? Can you already start strategizing the best ways to target her?
Social Characteristics:
Despite being a busy mom with her own practice, Brianna does not skimp out on socializing! Picture this cute scene–on Friday nights, families in the neighborhood get together so the kids can play, and the moms and dads can have a few drinks. I feel like I’m in a Hallmark movie ((or maybe my childhood was less exciting (well you can probably predict that considering all the sarcastic jokes, depressing poetry, and high functioning anxiety that is this website)). Personal anecdote aside–Brianna does Yoga twice a week at the local YMCA, does stroller workouts on Saturday mornings at the park while her 2 older kids are at their soccer practice, and Briana and her husband, Alex, try to do date night at least once a month.
So let’s consider this – based on Brianna’s shopping preferences and social characteristics – targeting on social media and email marketing may be the best methods. Brianna likes to online shop so paid ads on social media and even sponsored post by her favorite influencer may be the best method to get her to buy the products. Brianna has weekly yoga–she connects with the same people in her classes, giving her access to ask people their opinion on certain products or companies. And when she has date night with Alex, she can dress up and try different styles and products.
Compared to Maddie, Brianna has similar targeting methods but for different reasons. I think it’s important to really paint a picture of your target audience and even imagine what their lives/days look like. Because Brianna prefers online shopping because of her lifestyle, you know that digital methods are the best but you still want to the try to get her into a brick-and-mortar store so she can experience a more omni-channel experience. Stores also have order online and pick it up in the store or curbside. We want Brianna to have a mall day where she has time to walk in and explore the store. Online is awesome but having a physical employee there to help her try new products, up-sell, and give her the full Sephora experience is ideal. Brianna has been quoted saying:
“I can literally buy everything online! From makeup to grocceries, it is so convenient.”
“I usually stick to the same brand but if a friend of client recommends it, I’m willing to try.”
As I mentioned above, this persona was a group, class assignment so of course, companies may be using different methods but the goal is the same – to visualize who exactly is your audience and to better understand their habits. This can help companies map out their users experiences.
Stay tuned for something cool coming soon!
Mecca-Amirah Jackson 