Why Marketers Need Personas for Social Media

Social media personas are fictional representations of your ideal customers. They are developed by an in-depth analysis of your target audience — whether it’s age, location, exercise likes and dislikes, time constraints, group class needs, individual training, work-life balance, or cost. These factors can then be used to humanize the individuals you want to target, and any given audience can be very specific. Having data points in your toolkit makes it much easier to construct appropriate brand messages and attract customers who are more likely to convert.

Although there is no right way for a persona to look, a good rule of thumb is the more you can clearly define your social media personas, the better. Some baseline metrics to consider in creating your social media personas include age, gender, location, income and spending power. Additionally, if you can identify the personas’ pain points, personality traits, life goals, objections and brands they support, you’ll have a really informative picture of a segment of your audience.

Personas can be used to influence everything from your content calendar, and the time and days you connect with your customers, to which devices you’ll use to reach them and the crafting of your ad strategies.

The next step is to adapt your brand voice to the different personas you’ve identified in order to engage in more authentic, two-way conversations. Think of your brand as a person. You speak to your friends differently than you do your parents, children or business associates. You are still you, but your tone changes with each interaction. Brand voice influences all the ways you connect with your customers, and it’s a critical tool that separates you from the competition. A strong brand makes a lasting impression.

Brand voice influences your social captions, ad copy, marketing materials, digital presence, and even the look and feel of your club. You may find your customers are made up of many personas, like the single millennial, a Gen-Xer or an empty nester — that is why it’s more important than ever to target specific sections of your audience, rather than delivering ads to anyone and everyone. Make your message count to your target, and your target will come to you.

Greg Dowd is the president of Epsilon Local Services. He can be reached at greg.dowd@epsilon.com, or learn more by visiting epsilon.com.