As Content Strategist here at Converge, content creation is literally my job. Persona development is one of my favorite parts (and a hugely important piece) of content strategy. When we partner with clients on copywriting and content development projects, they are always the first step in our process.
Personas provide a critical benchmark to help content creators consistently stay on message with their communications. Having these tangible marketing guides in place is like having a member of your target audience sitting in the room with you, making conversation easier.
In the world of higher education, personas are still relatively underutilized. However, most institutions operate within the decentralized content model, so the need is great. As we know, new marketing initiatives and campaigns often require buy-in across the institution from faculty and staff in a variety of departments and settings.
Personas are also a great tool to encourage participation and buy-in from key stakeholders. If you and your team are developing personas for the first time, at least one (maybe all) of the following questions might arise.
What is a persona?
Technically speaking, user personas are broad representations identifying specific segments of your website visitors. These target audiences often include, but are not limited to:
- Prospective students
- Current students
- Alumni
- Faculty & Staff
Personas should also tell a story – the story of your brand. From our experience, the most effective personas are on-brand and data-driven – they help your team think strategically (and more creatively) when it comes to communicating with your various user audiences.
How do I use it?
Personas are designed for internal use. Think of them as creative marketing tools to reference when:
- Developing web content
- Restructuring existing web content
- Outlining new brand messaging
- Generating marketing initiatives and campaigns
- Getting consensus on audience segmentation
- Brainstorming and sharing ideas with internal teams
Why are they important?
Personas allow audience segmentation for a more in-depth analysis and deeper understanding of the diverse range of prospective visitors who access and utilize your website.
They help us to identify and better understand your user audiences, ultimately, ensuring that we are delivering the right message to the right audience at the right time.
Personas & Inbound Marketing
You may have an idea of who your users are and what they’re looking for, but how much do you really know about them? Our Senior Vice-President, Dr. Brenda Harms, addressed this question in her recent webinar, Leveraging Student Personas to Benefit Marketing and Enrollment.
Learn more about audience segmentation and the pillars of inbound marketing. Join our CEO, Ann Oleson, and President, Jay Kelly, on Tuesday, July 8 at 2PM EST for a free webinar on The Evolution of Marketing and Communications.
