Data, data, data. There is a plethora of data now available to help guide your marketing decisions. Whether your job is to recruit more qualified students to your campus, to your new online programs, or your mission is to engage your alumni more effectively, big data is invaluable in helping you to craft effective plans. Remember though, at the end of the day we are all still marketing to specific people.

Seth Godin often speaks about building tribes. His book, Tribes, is a must read for any marketer. And Tribes are built one specific person at a time. Do you know who your Tribes are and what drives their habits and decisions?

As inbound marketers, it starts with building compelling content that resonates with your tribe. Compelling content is personalized and addresses the specific needs of specific people. That begins with building personas. Make them visual. Put a name to them with specific job positions, challenges, etc.

At Converge, for example, we build personas for Alumni Development and Recruitment Marketing. For example, before you ask your alumni to donate to their alma mater, several questions must first be answered. All around building specific personas:

• Who are your alumni?
• What motivates them to give?
• Are they in a financial position to give?
• What behaviors have they exhibited in the past in relation to giving and engaging?
• What is the best way to communicate with them in terms of channel and messaging?

When building your personas, it is helpful to ask yourself these questions as well:

• Who is in your Tribe?
• What are their goals and aspirations?
• What inspires and motivates them?
• What are their pain points?
• What is the best way to communicate with them in terms of channel and messaging?

Once you answer these questions and build your personas, you are ready to create content that is compelling and meaningful.

For more information on persona development for alumni or admissions contact jay@convergeconsulting.org.