Cindy King's International Business Blog » persona

Target Market Research Versus Persona Marketing, Or Both?

Cindy King — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 07:00:35 +0000

Part of my family lives in the United States. Ever since I have lived in Europe, I visit them every 2 to 5 years. There is one interesting thing about visiting a culture you are familiar with but no longer part of. Although you do not really feel your own evolution, you notice funny things in the evolution of the culture you left behind.

All Or Nothing Fads

One of the things I chuckle about is the latest health fad or recommended healthy living style. Every time I visit there is a brand new one everyone is talking about.

I remember when one of my family members came up to me years ago and said he didn’t know what was wrong. He had cramps in his legs.

So I immediately asked him if he had been eating enough salt. And he exclaimed rather strongly, “No, no I cut all salt out of my diet. It’s bad for you.”

There had been widespread salt reduction campaigns in the media at the time. And I remember telling him that his body needs a couple of grains of salt a day, that his war against salt had to leave a little bit left in his diet.

Healthy eating is a balancing act.

Persona Marketing Buzz

This is what flashed in my mind when I read an article yesterday about the choice between Persona Marketing and Target Market Research Marketing.

Oh no, not again. This is yet another all or nothing marketing ploy. Who is making money on this one?

I noticed the buzz word Persona Marketing about a year ago. Personas? What are Personas?

I thought I had lost touch, being out here in the boondocks of France where it usually takes us 20 years to catch up with North American trends.

After a little research I realized Personas are similar to the copywriters technique of identifying the ideal client. It’s just another repackaging job…with a new slant. Except, as usual Americans knew how to take the idea further. Some companies go so far as to create pictures, dolls and animated cartoons with complete living environments of their Personas.

I wonder if they spend more money creating the persona than they do researching it? Then how much money do they spend to update it when their Persona evolves naturally in the future?

Is It A Choice Of Either Or

What stumped me was the author clearly states her choice of Target Market Research over Persona Marketing. Why would a company use one marketing method and not the other? Either Persona Marketing or Target Market Research Marketing.

I have carried out all of my international marketing and sales career based in Europe. This is such total nonsense to me.

International marketing demands experience in both types of marketing. And there it is a balancing act.

For effective international business development you need:

Hard statistics from Target Market Research to rationalize the risk
Clear identification and understanding of your international clients through Persona Marketing

In some industries the upper hand might go to the Target Market Research and in other industries it might go to Persona Marketing.

There is no set rule. The balancing act can be delicate.

You need to cut out risk. In international marketing there is always risk. Target Market Research gives you figures to rationalize your risk.
You also need to reevaluate your cross-cultural communication every time. How else can two foreigners hook up effectively? Cross-cultural communication needs constant attention. Persona Research gives you the real personal touch you need.

An experienced international marketer would actively research to understand any differences in results between Target Market Research Marketing and Persona Marketing. This is where money is lost, through:

Marketing blunders
Missed opportunities

Successful international marketing invariably boils down to experience and expertise.

By the way, how can anyone let Dunkin Donuts call their new sandwiches healthy?

And shouldn’t someone make companies put public health warnings on the packaging of food items with twice as many calories as an average adult needs in one day? You know, just like the ones you find on packs of cigarettes.

Write A Better International Website

Cindy King — Tue, 20 May 2008 23:00:22 +0000

How To Internationalize Your Website

Where are certain basic business communication principles that work across all media.

One of the the things you need to do when communicating with any prospects or clients is to think about what they want and need to hear from you. You need to look at your business offer, communication or message from their point of view.

If you have studied copywriting like I have, you will know just how easy it is to get sidetracked on this one.

To write a good website it is essential to write it for your visitors.

Most of us think we know our market, we know our visitors and we have done more than enough “research” on our website visitors.

But this is rarely the case.

If you want to improve you website results, look even closer at your website.

The closer your website corresponds to the needs and desires of your visitors the more success you will have.

The best way to determine the needs and desires of your visitors is to actually only write to one visitor. Spend some time and research to identify the one ideal visitor. Create one specific persona. Write every single word of your website for him. Create every page for him.

Writing your website for one specific visitor goes beyond writing for his needs and desires concerning your products or services. It includes also includes his needs and desires:

when he knows he wants to come online
when he decides he wants to visit your website
at the moment they are on your website
and during each moment he stays on your website

It is important to bring all of these needs and desires of your website visitors into the actual goal you have for your website.

The closer the goal you have fits the needs and desires of your visitors the more success you will have.

Many of us make the mistake of thinking what we did when we started our website still corresponds to our current audience. Internet gives us lots of feedback on our visitors. Even after only six months of having your website online, you will probably find you need to tweak your website to better correspond with your visitors.

The goals you have for your website can change slightly after some time online. You’ll need to realign your website with your new goals.

Read more about how the goals you have for your website can bring more power to your website:

Website Design – Power Your International Web Pages With Focus

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Website Internationalization

The One Important Step Missing In Many Guidelines For Good Websites And Landing Pages

Cindy King — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:00:56 +0000

International Content Creation

I just got a newsletter in the mail today from a great internet marketer out of the UK, Chris Cardell. I really enjoy reading anything Chris puts out. Today, there was a quick guideline for creating good websites in his package.

There were basically the same 4 key points you hear non-stop as soon as you get into creating websites:

Clearly defined. Your websites goal has to be clearly indicated for immediate recognition. Be careful of any graphics you have – they must directly correspond to what your website is about. Confusion leads readers away.
Headlines are critical. If they don’t grab your readers attention they will move on.
Easy to read. If your website is too busy, too messy, too hard to read – readers will move on.
Compelling offer. If you don’t make your offer interesting to the reader, he will move on.

But Chris left out the most important key element in my eyes, and the one thing almost everyone forgets.

There is something you have to do before any of the key point above:

You have to know where your online visitor has just come from. Better yet, did he get here from a banner ad, an article or a Google search, and which words did he put in the Google search to find you.

This is absolutely vital information if you want your internet visitor to do something: read your page, sign up for a newsletter, learn about your product, or even buy it.

The more smoother the link between all these stages the more success you will have:

your internet visitor’s mental frame of mind
the motivation behind his search
the language on the the text that lead him to your website
his expectations of what he is hoping to find on your website
and how your website corresponds to his previous experience and desires

I only understood the full value of this after studying good web copy in great depth. This is something trained copywriters will not leave out – they are trained to think of the reader from every possible angle. If you want your reader to do something you need to know how to convince him.

Imagine a huge department store with doors opening onto every different department. If someone found your store because they were hunting for shoes and they came in through the door they thought lead them to the shoe department only to find a mixed batch of articles nothing to do with shoes. Confusion.

Now imagine they found the door to the shoe section through a poster describing incredibly stylish red boots and they opened the door to find a large display of the boots immediately as they walked in. And there is a big sign saying they could get the matching handbag for half price as well, and there is a pay plan available.

Your online visitors have the same contrast in experience. It is not always easy to know where your online visitor are coming from. And visitors often come into your website through the side door, not the home page. Are you other pages clearly defined, or would they be confusing?

“Landing Pages” are popular because they help website owners to categorize and set up paths for specific visitors. This allows the website owner to say the right thing at the right time to the visitors that come in through different specific doors.

It is possible to make your “Landing Page” part of your current website, if you are asking your reader to sign up for a free newsletter for example. If you are moving in for a sale you may want to use a specific URL domain and keep your reader totally focused on what you have to say. Again if you start waving other distractions in his face when you are trying to make a sale, you will not make that sale as much as you can.

This first step of understanding and identifying your readers frame of mind at the moment he finds your website is also vital for international marketing. Cross cultural communication is often a trial and error process.

If your communication is lined up with your foreign reader’s search expectations and represents a smooth continuation in the communication he is expecting from you, he will be more likely to forgive any slight errors in cross cultural communication.
Now I am sure Chris knows the importance of this key step. His newsletter is an excellent resource for internet marketing.

Chris has a seminar coming up with a few celebrity speakers including the successful American marketer Dan Kennedy.

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The One Important Step Missing In Many Guidelines For Good Websites And Landing Pages