In integrated marketing, we use past purchases and descriptive data to target prospects to move them to action. On the web, prospects already know what they want and are actively seeking solutions for their needs and they are willing to interact with us if we provide them with faster, more exact solutions. As marketers creating web communities and social media programs, we can use this willingness to interact to better understand what is driving visitors and to create communities and social media sites that provide them with the information, tools, and products they need. Given that we’re talking about social media, it may seem unnecessary to say this, but…I really should: The best way to find out what people want or what motivates them is to ask. Survey them. Here are some tips on what to ask, how to build, and how to use persona segments to improve your web, social and direct marketing programs.
Think Beyond RFM & P for Web & Social Marketing
To best define your web and social media prospects and customers, you need to better understand five dimensions of their personality which determine the nature & extent of their social interactions. They are:
• Drivers - the strength and sources of motivation that move you to action. Drivers are critical in determining the amount of effort an individual will use to address their needs and the way they interact with a web community (and the frequency of those interactions). What we want to discover about an individual’s motivational drivers are (1) are they internally or externally driven to action, (2) what is the source and (3) how strong is their drive.
Survey hint: Most people cannot tell you their drivers. Ask a series of opinion questions they can quickly respond to with a strongly agree to a strongly disagree [called a 5 or 7 level Likert scale question]. Example: “I eat out mainly for the speed and convenience” “The most important part of dining out is being with friends and family”. Because you want them to simply react to each statement, ask 20 to 30 questions - one after another. Then use factor analysis to determine the underlying drivers.
• Triggers – life and special events, occasions or stimuli that force, entice or encourage an individual to action. In most companies, trigger events or triggers combined with drivers are useful in determining what communities to build on your website or in your social media programs.
Survey hint: When asking trigger questions, give them specific questions about where they go for expertise and information. Include competitor sites, blogs, TV shows, social sites, magazines, etc. and be sure to give them ample space for “other”. The other comments are often key insights into how individuals search for solutions.
• Search Strategies – the media, channels, and tools we use to find the expertise to address our needs. In understanding search strategies, focus on all the media they might use to get expert opinions and information about your products and services. Ask questions about the media sources they use and then “drill down” on each one to learn the specific magazines, TV, websites, blogs, social, and other sources of expertise they like to use.
• The Purchase Experience – the process and methods we use to make a purchase – from initial impulse to final purchase and use. We have found it extremely useful to focus on the time from start of search to the purchase decision, where and how the purchase is made, and the frequency and amount of purchases in recent years. In developing the survey, we focus on understanding their last purchase as we have found it most relevant to predicting future actions.
• Household/Business Situation – information describing the individual and his/her household. If you develop your surveys using database customers or prospects or a national panel, you can overlay this data and avoid asking these ‘personal’ questions.
Survey hint: If you do ask about their income, family composition, etc…keep it short and relevant. We generally never ask more than 5 demographic or lifestyle questions. And we try to avoid them if possible in our surveys.
Executing the Survey
Once your web survey is ready, consider surveying web and social visitors and database customers. Also, you might consider building a national panel and surveying its members. Web and social media visitors will give you the insights of the active searcher, your database customers will provide past purchase behaviors and valuation measures to the analysis and the national panel can show you markets you may be missing with your current marketing strategies.
Once the data is collected, your analytical team will develop the persona segments. A persona segment is a group of individuals with similar triggers, needs, and drive elements. Use the survey data and database purchase history to describe and value each segment. You are looking to see similarities and differences between the persona segments and understand their lifetime value.
Building Better Web Communities and Social Media Programs using Persona Segmentation
Look for the “Persona Gaps” – Each persona segment has different information, product, and support needs. Examine your current web and social sites and evaluate their “fit” with the needs of your highest value persona segments. Where there are “gaps”, develop the information they need, invest in creating special tools to find the “best fit” products quickly, and tailor customer service to acknowledge the trigger event and respond accordingly. It is the “gaps” between your sites and their needs that drives visitors to competitors’ sites.
Create Communities for the Highest Value Persona Segments – Start with your highest value persona segment as a pilot project and create a special community site for these prospects. Examine their profile and determine their needs and wants which become the foundation for your persona-based web community. Add blogs, articles, special tools, special access to customer support, and even forums to promote interactions between the persona visitors and you. Then adjust your Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay per Click (PPC), and banner marketing programs to take likely persona members directly to their community site.
Develop Touch Points to Gather Persona Information and Take Visitors to the Right Community – Most visitors are anonymous but, if you ask them, they will allow you to “classify them” if you give them something special in return. Review the driver, trigger, and social responses for each of your persona segments and develop 3 to 5 questions to obtain the information you need to classify them into the persona segments. Add these questions to your prospect profile pages and make them required to access the tools and information you created for each persona community. Visitors will answer the questions and give you their email addresses if they see a real and immediate benefit. When they give you the information, take them immediately to the best community to address their needs.
Summary
In summary, knowing the drivers, triggers, search strategies, purchase experiences, and household situation gives you important knowledge to improve and better target your web and social media programs. Ask your web visitors about themselves and let them guide you to greater market share and improved profits.
Randy Hlavac is the CEO of Marketing Synergy, a web and database analytics firm in Naperville, IL.
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