How do you create digital personas for your digital strategy?

1 Step 1: Define your objectives

Before you start creating digital personas, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your digital strategy. What are your business goals, target markets, value propositions, and key messages? How do you measure your success? Having a clear vision and purpose will help you focus on the most relevant and realistic personas for your digital strategy.

2 Step 2: Collect data and insights

The next step is to gather as much data and insights as possible about your existing and potential customers. You can use various sources and methods, such as web analytics, social media, surveys, interviews, customer feedback, market research, and competitor analysis. The more data you have, the more accurate and detailed your personas will be. Try to collect both quantitative and qualitative data, and look for patterns, trends, and segments.

3 Step 3: Identify and prioritize persona groups

Based on the data and insights you collected, you can start identifying and prioritizing the main persona groups for your digital strategy. Persona groups are clusters of customers who share similar characteristics, needs, goals, and behaviors. You can use different criteria to segment your customers, such as demographics, psychographics, location, device, channel, or stage of the customer journey. You don't need to create personas for every possible group, but focus on the most important and relevant ones for your digital strategy.

4 Step 4: Create persona profiles

For each persona group you identified, you can create a persona profile that summarizes their key attributes and traits. A persona profile typically includes a name, a photo, a brief background, a description of their needs, goals, preferences, and behaviors, and a quote that reflects their attitude or motivation. You can also add other details that are relevant for your digital strategy, such as their pain points, challenges, opportunities, or expectations. Try to make your personas as realistic and human as possible, and avoid stereotypes or assumptions.

5 Step 5: Validate and refine your personas

Once you have created your persona profiles, you need to validate and refine them to ensure they are accurate and useful. You can do this by testing them with real customers, stakeholders, or experts, and asking for their feedback and suggestions. You can also compare them with your existing data and insights, and check if they match or contradict them. If you find any gaps, inconsistencies, or errors, you can revise and update your personas accordingly.

6 Step 6: Use your personas for your digital strategy

The final step is to use your personas for your digital strategy. Your personas can help you design and implement effective digital marketing campaigns, content, messages, offers, and experiences that resonate with your ideal customers. You can also use them to monitor and evaluate your digital performance, and identify areas for improvement or innovation. Remember to keep your personas updated and relevant, and revisit them regularly to reflect any changes or trends in your customers' needs, goals, preferences, and behaviors.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?