In the world of business, there is a million-dollar idea born every minute. Someone driving down the road, or stuck staring at the fluorescent light in their cubicle, or feeding the baby early in the morning, is struck with a concept that makes them do a mental double-take and say, “how come nobody has thought of this before?” Many of these ideas, as good as they are, die upon the vine before they are ever allowed to grow, while others are cultivated for a long time and even have money thrown behind them, only to end up in the same position — unpicked by the masses.
At Gravitate One, we know all about the inspiration and the excitement that surround the million-dollar idea. Every day, potential clients come in with a fire under them, eager to share their desire to mobilize the troops, get the SEO locked in, hone the keywords, and build the website. Forget wanting to run before they can walk; these clients want to strap a rocket to their backs and take off. We can empathize.
Digital Marketing’s Step One
While most of Utah’s marketing firms are happy to just sign a contract and get going launching ads, Gravitate One likes to take a different approach, at least initially. While the shotgun approach of blasting out ads to the entire internet may work for some products, or on some platforms, the better method is to know exactly who will respond the best to your services and target them, specifically.
The Client Persona
In that vein, the heads of our various digital marketing teams will sit down with our clients to discuss their audience persona. For those wondering what this persona signifies, it is a list of characteristics that are present in an average member of the company’s clientele. By identifying these traits, we can get a good handle on what our client’s core demographic looks like and what they would respond to.
A client persona looks something like this:
Company X Makes Red, White, and Blue Blankets
- Blankets run about $300, are made using silk from South America and are very large (made to cover three people at once).
- Hypothetical blanket customer, “Julie”
- Age: 45-80 years old
- Profession: Teacher. Attorney. Retired.
- Family: Multiple kids, grandkids, husband (potentially retired)
- Economic status: Upper middle class. Well-off.
- Community: Service-oriented. Church-goer. Connections to the military.
- Hobbies: Bookclub. Family time. Movies. Piano lessons.
- Location: Mid-West United States, generally.
As you can see, this process can go as granular as it needs to be, detailing everything from “Julie’s” education to the trials in her life. This isn’t meant to be a definitive list, but simply a generalized composite of who would typically buy Company X’s products — there will always be outliers, like a male client from New York without kids who really likes blankets.
Working in the Gray Area
Because these hypothetical customers aren’t real and there are all types of outliers that will purchase all types of products, it’s important to know who the base audience is and then not be afraid to work outside the lines as needed. For instance, “Julie” may be Company X’s ideal client — a wealthy woman with numerous grandkids and lots of money and time to burn because she’s retired — but that doesn’t mean that a well-placed Father’s Day ad would go amiss.
At Gravitate One, we don’t want to cede ground needlessly because a demographic doesn’t fall squarely within the persona outline; we use the profile to help us stay within reasonable boundaries for ad targeting.
Getting Started
Identifying the client persona is illuminating and can even be fun. Either way, it’s an essential part of starting down the path of digital marketing success. If you’d like to get started with Gravitate One, contact us and we’d be happy to have a consultation with you to discuss your marketing strategy.