A persona represents a prototype/representative for a group of users (target group). Personas are often used in (online) marketing and market research to improve targeting of services (e.g. the website).
Personas are used to segment a mass of persons or users into concrete user groups. In this process, diverse information about their living environment is collected and used to develop a persona as detailed as possible. This includes data and information such as:
- Demographic data (e.g. age, gender, place of residence, occupation, etc.)
- Interests and hobbies
- Web browsing behavior
- Search behavior on the web
- Device usage, technical affinity
- Product usage
- and much more
The personas are then developed in the next step. Each persona represents a user group (e.g. the bargain hunters), receives a name and a short biography including their interests. In many cases, a quote is also included, which represents the attitude of the persona.
Personas can be used in different areas, for example:
- Development and enhancement of software
- Development of user-friendly products
- Development of marketing campaigns
- Optimization of websites (B2B and B2C)
Based on the different personas, the users’ needs can be defined and the service can then be specifically tailored to them.
The characteristics of a user group, e.g. bargain hunters, are: special interest in discounts and offers, purchase of low-priced products and comparison of products via price comparison sites. As soon as this persona has been identified, the bargain hunter can be addressed by actions with savings potential, among others.
Other types of user groups are for example the existing customer, repeat customers, spontaneous buyers and many more.
The aim of the segmentation into personas is to approach the customer with customized messages, to guarantee customer satisfaction and thus to optimize the turnover.