Knowing your audience is the secret to success for any company, in any sector. Demonstrating that you understand their needs, wants and fears is the key to showing why your company’s products and services are best for them.
Where most companies go wrong is not being absolutely clear on who their target audience is and not knowing where/how they consume information. What seems like a very simple task is in practice very difficult. How granular do you go?
Not being precise can cost you in time, effort and budget.
Understanding prospects vs existing clients
Asset managers have a lot of information at their fingertips when it comes to engaging with existing clients. When used appropriately, this gives them an understanding of their key demographic. Most importantly, they have a direct line of communication to their clients and can see how (dis)engaged they are with any marketing efforts.
Prospects are an entirely different beast. Your target audience is generally less well-defined, and it can often feel like engagement efforts take on more of a scattergun approach than a targeted campaign.
This is beautifully illustrated in a well-known marketing meme comparing the then-Prince Charles with the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osborne. On the surface, the two men have more in common than you might think; year of birth, nationality, marital status, level of wealth etc.
No asset manager worth their salt would approach these men in the same way. Where the focus is on relatively superficial criteria, genuine targeting and true engagement become incredibly difficult, if not nigh on impossible.
Personas and personalization
This is where personas become essential because they can help you narrow down groups of prospective clients and better understand where your messaging can intersect with their interests.
How targeted are your campaigns? One asset manager recently revealed to White Marble that their campaign target lists can be in the single digits.
We’re not suggesting micro campaigns become the norm, but it shows the growing importance of being precise.
We are living in a world where algorithms predict what we want to watch on television or search for on the internet. More and more, people are expecting some degree of personalisation in how they are approached by companies.
While there is undoubtedly still a place for raising general awareness of your brand, true engagement can only come from assuring your target audience that you know who they are, understand their pain points and can deliver an effective solution.
One of the best ways to ensure your time, budget and resources are being used most effectively is to invest in personas.
Personas are not about identifying a specific type of individual or (despite the example above) an incredibly small group of prospects. It is about mapping where a defined demographic will likely come into contact with your messaging.
Sending a campaign to a large group may generate a relatively high number of clicks but true engagement will be low. The goal is to turn the click into an action, and if the content does not speak to that prospect’s needs in a meaningful way, that is unlikely to happen.
If you would like to know more about personas and how they can be a valuable tool to support your marketing efforts, the team at White Marble Consulting has put together a guide, which you can access here.
If you would like to know more about how we can help your marketing team produce personas and map out engagement strategies, please get in touch.