A Picture Is Worth ... [Marketing Mojo Video] - Resonance Content MarketingResonance Content Marketing

A Picture Is Worth … [Marketing Mojo Video]

Apr 2017

How personal are your personas? Here’s a trick I use with my clients to make sure our personas are as powerful as they can be — and that they inspire every piece of content we create:

Yes, by choosing a photo for each persona, and by posting it within your line of sight while you’re creating content, you can connect with your target audience on a whole new level.

Remember what legendary adman David Ogilvy said about connection:

“Don’t address your readers as though they were gathered together in a stadium. When people read your copy, they are alone. Pretend you are writing to each of them a letter on behalf of your client.”

And when it comes to connecting with that person on an intimate level, a picture truly is worth a thousand words.

Today’s Video Transcript

Monday Morning Marketing Mojo

Hey, folks! Rachel here with your Monday Morning Marketing Mojo, coming to you on a gloomy day here in Houston. We had a beautiful weekend and now it’s all clouded up; I think we’re even getting some rain today.

Anyway, I wanted to today continue our conversation about personas so earlier this — was it? no it was last month, gosh! Time flies — I was presenting at a conference in Washington D.C., and the topic was “Personas.” We got a lot of really great conversation going about personas, and one thing I wanted to talk about is a trick that I use when I come up with personas either for my own business or for my clients business. One thing that I do, that just helps us connect with those folks on a whole new level, and that is we always choose a photo to go along with the persona. It seems like kind of a silly exercise because you know it’s — “this person doesn’t exist, so why do we need a photo?” — but you’ll be surprised because what I do, and what I advise clients to do as well, is to take this persona description and put it up somewhere where you can see it, it’s in your line of vision while you’re creating content.

So you can look up at this persona — this is an example, her name is Theresa, that we created for this conference. So you can look up at this persona and say, “Okay, Theresa does this make sense to you? Is this something that is going to make you want to click on it? Is it going to improve your life? Is it going to make your life easier? Is it going to give you a laugh?” Whatever it’s intended to do, is this going to work for Theresa?

And because we have a photo, you can actually look this person in the eye — or this fictional person in the eyes — and have a little imaginary conversation about the content, that you’re creating. Like I said, it sounds a little silly (hey, Hermione there you are), but it really is very effective because we have to always keep in mind that when we create content, we are speaking to individuals.

David Ogilvy, there is a great quote from him where he says, “When we talk to our audiences, we are not talking to a football stadium,” because when people interact with our content they are by themselves, so it is a one-to-one conversation, and we always need to keep that in mind. So attaching a photo to your personas can go a long way to helping us do that.

Now, where we find these photos? I found this one from my stock photography collection that I use, since it’s for internal purposes only, you don’t have to worry about it going out there, anything public, so find an image that works for you, whether your persona is a busy mom, who is working full-time and has three kids, or whether it’s an HR director, or a CMO, or a busy executive, or solopreneur, whatever that person is, fill out your personas and always, always attach a photo, and then put that description where you can see it while you’re creating content, and I promise you, it’s going to help you connect with those folks on a whole new level.

Okay, if you want to learn more about personas and connecting with your target audience, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of The Content Marketing Coach – Everything You Need to Get in the Game and Win. By the way, did you know you can download a free chapter of “The Content Marketing Coach?” Yes, all you do is go to http://contentmarketingcoachbook.com/ and you can access a free chapter there. So that is it for today’s mojo. I wish you a wonderful week and I’ll see you again next Monday. Take care.

Did you know you can download a free chapter of The Content Marketing Coach: Everything You Need to Get in the Game … and WIN? Snag yours today at contentmarketingcoachbook.com!

Remember to snag your copy of The Content Marketing Coach: Everything You Need to Get in the Game … and WIN! — now available on Amazon!

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About the Author

A self-described geek who can recite entire episodes of South Park by heart, Rachel Parker has had a passion for content ever since she was old enough to hold a crayon (purple, please).

As Founder and CEO of Resonance, Rachel helps businesses publish content that connects with their audience … and converts those followers into customers. She’s also the host of the Content Marketing Podcast and author of the book The Content Marketing Coach: Everything You Need to Get in the Game … and WIN!

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