Updating Your Marketing Persona
Who is your target audience and what services do they need? What roadblocks are they encountering on a daily basis, and can you help to ease their frustrations? Are you doing enough to attract the attention of prospective clients and candidates? How are your marketing efforts being perceived by your target audience and is there a better way to reach them? In order to get a better idea of how you should be advertising your staffing firm services, you must break down your marketing persona and build it back up again.
Take a Closer Look
What has past experience told you about your target audience, and how well has that information served you in your marketing campaigns thus far? What has your typical profile looked like, and how has the industry changed since you last evaluated your target audience? Take the time to thoroughly review your data and break down the communication preferences and social media habits of prospective clients and candidates. If your social media analytics are dropping, perhaps adjusting your post time will do the trick. An essential part of updating your marketing persona is determining the best way to reach out to your target population, and when they are likely to be the most receptive to your message.
Multiple Profiles
How many personas does your staffing firm really need to create? Are you looking to promote different types of services to various segments of your target audience? If so, then you need to create a distinct persona around each service category and begin to identify your ideal markets. Hoping to build up your client base? Work with your team to find out what stands out in their minds with regard to the companies that you currently work with. Begin to structure your client persona out of these facts, and then work to add some of the more basic identifying information to round out the profiles.
Basic Outline
When updating your marketing persona, start with the basics and make note of identifying demographics such as the age, level of education, salary range, and the desired geographic location of your ideal candidates. What special skillsets are your clients looking for, and is there a particular niche of the staffing industry where this talent would thrive? How much does company culture factor into the overall equation, and is this likely to impact a candidate’s final decision? If you are also developing a separate client persona, record information on the potential job titles of decision makers, the desired size of the company, and the type of industry specialization. Are there any special certifications or clearances that you need to work with this type of a client, and if so, are these up-to-date?
Identify Challenges
If your staffing firm is planning on updating your marketing persona, basic research must be conducted in order to identify areas of need within your target audience. How are you proposing to help solve clients’ problems and make the hiring process go more smoothly? What potential challenges are candidates facing as they pursue their career goals? Why are your services better suited for easing their pain than the services offered by your competitors? Have recent industry trends negatively affected clients? Are regulatory changes wreaking havoc with companies looking to increase their workforce? Differentiate your staffing firm by engaging with your target audience and really trying to understand what stressors impact their daily work lives.
Develop Your Marketing Message
Now that the framework has been laid, it is time to create a marketing message that appeals to your newly formed marketing persona(s). Remember that each persona is distinct and as such it requires its own “elevator pitch.” Craft an individualized message that speaks to specific needs and helps to alleviate frustrations. Be sure that your team is on board every step of the way, and be sure that your sales and recruiting teams are ready to continue the conversation when nurturing potential leads. In order to be effective, the same message must be communicated at all levels of your staffing firm and the focus must be on engagement and converting leads into new business.
Key Takeaways for Updating Your Marketing Persona:
- Analyze your current marketing profile and make adjustments as needed
- Determine how many marketing personas are needed for your staffing firm
- Gather basic demographics on prospective clients and candidates
- Identify areas of need within your target audience
- Create a marketing message that appeals to your newly formed marketing persona
About S.J.Hemley Marketing
S.J.Hemley Marketing is a marketing and sales consulting firm focused on driving tangible results for professional services firms. Brand matters, but not without ROI. With over 20 years of sales and marketing experience within staffing and recruiting, we have helped to drive successful branding, sales training, lead generation activities as well as defining marketing strategy for top organizations.