"My name is Lucille Meachum, but I’m Lucy to everyone, only Lucille on my business cards. I’m 41, and happily married now for seventeen years — wow. I have two great kids that can really get my blood pressure going one minute, but can be sweet and caring the next, even to each other."
No, that's not an exercise in creative writing you're reading, it's an example of a persona you should be creating for your content marketing strategy, according to Keith Weigold, a contributor to Junta42's new Content Marketing Institute blog.
To know who you're targeting with your content, Weigold says, you have to understand more than just their demographics. "A key to engaging content is put the customer first, to solve her problems and answer his questions. This requires understanding their beliefs, feelings, wants and needs," he says.
Weigold walks us through the process of creating a persona--starting with the information we're most likely to have about our customers (demographics) and filling in the blanks until you can write your target customer's narrative.
"This ultimate step truly places you within her shoes and provides the customer-centric viewpoint so crucial to effective content marketing," Weigold concludes.
