How to create buyer personas and use them in your marketing strategy

On April 16, 2023September 16, 2025 By Shari MonnesIn content marketing, inbound marketingLeave a comment

If you’re in marketing, you’ve probably heard the term buyer personas used to describe a target audience. In the era of inbound marketing, buyer personas have become an essential element of any marketing strategy. Why? Because buyer personas help you understand your target customers better, allowing you to create a more personalized approach to messaging and content development.

Creating a buyer persona is a way to get into the head of your audience and understand their needs, goals and motivations. It can help you more effectively craft your marketing messages and create content tailored for each audience.

Inbound marketing is all about personalization: delivering the right message to the right person at the right time.

Let’s answer some important questions.

What is a buyer persona and why do you need one?

A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of a target customer. It is used in marketing to help you understand what motivates an individual’s behavior.

A buyer persona allows you to see the world through your target customer’s eyes so you can gain insight into what they find important and how they make decisions. This will help you create more relevant, compelling marketing campaigns tailored to your target audience.

What is the difference between a buyer person and a target audience?

Think of it like this: A target audience is an entire group you want to address while a persona is their elected representative.

A target audience is a segment of the “general public” or group of people with shared interests who you are addressing with your content or advertising, and whom you would like to obtain as customers. A persona is a semi-fictional portrait of an individual in this audience who stands in as a representative for the entire group.

The strongest buyer personas are based on market research as well as on insights you gather from your actual customer base (through surveys, interviews, etc.). Depending on your business, you could have as few as one or two personas, or as many as 10 or 20.

(Tip: If you’re new to personas, start small! You can always develop more personas later if needed.)

Need help creating buyer personas? Try a buyer-persona workshop.

Hold a buyer persona workshop

Uncovering your audience’s pain points

One way to get to know your target persona is through audience research and market analysis. This involves finding out what problems your audience has and then using that knowledge in your marketing strategy.

For example, if you’re introducing a new lab instrument to a life science audience, you might find that one of the main problems they have is getting the results they obtain from the instrument seamlessly integrated into their workflow.

You could use this knowledge to create a campaign that focuses on automation and integration in your next campaign, which could be the type of message that resonates with them.

Steps to creating your buyer personas

A buyer persona is not just a demographic profile but rather a picture of a living, breathing human being with their own hopes, dreams, and frustrations. Tapping into these hopes, dreams and challenges is the key to creating effective marketing campaigns.

To create your buyer persona, start by listing the types of people who purchase your product. Once you’ve narrowed down who your customer is, think about what types of things they might be looking for. What are their interests? What are their primary pain points? Do they care more about price or quality? If you’re a company that sells insurance, for example, you might want think about what life stages compel people to change (or buy) insurance, or what their financial situations look like.

To create buyer personas, follow these essential steps:

Identify the key pain points of your customers. What are their goals and what challenges do they encounter in meeting these goals? What are they trying to solve in their work (or life)? What would make their job easier?
Research and define your customer’s demographics. Some information you want to include: their job title, career path, education, sex, age, income, marital status/family, location (urban or rural), hobbies, charitable interests, etc.
Create an in-depth profile of your target’s day-to-day life or work. For a B2B audience, this includes things such as: what does their day look like: are they in an office, working from home, commuting, in a lab, traveling all day? What are their career milestones? How much influence do peers have on their jobs? Are they the boss, or a subordinate? How are they measured in their work? How are purchasing decisions made?
Align your strategy with your persona’s needs and goals. Determine how you can meet their needs or help them achieve their goals. What messages do they want to hear? What will they have objections about? How can you help make them a hero in their work?

Free guide to creating personas

How do you use personas?

At the most basic level, personas allow you to personalize or target your marketing for different segments of your audience. For example, instead of sending the same lead nurturing emails to everyone in your database, you can segment by buyer personas and tailor your messaging according to what you know about those different personas.

For instance, if one of your audiences is teachers, you might send that persona content that helps them interact more effectively with parents and students. For an administrator persona, you’d have a separate set of lead nurturing emails focused on efficiency or ROI.

When combined with the lifecycle stage (i.e. how far along someone is in your sales cycle), buyer personas also allow you to map out and create highly targeted content.

Seventy-one percent of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions. And seventy-six percent get frustrated when this doesn’t happen.

Conclusion

Defining your target audience and creating precise personas helps you elevate your marketing strategy. It clarifies your understanding of your customers’ needs and wants, as well as their motivations. Well-documented personas are indispensable for preparing content that delivers a personalized experience for the customer, which helps draw them to you. That’s a win-win as you have the potential to help them.

If you need help in constructing your buyer personas or collecting input from your team to create effective buyer personas that can inform your marketing strategy, consider holding a team workshop.

Hold a buyer persona workshop

Get started now: Download our free ebook on creating buyer personas, along with some useful templates

Blog originally published on the UP There, Everywhere website

What motivates people to share content on social media?

On June 4, 2022September 16, 2025 By Shari MonnesIn content marketing, social mediaLeave a comment

Social media marketing is a powerful way for brands to get their message in front of customers on a regular basis. It’s also a great way to generate leads and increase sales. But, if you want your content to be seen and shared on social media, it needs to be interesting and valuable.

We’ve all seen social media posts that suddenly went viral and were shared with millions of people across the internet. Some of them were even created by companies or brands, including these:

https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=smonnes&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfdGltZWxpbmVfbGlzdCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOltdLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2ZvbGxvd2VyX2NvdW50X3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9iYWNrZW5kIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19yZWZzcmNfc2Vzc2lvbiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZm9zbnJfc29mdF9pbnRlcnZlbnRpb25zX2VuYWJsZWQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib24iLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X21peGVkX21lZGlhXzE1ODk3Ijp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRyZWF0bWVudCIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3Nob3dfYmlyZHdhdGNoX3Bpdm90c19lbmFibGVkIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19kdXBsaWNhdGVfc2NyaWJlc190b19zZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdXNlX3Byb2ZpbGVfaW1hZ2Vfc2hhcGVfZW5hYmxlZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdmlkZW9faGxzX2R5bmFtaWNfbWFuaWZlc3RzXzE1MDgyIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRydWVfYml0cmF0ZSIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfbGVnYWN5X3RpbWVsaW5lX3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9mcm9udGVuZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9fQ%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=996829304054009856&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.upthereeverywhere.com%2Fblog%2Fmotivates-people-share-content-social-media&sessionId=32865da68abb29cae39445e173c171457911aedb&siteScreenName=UP_For_It&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px

The National Geographic #PlanetOrPlastic campaign is one good example of engaging brand content that went viral.

Beyond these viral campaigns, what makes content likely to be shared by your target audience? How can you create content they think is worth engaging with or sharing?

If you’re like many marketers, creating engagement is one of your top challenges with your social media content.

Get a social media planning template

Common reasons people share content on social media

The motivation behind sharing content on social media platforms varies from person to person. If you want to create successful social media marketing campaigns, it helps to understand why people share different types of content.

Some common motivations people have for sharing on social media platforms include:

1. To be helpful and share knowledge

Some people share content to inform, amuse and help others. For 94% of us, that’s the main reason for sharing on social media, according to a New York Times survey.

2. To define who they are

Letting others know who they are and what they care about is a motivation for at least 68% of people who share content online. For many people, using social media is a way to create a personal brand or express opinions.

3. To stay close to friends and family

People also share content on social media to keep in touch with others and build stronger connections. The NYT’s research uncovered that a big motivation for people who share content online is to connect with other people with similar interests and to stay in touch with old friends.

4. To feel more fulfilled

People share content because it makes them feel more involved in the world around them. Sharing content is one way to feel as if you are making a difference or involved in your community.

5. To support favorite causes or brands

People express their support for causes and ideas they believe in by sharing content online.

What types of content get shared?

Videos are six times more likely to be retweeted than posts with images, and three times more likely to be retweeted than gifs. Tweets with images get shared 150% more often than those that are only text.

Different types of posts stimulate likes, shares, and comments on social media. The type of post that gets the most engagement on social media is typically one that is both personal and relatable.

Personal stories that are not too long (or too short) tend to get a lot of engagement. How can you adapt stories to your brand’s own content strategy? Consider telling background stories, customer success stories, or founder stories that provide context your audience can relate to.
Humor and memes, of course, rank among the types of content that get the most engagement, including shares. But creating humorous content that strikes the right balance between wit and entertainment without crossing a line can be a tricky endeavor. Still, when it’s done well, it often “wins the internet.”
Articles. One of the most popular types of content that gets engagement and shares on social media is articles. This can include blogs, news, and “round-up” or opinion posts. Everything from how-to posts to top-10 lists help you generate traffic and gather eyeballs for your content.
Videos are increasingly the most popular type of content on social media. From Facebook/Instagram Reels to YouTube or TikTok videos, this is a format you can’t ignore. Be sure to keep in mind the specific file size, aspect ratio, and length limits on various platforms. For example, native Twitter (uploaded) videos are limited to 2 minutes and 20 seconds and support aspect ratios between 1:1 and 2:1 (but a square format performs best).
Infographics are another type of content that is frequently shared on social media. These data-rich visualizations of interesting facts, figures and key points are a compelling way to educate, inform and build brand awareness.
Interactive content, such as quizzes, polls or games, is still among the type of content most frequently shared on social media.

Top reasons for sharing

An Ipsos study revealed several interesting takeaways about why people share:

61% of people worldwide will share “interesting things”.
43% of people will share things that they feel are “important” or “funny”.
30% of global users indicated they shared content to recommend a product, service or movie.
29% shared something “to support a cause, an organization or a belief”.
26% will share “unique things”.
22% want “to let others know what I’m doing”.

Sharing differences by country

The same study showed that while the top reason for sharing content in nearly all countries surveyed was “important things,” it wasn’t the case in Saudi Arabia. There, the top reason (65%) reported for sharing something on social media was to let “others know what I believe in and who I really am.”

That answer also ranked highly in Brazil, where 60% agreed. Comparatively, only 37% of the rest of the world said this was their top reason for sharing.

The survey also showed some regional differences in the willingness to share “interesting” content. That reason topped the list in China, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey, whereas it was at the bottom of the list in Japan, Germany and Saudi Arabia.

In Sweden, people are most likely to share “interesting” things and least likely to share “to show I’m in the know.” That might not surprise anyone who knows Swedes don’t like to brag (even if they are the Capital of Scandinavia). Turkey is the most likely to share information for that reason (33%).

Create shareable content

If you’re looking for help or inspiration in creating social media content for your brand, reach out to UP for support. Have a question? Leave a comment below, or feel free to ask me.

Originally published on the UP There, Everywhere blog

The top 10 digital marketing trends of 2022

On February 1, 2022September 16, 2025 By Shari MonnesIn content marketing, inbound marketing, social mediaLeave a comment

The last few years have been unparalleled in many different ways, and 2022 will likely continue the trend. But are the recent developments we’ve seen emerging globally likely to stick around, or were the last two years anomalies?

Well, no one can say for certain, but in all likelihood some digital marketing trends are poised to fade away, while newer ones emerge. And of course, some of the top digital trends of 2022 have actually been around for a long time, but are taking hold with greater force this year.

Here are the top 10 digital trends of 2022 and what they mean for you.

1. Privacy

It’s becoming more and more difficult for marketers to access data that they’ve been able to gather easily in the past. First came GDPR (the data protection requirements in 2018 that rocked the EU). Then, consumer demand for more privacy led Google to banish third-party cookies starting this year, a change which has serious implications for digital marketing and advertising.

And most recently, Austria has banned the use of Google Analytics altogether, claiming that encryption-at-rest and other workarounds for data privacy laws are not enough to stay compliant with GDPR. The Austrian data protection authority (DPA) determined that IP addresses and identifiers in cookie data are sufficiently personal to constitute a GDPR violation. (And that the transfer of data to Google, a US-based company, violates GDPR data access rules). The real question is, is this the start of a trend across Europe?

Third-party cookies are small bits of code that get added to a user’s browser when visiting a website to track page visits and other metrics. Marketing and advertising businesses use cookies to check visitor behavior and target ads.

These challenges to the use of cookies and Google Analytics leave many website owners and marketers scrambling for alternatives to manage effectiveness metrics. Anonymity and permission logging (through opt-in on your own website) are more critical than ever.

Marketers will be increasingly challenged to use first-party data to guide their campaigns. Companies who have not been gathering first-party data all along will find themselves scrambling to pull it together to avoid losing their competitive edge come next year. Google said they will be focusing more on API-based solutions that focus on aggregate rather than individual user data. 2022 could be the year that advertising completely pivots on the web.

Have questions about this? Reach out to the UP for DIGITAL team.

2. Mobile optimization

This trend has been around for a while, but it promises to become even more central to our marketing campaigns in 2022. A recent Pew Research study found the number of people who are online “constantly” has risen 5% from last year. This means that more and more people are living their lives on the Internet via their mobile devices.

Even as the mobile share of website traffic grows exponentially, there are still companies that haven’t managed to keep up. 2022 will be the year that these companies are left behind, at least partly because of the launch of Core Web Vitals from Google. With this change, Google places more emphasis than ever on creating a good mobile UX (user experience), ramping up the mobile optimization metrics introduced back in 2015.

Loading speed (for mobile) will become of prime importance, which means you won’t be able to rank in the search results without it. So seize the moment and ensure that your business website is fully optimized to remain competitive in 2022.

Free website evaluation

3. Influencers

At the end of 2021, influencer marketing was headed for the $138 billion mark, and it has only continued its steady growth since then. Influencer campaigns are still powerful, as evidenced by recent successful campaigns from SAP, Adobe, PWC, and others. The success of these marketing efforts also shows that influencer marketing remains surprisingly strong in B2B campaigns.

One important development concerning this trend is the rise of AI influencer marketing. AI can process information far more quickly than human analysts. This highly predictive model of influencer marketing has the potential to boost ROI by only requiring you to pay for sales and conversions.

To stay current with this trend, you’ll need to look for influencers to partner with.

4. Video

It’s now common for mobile devices to come with advanced data plans allowing consumers to stream video wherever they are with ease. All you have to do is look at the exploding popularity of apps like TikTok and Instagram Stories to understand how all-encompassing video has become in our world. It’s everywhere. And savvy marketers will take hold of the video marketing trend this year with enthusiasm.

Streaming services and social media sites will introduce new advertising platforms that make full use of video. Every industry, from retail to healthcare to finance, will innovate in the use of video to engage customers.

Besides being an effective way to reach users on their phones or tablets, videos are just plain fun. Everyone loves them. So if you haven’t found a creative way to implement video marketing, this is the time to do so. (Because you understood the assignment ;-).

The TikTok Video Trend Featuring The Assignment

https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7002756116329368838?lang=en-US&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.upthereeverywhere.com%2Fblog%2Fthe-top-10-digital-marketing-trends-of-2022

5. Metaverse

Facebook has been around for decades, but the new metaverse represents a huge change in the way this platform will be used for digital marketing. No longer is it just a place for Grandma to look at photos of your vacation. The metaverse will encompass an entire world, affecting every aspect of our lives. (Think: Ready Player One). Virtual reality, augmented reality and holographic avatars will change the way people interact with the Internet.

The possibilities that the metaverse presents to marketers are limitless. It allows them to track how long a user holds a digital object, and even how long viewers spend looking at an ad.

What does it mean for 2022? The visions that companies like Fortnight, Facebook (or rather, now renamed Meta) and Microsoft have for the metaverse may be years in the future, but the interconnected cyberspace of planning multichannel marketing is here now: YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram all offer specific, targeted interconnected advertising opportunities.

Will the future of science discovery be virtual too?

6. Digital skills

In the current job market, digital skills are in great demand, and it doesn’t look like that will change any time soon. The Covid-19 pandemic was instrumental in changing the way we work, ramping up the need for greater digital competence from all stakeholders. The number of job applicants who possess digital skills is sadly low in correlation to the need for these skills.

What does this mean? Smart marketers will constantly work on building their digital skills in order to remain current with industry needs. Company leaders will need to invest in growing the digital skills of their team members to ensure that constant new innovations don’t leave them behind. Certifications like those offered by HubSpot or Google are a good place to start. And you can outsource what you don’t have in-house to experts as the gig economy continues growing as well.

7. Content marketing

Yes, I know what you’re thinking. Content marketing is not a new trend, right? But 2022 will challenge us to think of content marketing in ways we haven’t before. It’s tough to create something compelling in terms of web content today. The Internet is overcrowded with content everywhere you look, so it’s difficult to drown out the noise.

That’s why simplicity and clarity are the order of the day. Pack a few words with a strong message. Avoid long flowery descriptive passages. Give your content a punch so that it stands out from the crowd. Don’t be afraid to get personal with your audience. It’s equally essential that your writing is clear and easy to understand. If readers have to work to derive meaning from your content, they will go elsewhere.

8. Voice search

Like most of us, you have probably gotten into the habit of speaking a question out loud to Siri, Alexa or Google, instead of typing the words into a search bar as you have done in the past. The growing popularity of voice search is a serious game changer this year.

When looking for a specific product or service, most consumers are now simply speaking their search as a question. Currently, voice searches make up about 20% of all web searches, and that number continues to grow.

In this new climate, it’s increasingly important for your content to address common spoken questions. Answers to questions like “How do I…” and “What’s the best way to…” will rank higher than content that takes a long time to get to the point. Don’t overlook the value of YouTube (videos) and images (Pinterest and on your website) in relevance for this search content.

9. Hybrid events

This is yet another legacy from the pandemic. Everyone became comfortable with virtual events: so comfortable, in fact, that many are not ready to give them up just yet.

In response to this, more companies are hosting hybrid events, in which traditional in-person activities are supplemented by an online component. To remain competitive, marketers will need to ensure that any events they host are available digitally, as well as face-to-face.

It’s helpful that new technology in the areas of augmented and virtual reality make it possible for online guests to enjoy an immersive experience similar to what they would have if they were physically present. Event platforms like Hopin and Whova provide interesting and fun interactive functionality for online attendees. Don’t overlook the value of a well-planned webinar or virtual conference.

Events today can be hybrid with both in-person and online attendees and content optimized for both. Learn more about UP’s webinar and event planning services.

10. Sustainability

Now more than ever, consumers want to support companies with sustainable and eco-friendly business practices. In this context, brand messaging that focuses on your company values (hopefully sustainability ranks high among these), is a key element in successful digital marketing.

If these core values are to truly represent your brand, it’s important that they permeate every level of your business. This gives an image of integrity and authenticity, critical qualities that consumers will be looking for in 2022. How can you convey this image? Consider partnering with a non-profit. Such partnerships have been shown to boost customer engagement, as well as having a powerful impact for a meaningful cause.

To reap the full benefits, make sure that the partnership involves more than just words. Show a real commitment through joint marketing or even through donating a percentage of revenue. And be sure the partnership makes sense – your core values or audiences should be aligned.

Read more about how UP for GOOD, UP’s CSR and sustainability focused specialty area works with businesses and nonprofits to support common goals.

Get going on trend

These digital marketing trends look like they’re here for a while — for the year 2022, and possibly beyond. Hopping on board with them will go a long way to staying competitive this year and in the future.