The document provides guidance on building audience personas for content marketing. It discusses researching audiences by asking questions about their needs, purchases, influences, reading habits, and social media usage. Tools like keyword research, Google Trends, and pivot tables are recommended for analyzing audience data. The key is to define audience characteristics, develop personas, and map relationships between personas and buying processes. The goal is to better understand audiences for targeted content creation and marketing.

1. Building Audience
Personas The Right Way
Devan Brown
Content Marketing Specialist
devan@anvilmediainc.com

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My Story

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Grew Up In Walla Walla

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Moved To Portland

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Landed At Anvil Media

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Questions To Ask

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Who is my audience?

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What Do They Need?

9. What Are They Buying?

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Who Is Influencing Them?
@devan_brown2

11. What Are They Reading
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What Are They Reading?
@devan_brown2

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What Types Of Content Do
They Share?

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What Type Of Pictures Do They
Look At?

14. Which Social Properties Are
They Using?
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15. What Keywords Are They
Using?
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Keywords
(Cred to @quillh for this whole section)

17. What Is the Goal?
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the language that
the brand uses to
describe its
product or service
the language that
search engine users
on the web use to
describe the same
product or service
and
to align.
@devan_brown2

18. Google Keyword Tool
18@devan_brown2

19. 19@devan_brown2
No, you don’t make “ergonomically integrated
footwear systems”.
You make shoes.
I know, I know; you’ve been so intimately
connected with these shoes for so long that
they seem like much more than shoes...
to you.

20. 20@devan_brown2
But to the rest of the world, they’re still shoes.

21. 21@devan_brown2

22. 22@devan_brown2

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Research Tools

24. Boolean Search
24@devan_brown2

25. BuzzSumo
25@devan_brown2

26. Google Trends
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- Justin Bieber
- Miley Cyrus
- Selena Gomez
@devan_brown2

27. Google Alerts
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28. Social Mention
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29. Hashtagify
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30. Social Search
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Record Your Data

32. Gather Your Data
- Date found
- Content title
- URL
- Audience segment
- Topic
- Behavior
- Content type
- Content platform
- Social platform
- Keywords
- Niche
- Earned and paid access points
- Domain authority
- Competitors
- Buying process
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33. Raw Data
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Crunch The Numbers

35. Delineated Columns
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36. Pivot Tables
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0" 2" 4" 6" 8" 10" 12" 14"
"Research"
"Managed"Care"
"Mens"Health"
"Healthcare"Technology"
"Healthcare"Law"
"Big"Data"
"Pharmacology"
"Health"Insurance"
"Healthcare"News"
"Healthcare"IT"
Content&Topics&
@devan_brown2

37. Pivot Tables
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43%$
30%$
27%$
Pla$orms)
Blog$
Forum$
News$Publica9on$
@devan_brown2

38. Data Pivots
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0"
2"
4"
6"
8"
10"
12"
14"
16"
18"
Audience"1" Audience"2" Audience"3"
Pharmaceu5cals"
Health"Technology"
Debt"
@devan_brown2

39. Best Data Pivots
- Audience X Topic
- Audience X Platform
- Audience X Content type
- Topic X Platform
- Topic X Content Type
- Average DA X Platform
- Average DA X Audience
- Niche X Audience
- Behavior X Topic
- Behavior X Audience
- Content type X Behavior
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40. Analyze Data
- Audience 1 is very active in the
pharmaceutical space, and are
concerned about price, testing
ethics, and availability for low-
income patients
- Audience 2 is reading about
health technology and
innovation
- Audience 3 is seeking debt
advice on forums
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0"
2"
4"
6"
8"
10"
12"
14"
16"
18"
Audience"1" Audience"2" Audience"3"
Pharmaceu5cals"
Health"Technology"
Debt"
@devan_brown2

41. Refer Back To Questions
- Who is my audience?
- What do they need?
- What are they buying?
- Who is influencing them?
- What are they reading?
- What types of content do they share?
- What types of images to they want?
- What social properties are they on?
- What keywords are they using?
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Develop Your Personas

43. Define Audience Characteristics
- Description
- Topics
- Content types
- Influencers
- Keywords
- Platforms
- Competitors
- Buying process
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44. Audience 1
Description
The at home workout audience
knows the value in working out and
is always on the lookout for how to
better incorporate fitness into their
daily routine. They are busy
individuals who need options that
are convenient and quick.
Topics
- Timed workouts
- Multi-function workouts (ex:
“this workout will do x+y”)
- Personal accountability (ex:
calendar to check off completed
workouts)
- Injury advice and prevention
- Nutrition recommendations (ex:
recipes)
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Content Types
- Infographics
- Videos
Platforms
- Facebook
- Instagram
- Blogs
Influencers
- Oprah
- Billy Crystal
Keywords
- DIY fitness
- Home gym
- Quick workouts
- #fitness
@devan_brown2

45. Use imagery to define your
audience

46. Use Brand Association
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47. Use Brand Association
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48. Map Persona Relationships
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- Collects information
- Gathers data
- Organizes multiple
solutions
Passes
Information to
Audience 2
- Creates best solutions
- Constructs long term plan
- Gathers ROI
- Calculates implementation
costs
- Creates measurable KPIs
Presents Plans
and Strategies to
Audience 3
- Decides budget
allocation
- Assesses and prioritizes
needs
- Consults with other
decision makers
- Makes final decision
@devan_brown2
Audience 1 Audience 2 Audience 3

49. Diagram Topic Overlaps
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Audience
1
- Performance
Management
- BPM
- Analytics
- Cloud Technology
- Big Data
- Biz Intelligence
- Mergers
- App Dev
- Software Dev
- Tactical
Deployment
- Retail Software
- Bottom Line
- CRM Software
- SAP
- ETL
- Agile Methodology
- Data Center
Management
@devan_brown2
Audience
2
Audience
3

50. Visualize Side By Side
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Audience
1
Audience
2
Audience
3
Topics
- Engineering
intricacies
- Engineering
and
product
design
- In
the
lab
- Ease
of
use
- Installa<on
guides
- Set
up
guides
- Apps
and
soIware
- Apps
and
soIware
- Ports
and
cables
- General
technology
Content
Types
- Videos
- Illustra<ons
- Images
- Guides

51. Map Buying Process
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Phase
1
Phase
2
Phase
3
Topics
- Engineering
intricacies
- Engineering
and
product
design
- In
the
lab
- Ease
of
use
- Installa<on
guides
- Set
up
guides
- Apps
and
soIware
- Apps
and
soIware
- Ports
and
cables
- General
technology
Content
Type
- Infographics
- Adver<sements
- Video
- Coupons
and
deals
- White
papers
- Compe<<ve
matrix
- Coupons
- Downloadable
fact
sheets
- How-­‐to
videos
Audience
- Persona
1
- Persona
2
- Persona
3

52. Segment Platforms
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Platform Audience Purpose
Twitter
- #1
- #3
- Share blog posts, product information, and engage with
industry thought leaders. Establish thought leadership.
- SEO
Facebook
- #2
- #3
- Showcase products, share blog posts about the industry.
Establish Nautilus as a leading fitness company.
- SEO
Google+ - #2
- Share news and knowledge about products as well as other
trending blog posts related to fitness.
- SEO
Pinterest
- #1
- #2
- Share annotated, easily read images. Also share blog posts
and other industry related stories.
- SEO
Instagram - #1
- Share images of products as well as well as customer
photos.
- SEO

53. Create an Editorial Calendar
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February 2014
@devan_brown2

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Research? Pivot tables? Delineated columns?
Ain’t nobody got time for that!
@devan_brown2

55. Time
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- 10 hour initial project
- Add raw data for 5-10 minutes per day
- Refresh pivots once a month or so

56. Contact Us!
devan@anvilmedia.com
@devan_brown2