Digital Dealer - September 2019 - 40

M A R K E T ING & ADVERT ISING: Da ta & An al yt i cs Continued from pg. 39

specific needs, behaviors,
and concerns of different
types of buyers. The
strongest buyer (customer)
personas are based on
market research as well
as on insights you gather
from your actual customer
base -- through surveys
and interviews. (Source:
Hubspot)
It's easy to see the
difference between the two.
A target audience strategy
is broader. It can be defined
by higher-level details
such as age, location, and
various other core pillars. I
personally feel that we make
a lot of assumptions of our
target audience by blanket
market research however
we need to rely on that to
build the audience in the
first place. It's big, we want
that way so we can connect
with the most prospective
customers possible.
A customer persona
strategy, while leveraging
market research says
clearly "insights you gather
from your actual customer
base." It's a deeper dive
into the actuality of your
real customers, all the
little things you've learned
about them through weeks,
months, and years of having
them as customers. Simply
put, personas allow you
to personalize or target
your marketing for different
segments of your audience.
How often are we going
to market with blanket
statements based on the
manufacturer's program
with core retail offers
attached? Not really moving
past broad stroke target
audience messaging? I'd
40

SEPTEMBER 2019

guess it's fairly common, we
live in 30-day increments,
it would be difficult to break
out our marketing to be
more defined to different
personas. Here's the rub, it's
not. If you do some simple
persona development
with all your departments,
you may begin to see that
you start to convert more
customers based on years
of relationships you've built
with your existing ones.
Here are some simple

 Demographics
 Age
 Gender
 Salary/household
income
 Location: urban /
suburban / rural
 Education
 Family
 Goals and challenges
 Primary goal
 Secondary goal
 How you help achieve
these goals
 Primary challenge

HOW OFTEN ARE
WE GOING TO MARKET
WITH BLANKET
STATEMENTS BASED ON
THE MANUFACTURER'S
PROGRAM WITH
CORE RETAIL OFFERS
ATTACHED?"
steps to build a customer
persona. I feel this layout
works best to get you
started. Get a working
session with a specific
department team, and have
everyone work through
compiling information based
on customers they recently
sold and have long-standing
relationships with. Your
CRM will come in very
handy here if your staff is
populating it properly, as it
should be full of relevant
data on everyone.
 Name of the persona
(use the customer's first
name only)
 Job title
 Key information about
their company (size, type,
etc.)
 Details about their role

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

 Secondary challenge
 How you help solve
these problems
 Values / fears
 Primary values
 Common objections
during sales process
It's a thoughtful exercise
that could show you that
your dealership has a
diverse set of personas.
Find the commonality in
the team's work to your
core base of personas,
that base could be 6 to
10 or higher, and that's
great! You now have a
deeper understanding of
the people who walk in and
out of the dealership every
day, as well as those who
are looking at your online
content, listening to your
radio spots, interacting with

your social media.
Take these findings, and
share them with your internal
or external marketing teams
and partners. Push them to
expand your core messages,
and pay more attention to
multiple and more finely
targeted opportunities that
are in front of you with your
newfound insights. Look at
your last several months
of advertising, and take
note of whether your store
is just pushing the offer or
blending your store's brand
and experience into the
messaging.
This is an excellent way
to separate your dealership
from everyone in your
market. The challenge is to
commit to the exercise, and
then make it a necessary
part of every piece of
content and advertising you
create. If you have half a
dozen well-defined personas
your advertising should be
as diverse.
Let the other dealerships
move through each sales
program with cookie-cutter
creative and under-thought
messaging. Laser target
your audiences with great
content that speaks directly
to them, and you will see a
marked difference.
BRENT WEES has been a
thought-leader in the North
American automotive digital
marketing landscape for
almost 20 years, developing
agency strategies and
software for all three tiers of
the industry. Widely known
for his energetic, comedic
and uniquely engaging
presentation style, Brent is a
much sought-after keynote
speaker around the globe.
http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM
Digital Dealer - September 2019

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