Persona buying Cycle

The Pursuit Of Goals Drive Buyer Decisions

Market behavior, in its most simplistic form, is about buying and selling.  As simplistic as it may appear, market behaviors are filled with complex goal-directed behaviors, activities, and choices that ultimately drive buying and selling.  Thus, the imperative for marketers today becomes getting a handle on how buyers do three related things: How do buyers …

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5 Reasons For Poor Buyer Personas Steering Marketing In The Wrong Direction

This July marks the 13th year since the first drafting of the concept and methodology of buyer persona development.  Notably, in the last three years, we have seen an increase in awareness of buyer personas.  Coinciding with the rise in content marketing, marketers seek to use buyer personas to help guide content strategies and tactics. …

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7 B2B Buying Behavior Trends To Watch In 2014

Like a runaway train, B2B buyers continue to evolve and reshape their buying behaviors.  Adapting to new channels as well as technologies to solve critical problems, reach goals, and accomplish more.   My conversations with B2B marketing and sales leaders indicating it will be tougher for B2B Marketing and Sales to keep pace in both customer …

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7 Criteria To Ensure Doing The Right Things For Buyer Personas

When we put time, resources, and money into anything we do business-related, it is natural to seek value in return.  Value comes from understanding what are the right things to get done.  How to ensure investment in buyer insight research and buyer persona development adds value is one question I get asked frequently. Doing The …

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5 Core Components of Buyer Persona Development

What exactly is buyer persona development?  Recently, this question came from several who have “done personas” but have met resistance or disappointment.  Our discussion centered on why the buyer personas developed offered little value. Why No Value? In my conversations helping people, there are two reasons why buyer persona efforts have been met with either …

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4 Buyer-Focused Strategies B2B Businesses Must Get Right For 2014

The process of planning and budgeting has begun or is about to begin for many senior leaders returning to post-summer planning mode.   Usually, the fixation is on the budget.  An exercise some welcome.  While others loathe. While the quantitative budget process is of importance, so may be getting the organization right about their buyers.  By …

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Lead Optimization Study: The Right Prospect, The Right Message, At The Right Time

Generating leads is a big deal.   Acquiring new accounts and customers an even bigger deal.  Getting both of these right is a very good deal.  Getting them wrong – well – can be a very bad deal. Recently, I reviewed the interesting findings from the CSO Insights Lead Optimization Study.  The study’s primary focus was to …

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Is Your 2014 Sales Strategy Already Doomed By Lack of Information?

Right around the corner, the laborious and angst filled process of planning for 2014 begins.  2014 will be different.  While economic growth will remain sluggish (according to the Congressional Budget Office), businesses are starting to release the chains put around growth spending.  A lot has changed since the meltdown of 2008.  In these short five …

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Follow the Road to Content Marketing Effectiveness with Buyer Persona Story Mapping

(This is part three of a three part series on the use of Buyer Persona Stories™, Buyer Persona Scenarios™, and Buyer Persona Story Mapping™ to drive effective content marketing strategy.) Getting to see the big picture about customers and buyers today is not easy.  It can be like sitting in an old stadium trying to …

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How To Boost Content Marketing Effectiveness with Buyer Persona Scenarios

(This is part two of a three part series on the use of Buyer Persona Stories™, Buyer Persona Scenarios™, and Buyer Persona Story Mapping™ to drive effective content marketing strategy.) Understanding what activities buyers perform as they attempt to solve complex problems has been a challenge in the digital age.  The activities of buyers are …

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