The State of Buyer Personas 2022 Survey is Now Open For Your Input
The 20th Anniversary of Buyer Personas Survey To Help Determine Usefulness
The year 2021 marked the 20th Anniversary of the concept of Buyer Persona being founded. It is hard to believe. The world is a completely different one than existed in 2001 when buyer personas were first introduced. Like all things in life, many things do remain the same. And many things have either faded away or have undergone a radical transformation.
I can still remember the first-ever engagement for buyer personas. We had convinced Reed Elsevier and its subdivision of Harcourt to be a partner in the experiment. In total, we eventually did twelve separate engagements for Reed Elsevier. There were many firsts:
- Performed the first series of qualitative buyer interviews
- Performed qualitative field studies
- Created the first groupings of buyer personas
- Created the first-ever customer/buyer journey maps
- Trained field/inside sales and marketing on how to use buyer personas
- Conducted off-site senior management meetings on shaping strategy with buyer personas
The years 2001-2003 in these engagements were groundbreaking and helped to establish the value of buyer personas for informing buyer strategy and tactics. The results and outcomes were equally revealing. For instance, we saw sales knowledge and effectiveness ramp up shortened by months. And revenues increased by nearly 20%.
Twenty years later, the term “buyer persona” is widely known across the globe. Just as it suffered back then, it still suffers from mislabeling, misinformation, confusion, and people just plain old making stuff up. However, when utilized correctly as intended, they have done wonders not only for companies but ultimately for buyers. In many interviews with buyers who have worked with companies utilizing buyer personas as intended, they report better relationships and better returns.
With the 20th Anniversary upon us, it is time for a State of Buyer Personas 2022 survey. With the tumultuous upheaval brought upon the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has never been a more important time to gain a deeper understanding of buyers.
What do we wish to know? We are looking for how buyer personas are understood, how impactful they are, how they are used, and what work is ahead to make buyer insights research and buyer persona development ever more useful. This cannot be achieved without the feedback and input from people who have experienced buyer personas and the impact or lack of impact they have witnessed.
We hope, with the valuable input provided, we can learn how to enable results that matter. And learn how in this most uncertain future that lies ahead, how we can make buyer personas a critical part of seeing ahead.
Who do we need help from for the State of Buyer Personas 2022 Survey? We are looking for people who are in organizational settings on the receiving end of buyer personas. We are not seeking consultants or agencies to take the survey. We welcome leaders in strategy, marketing, sales, operations, and enablement who have experienced as well as have attempted to use buyer personas for improving their strategies and tactics through a deeper understanding.
Will you help? We sure hope so. It is a small investment of time. Ten to fifteen minutes tops. You will be contributing to a better world for companies and buyers. We will also be making the results available when completed on tonyzambito.com and via social media. If you would like to participate further, you will see an option to provide your email to be contacted for a 20-30 minute qualitative interview. No worries though, the survey is anonymous. We seek honest and transparent input.
I still marvel at where we are today. What started as an experiment now multiplied. After twenty years since the founding of buyer personas, we continue to strive to make better what was started. It starts with you. Please click on the link below to take the State of Buyer Personas 2022 Survey:
Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/StateofBuyerPersonas2022
or click the button below