Toy commercials don’t usually target parents, even though they’re the ones with the money and final approval power. Rather, ads for the hottest new toy are aimed squarely at the children: end users with outsized influence on the purchase process. A toy marketer who doesn’t take kids into consideration is likely to be looking for work faster than you can say “Furby.”
玩具广告通常不针对父母,尽管他们是拥有金钱和最终批准权的人。相反,最热门新玩具的广告直接针对儿童:对购买过程具有巨大影响力的最终用户。一个不考虑孩子的玩具营销人员找工作的速度可能比你说“菲比”还要快。
Frequently, the most powerful decision maker for a purchase isn’t the one who approves purchases, controls budgets, or signs checks. This is just as true — if not more so — in B2B marketing. The ultimate decision maker, the literal buyer, is influenced through official and unofficial channels by a whole host of stakeholders.
通常,最有权势的采购决策者并不是批准采购、控制预算或签署支票的人。这在 B2B 营销中同样如此——甚至更是如此。最终决策者,即真正的买家,通过官方和非官方渠道受到众多利益相关者的影响。
It’s time to start talking about audience personas instead of just buyers. Broadly defined, there are five roles that can have a major influence on any purchase decision:
是时候开始谈论受众角色而不仅仅是买家了。从广义上讲,有五种角色可以对任何购买决策产生重大影响:
The Initiator
发起者
The Influencer
影响者
The End User
最终用户
The Gatekeeper
看门人
The Decision-Maker
决策者
Here’s how you can use these personas for more effective B2B marketing.
以下是您如何使用这些角色进行更有效的 B2B 营销。
Note these are broad categories – each persona could be found in multiple roles depending on the organization or industry you’re targeting. Let’s dig into what characterizes each of these audience personas and how you can identify and reach them.
请注意,这些是广泛的类别 - 每个角色都可能具有多个角色,具体取决于您所针对的组织或行业。让我们深入研究一下这些受众角色的特征以及如何识别和接触他们。
The Initiator serves as the catalyst for a purchase decision. They’re the ones who are always on the lookout for ways to improve processes, increase efficiency, or even just explore shiny new technology. Initiators are naturally observant, curious and persuasive. You need them on your side to overcome inertia and apathy among the other personas.
发起者充当购买决策的催化剂。他们总是在寻找改进流程、提高效率的方法,甚至只是探索闪亮的新技术。发起者天生具有观察力、好奇心和说服力。你需要他们站在你这一边来克服其他角色的惰性和冷漠。
As the name suggests, the Influencer holds either official or unofficial sway over others in the decision-making process. These are trusted advisors with a track record of good judgment, and they enjoy a high level of trust in the organization. While the Initiator might kick off the buyer journey, Influencers set the course.
顾名思义,影响者在决策过程中对其他人具有正式或非正式的影响力。这些顾问是值得信赖的顾问,拥有良好判断力的记录,并且对组织享有高度的信任。虽然发起者可能会开启买家之旅,但影响者则设定了方向。
This persona has practical, hands-on experience with the type of product or service you’re trying to market. Their experience, pain points and preferences will determine how successful a new solution will be. End Users can accelerate the buying process for a solution that meets their needs – and put the brakes on one that doesn’t seem to address their concerns.
此角色对您想要推销的产品或服务类型具有实际的实践经验。他们的经验、痛点和偏好将决定新解决方案的成功程度。最终用户可以加快购买满足其需求的解决方案的流程,并停止购买似乎无法解决他们问题的解决方案。
Gatekeepers may be lower in the hierarchy than some of the other personas, but they are a force to be reckoned with for marketers. The Gatekeeper acts as a filter, regulating the flow of information from outside the organization and choosing which proposals reach the C-suite. Marketing materials need to offer clear value to the Decision Maker, or your messages will get stopped at the Gatekeeper’s gate.
守门人在层级中的地位可能低于其他一些角色,但他们是营销人员不可忽视的力量。守门人充当过滤器,调节来自组织外部的信息流并选择哪些提案到达最高管理层。营销材料需要为决策者提供明确的价值,否则您的信息将被拦在看门人的门口。
The Decision-Maker holds the final authority in greenlighting a purchase. As this persona has little direct experience with the problem or solution at hand, they rely on advice from the other personas to make informed decisions. Their role is to reach a solution that satisfies stakeholders, is compatible with the overall business strategy and most efficiently addresses the issue.
决策者拥有批准购买的最终权力。由于此角色对当前的问题或解决方案几乎没有直接经验,因此他们依赖其他角色的建议来做出明智的决策。他们的作用是找到一个令利益相关者满意、与整体业务战略兼容并最有效地解决问题的解决方案。
Is your target Decision-Maker the CEO, a particular departmental head or even a middle manager? How far up the org chart is your most valuable Influencer? Here’s how to identify and refine your audience personas for effective marketing:
您的目标决策者是首席执行官、特定部门负责人还是中层管理人员?您最有价值的影响者在组织结构图中排名第几?以下是如何识别和完善受众角色以进行有效营销的方法:
Persona building starts with the customer data you already have. Use surveys, customer feedback, job titles and demographics from your existing customers and beyond. This research can help you understand which roles in an organization are likely to be associated with each different persona.
角色构建从您已有的客户数据开始。使用现有客户及其他客户的调查、客户反馈、职位名称和人口统计数据。这项研究可以帮助您了解组织中的哪些角色可能与每个不同的角色相关联。
It’s important to engage directly with both existing customers and lost business. You can potentially learn more from people who chose not to buy than those who did. Look for insights about each person’s role in the purchasing process, what challenges they faced selling the solution to the rest of the organization, and what influenced the choices they made.
直接与现有客户和失去的业务接触非常重要。您可以从选择不购买的人身上学到比选择购买的人更多的信息。深入了解每个人在采购流程中的角色、他们在向组织其他部门销售解决方案时面临哪些挑战以及哪些因素影响了他们做出的选择。
The sales and customer service department will have crucial information to round out your personas. Collect insights and feedback from different departments to gain a holistic understanding of customer needs and behaviors. Once you have developed personas, you can revisit these other departments to collaboratively refine them.
销售和客户服务部门将拥有完善您的角色的重要信息。收集不同部门的见解和反馈,以全面了解客户的需求和行为。开发角色后,您可以重新访问这些其他部门以协作完善它们。
Based on the information you’ve gathered, you can start putting together detailed dossiers for each audience persona. Create fictional characters that emdiv the traits, goals and pain points for each persona. Just keep in mind that “detailed” means relevant business information like job title and seniority. It’s best to avoid getting bogged down in details that don’t require a difference in messaging, such as pet ownership, marriage status, or the like.
根据您收集的信息,您可以开始为每个受众角色整理详细的档案。创建体现每个角色的特征、目标和痛点的虚构角色。请记住,“详细”是指相关的业务信息,例如职位和资历。最好避免陷入不需要消息差异的细节中,例如宠物所有权、婚姻状况等。
Put your personas to the test by deploying targeted campaigns. You can measure these new campaigns’ effectiveness as compared to previous work without detailed personas. Use the gathered data to fine-tune your personas (with input from other departments as well), and to optimize your marketing efforts further.
通过部署有针对性的活动来测试您的角色。与之前的工作相比,您无需详细的角色即可衡量这些新营销活动的有效性。使用收集到的数据来微调您的角色(以及其他部门的输入),并进一步优化您的营销工作。
Persona development is an ongoing process. Regularly reassess and refine personas to adapt to evolving market trends, changes in customer behavior or shifts within the industry. As you use these personas, you will generate more data you can use to make them more accurate and useful.
角色开发是一个持续的过程。定期重新评估和完善角色,以适应不断变化的市场趋势、客户行为的变化或行业内的变化。当您使用这些角色时,您将生成更多可用于使它们更加准确和有用的数据。
LinkedIn is dedicated to making it easier for marketers to reach the right audience. Better targeting means more successful marketing, but also a better experience for members. Our targeting tools are designed to make sure you deliver relevant content to the right people. Here’s how you can use both organic and paid tools on LinkedIn to reach each persona.
LinkedIn 致力于让营销人员更轻松地接触到合适的受众。更好的定位意味着更成功的营销,也为会员带来更好的体验。我们的定位工具旨在确保您向合适的人提供相关内容。以下是如何使用 LinkedIn 上的自然工具和付费工具来接触每个角色。
Initiators look for the latest trends, industry analysis and smart discussions about challenges facing their peers and colleagues. Use thought leadership articles, industry insights and thought-provoking posts to earn attention.
发起者寻找最新趋势、行业分析以及有关同行和同事面临的挑战的明智讨论。利用思想领导力文章、行业见解和发人深省的帖子来赢得关注。
LinkedIn Tactics: 领英策略:
Share thought leadership content from your Page and your executive team. Aim to spark discussion and make sure to reply to comments. Use Sponsored Content ads to place thought leadership directly in their Feed. Document Ads can work well with Initiators, too, especially if they feature original research or valuable insights.
分享来自您的主页和执行团队的思想领导力内容。旨在引发讨论并确保回复评论。使用赞助内容广告将思想领导力直接放在他们的动态中。文档广告也可以与发起者很好地合作,特别是当它们具有原创研究或有价值的见解时。
To reach an influencer, it’s important to build a relationship and establish credibility. Share useful content that helps them do their job better. On the more salesy side, focus on social proof of your solution’s effectiveness, such as success stories and customer testimonials. Dedicate effort to building relationships and credibility.
要接触有影响力的人,建立关系并建立信誉非常重要。分享有助于他们更好地完成工作的有用内容。在销售方面,重点关注解决方案有效性的社会证明,例如成功案例和客户评价。致力于建立关系和信誉。
LinkedIn Tactics: 领英策略:
Message Ads can be a powerful way to connect with Influencers. Just make sure to always offer something of immediate value. It’s also a good idea to nurture relationships directly, not just through the brand, such as having your executive team repost Influencer content with thoughtful commentary.
消息广告可以成为与影响者建立联系的有效方式。只要确保始终提供具有直接价值的东西即可。直接培养关系也是一个好主意,而不仅仅是通过品牌,例如让您的执行团队重新发布有影响力的内容并附上深思熟虑的评论。
End Users are interested in one thing above all else: how you can make their workday better. Focus on the experience of using your solution and its practical benefits. Get creative with user-generated content, video, images and customer testimonials. It’s important to tie everything back to the practical everyday application of what you’re offering.
最终用户最感兴趣的是一件事:如何让他们的工作日变得更好。重点关注使用解决方案的体验及其实际优势。利用用户生成的内容、视频、图像和客户评价发挥创意。将所有内容与您所提供的产品的日常实际应用联系起来非常重要。
LinkedIn Tactics: 领英策略:
Video Ads can help showcase the experience your solution brings to End Users. You can also share customer stories and testimonials organically, then pick the most engaged-with posts and turn them into Sponsored Content.
视频广告可以帮助展示您的解决方案为最终用户带来的体验。您还可以有机地分享客户故事和感言,然后选择参与度最高的帖子并将其转化为赞助内容。
It’s important to earn a Gatekeeper’s trust. The first step is to acknowledge the importance of their role and their position in the decision-making process. If you can offer resources to make their job easier, that goes a long way toward establishing a relationship.
赢得守门人的信任非常重要。第一步是承认他们在决策过程中的角色和地位的重要性。如果你可以提供资源让他们的工作变得更轻松,这对建立关系大有帮助。
LinkedIn Tactics: 领英策略:
Share Sponsored Content with industry reports, guides and informative content that address the Gatekeeper's concerns or interests. Showcase your brand’s thought leadership and credibility, and attempt to make a personal connection as well.
与行业报告、指南和信息内容共享赞助内容,以解决网守的担忧或兴趣。展示您品牌的思想领导力和可信度,并尝试建立个人联系。
If you earn a Decision-Maker’s attention, keep things short and to the point. They’ll be looking to corroborate what they’ve heard from the other personas, so provide concrete value propositions with plenty of evidence to back them up. With this persona, you also need to discuss the potential ROI of your offering and how you can help meet the organization’s goals.
如果您赢得了决策者的注意,请保持简短明了。他们会寻求证实从其他角色那里听到的内容,因此提供具体的价值主张并提供大量证据来支持它们。通过此角色,您还需要讨论您的产品的潜在投资回报率以及如何帮助实现组织的目标。
LinkedIn Tactics: 领英策略:
Share brief case studies, ROI-focused content and statistics highlighting the measurable benefits of your solutions. Message Ads, Dynamic Ads and Sponsored Content can all be valuable tools here.
分享简短的案例研究、注重投资回报率的内容和统计数据,突出显示您的解决方案的可衡量的优势。消息广告、动态广告和赞助内容在这里都是有价值的工具。
Targeted ads: 定向广告:
Use LinkedIn's ad targeting options, including audience targeting, to reach specific personas based on job titles, industries or company sizes.
使用 LinkedIn 的广告定位选项(包括受众定位),根据职位、行业或公司规模来覆盖特定角色。
Engagement and networking:
参与和网络:
Regularly engage with people under each persona through comments, shares and networking activities to nurture relationships and stay top-of-mind.
通过评论、分享和社交活动定期与每个角色下的人互动,以培养关系并保持关注。
Analytics and optimization:
分析和优化:
Keep an eye on your Campaign Manager for data to gauge the effectiveness of your strategies. Adjust and optimize your approaches based on the performance data.
密切关注您的营销活动经理的数据,以衡量您的策略的有效性。根据性能数据调整和优化您的方法。