Understanding Buyer Personas for Effective Marketing

+ + + ++ + + B2B CYBER SECURITY B2B CYBER SECURITY BUYER PERSONAS BUYER PERSONAS +++ + ++

Instructions Create a copy of this template or download it in order to make modifications. Click File , and then Select Make a Copy , to work in Google Slides, or Click File, and then Select Download As to save as a PowerPoint file. Beacon Digital Marketing | 2

++ ++ Table of Contents What Are Buyer Personas? .. What Are Negative Personas? .. How Can You Use Personas? .. How Do You Create Personas? .. Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 8 Persona Sample .. Persona Template .. Page 11-15 Page 16-21 Cyber Security B2B Buyer Personas .. Page 22-58 Beacon Digital Marketing | 3 Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Persona ..

++ ++ ++ ++ What Are Buyer Personas? Buyer personas are fictional, generalized representations of your ideal customers. They help you understand your customers (and prospective customers) better, and make it easier for you to tailor content to the specific needs, behaviors, and concerns of different groups. The strongest buyer personas are based on market research as well as on insights you gather from your actual customer base (through surveys, interviews, etc.). Depending on your business, you could have as few as one or two personas, or as many as 10 or 20. (Note: If you re new to personas, start small! You can always develop more personas later if needed.) Beacon Digital Marketing | 4

++ ++ What Are Negative Personas?++ ++ Whereas a buyer persona is a representation of an idealcustomer, a negative --or exclusionary --persona is a representation of who you don t want as a customer. This could include, for example, professionals who are too advanced for your product or service, students who are only engaging with your content for research/knowledge, or potential customers who are just too expensive to acquire (because of a low average sale price, their propensity to churn, or their unlikeliness to purchase again from your company.) Beacon Digital Marketing | 5

++ ++ ++ ++ How Can You Use Personas? At the most basic level, personas allow you to personalize or target your marketing for different segments of your audience. For example, instead of sending the same lead nurturing emails to everyone in your database, you can segment by buyer persona and tailor your messaging according to what you know about those different personas. If you take the time to create negative personas, you ll have the added advantage of being able to segment out the bad apples from the rest of your contacts, which can help you achieve a lower cost-per-lead and cost-per-customer (and see higher sales productivity). Beacon Digital Marketing | 6

++ ++ ++ ++ How Can You Use Personas? When combined with lifecycle stage (i.e. how far along someone is in your sales cycle), buyer personas also allow you to map out and create highly targeted content. Awareness Stage Consideration Stage Decision Stage Whitepapers Blog Posts Guides & Tip Sheets Ebooks Checklists Videos Kits and Playbooks Webinars Case Studies Free Samples Product Spec Sheets Catalogs Free Trials Demos Free Consultations Estimates or Quotes Coupons Beacon Digital Marketing | 7

++ ++ ++ ++ How Do You Create Buyer Personas? Buyer personas are created through research, surveys, and interviews of your target audience. That includes a mix of customers, prospects, and those outside of your contact database who might align with your target audience. Here are some practical methods for gathering the information you need to develop personas: Interview customers either in person or over the phone to discover what they like about your product or service. Beacon Digital Marketing | 8

++ ++ How Do You Create Buyer Personas?++ and consume your content. ++ Look through your contacts database to uncover trends about how certain leads or customers find When creating forms to use on your website, use form fields that capture important persona information. (For example, if all of your personas vary based on company size, ask each lead for information about company size on your forms. You could also gather information on what forms of social media your leads use by asking a question about social media accounts.) Take into consideration your sales team's feedback on the leads they are interacting with most. (What types of sales cycles does your sales team work with? What generalizations can they make about the different types of customers you serve best?) Beacon Digital Marketing | 9

+ ++ ++ ++ + How Do You Create Buyer Personas? HubSpot customers: You can create and manage your personas within the Contacts tool. Right click here, then select Hyperlink > Open Hyperlink to learn more! Customers and non-customers alike: You can use the following 5-slide template to organize your persona data. First, we ll walk you through an example, then we ll leave you with some blank templates so you can get to it! 10

+ + + ++ + + PERSONA SAMPLE PERSONA SAMPLE PERSONA SAMPLE PERSONA SAMPLE + ++ +++ Beacon Digital Marketing | 11

++ ++ Sample Sally Head of Human Resources Worked at the same company for 10 years; worked her way up from HR associate Married with 2 children (10 and 8) BACKGROUND Job? Career path? Family? Skews female Age 30 45 Dual HH Income: $140,000 Suburban DEMOGRAPHIC Male or female? Age? Income? Location? Calm demeanor Probably has an assistant screening calls Asks to receive collateral mailed/printed IDENTIFIERS Demeanor? Communication preferences? Beacon Digital Marketing | 12

++ ++ Sample Sally Keep employees happy and turnover low Support legal and finance teams GOALS Primary goal? Secondary goal? Getting everything done with a small staff Rolling out changes to the entire company CHALLENGES Primary challenge? Secondary challenge? Make it easy to manage all employee data in one place Integrate with legal and finance team s systems WHAT CAN WE DO to help our persona achieve their goals? ...to help our persona overcome their challenges? Beacon Digital Marketing | 13

++ ++ Sample Sally It s been difficult getting company-wide adoption of new technologies in the past. I don t have time to train new employees on a million different databases and platforms. I ve had to deal with so many painful integrations with other departments databases and software. REAL QUOTES About goals, challenges, etc I m worried I ll lose data transitioning to a new system. I don t want to have to train the entire company on how to use a new system. COMMON OBJECTIONS Why wouldn t they buy your product/service? Beacon Digital Marketing | 14

++ ++ Sample Sally MARKETING MESSAGING How should you describe your solution to your persona? Integrated HR Database Management We give you an intuitive database that integrates with your existing software and platforms and lifetime training to help new employees get up to speed quickly. ELEVATOR PITCH Sell your persona on your solution! Beacon Digital Marketing | 15

+ + + ++ + + PERSONA TEMPLATE PERSONA TEMPLATE PERSONA TEMPLATE PERSONA TEMPLATE +++ + ++ Beacon Digital Marketing | 16

++ ++ Name of Persona Job Career Path Family life BACKGROUND Job? Career path? Family? Gender Age Income Location DEMOGRAPHIC Male or female? Age? Income? Location? Demeanor Communication Preference IDENTIFIERS Demeanor? Communication preferences? Beacon Digital Marketing | 17

++ ++ Name of Persona Primary Goal Secondary Goal GOALS Primary goal? Secondary goal? Primary Challenge Secondary Challenge CHALLENGES Primary challenge? Secondary challenge? WHAT CAN WE DO to help our persona achieve their goals? ...to help our persona overcome their challenges? What we can do point 1 What we can do point 2 Beacon Digital Marketing | 18

++ ++ Name of Persona Quote 1 Quote 2 Quote 3 REAL QUOTES About goals, challenges, etc Common Objection 1 Common Objection 2 COMMON OBJECTIONS Why wouldn t they buy your product/service? Beacon Digital Marketing | 19

++ ++ Name of Persona AFFILIATIONS & GROUPS Which Linkedin Groups are they likely to be affiliated with? What professional memberships do they have? Which annual conferences do they attend? ONLINE PUBLICATIONS THEY READ TYPES/FORMAT OF INFORMATION THEY LIKE MOST White Papers, Infographics, How-to articles, trend reports? Beacon Digital Marketing | 20

++ ++ Name of Persona MARKETING MESSAGING How should you describe your solution to your persona? [Type in your marketing message] ELEVATOR PITCH Sell your persona on your solution! [Type in your elevator pitch] Beacon Digital Marketing | 21

+ + + ++ + + CYBER SECURITY DECISION CYBER SECURITY DECISION- - + ++ CYBER SECURITY CYBER SECURITY DECISION DECISION- -MAKERS MAKERS MAKERS +++ MAKERS Beacon Digital Marketing | 22

++ CISO Sam Chief Information Security Officer Persona Beacon Digital Marketing | 23

++ ++ CISO Sam Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Sam has been in his current role less than 5 years. He had a prior role as CISO at a smaller company. He has had a 10+ year career in IT security/risk management. Bachelor s Degree in Business and Computer Science BACKGROUND Job? Career path? Family? Male 50 years old Salary: $195,000/year New York, NY DEMOGRAPHIC Male or female? Age? Income? Location? Proactive and forward-looking Strong leader and trusted adviser Clear, precise, and strategic IDENTIFIERS Demeanor? Communication preferences? Beacon Digital Marketing | 24

++ ++ CISO Sam Develop a cybersecurity strategy that protects customer data against all threats Deliver clear security reports at board meetings and advocate for technology that improves cyber defenses while aligning with business goals Respond to cybersecurity threats and manage staffing challenges Staying up-to-date with local and global security challenges, new technologies and compliance issues Delivering strategy and response reports to non- technical board and business leaders Provide strong cyber solutions that protect business assets Identity cyber vulnerabilities and improve the organization s cyber resilience GOALS Primary goal? Secondary goal? CHALLENGES Primary challenge? Secondary challenge? WHAT CAN WE DO to help our persona achieve their goals? ...to help our persona overcome their challenges? Beacon Digital Marketing | 25

++ ++ CISO Sam The CISO is, in my mind, more on the financial side of the equation than the IT side of the equation. Security, privacy, data protection -- these are all risks. As such, they fall under the heading of risk management --finance. Compare the CIO, who is more involved with IT as a whole. REAL QUOTES About goals, challenges, etc I need evidence and metrics to prove to my board that your solution is worth the cost. I need to research and evaluate other products on the market to make sure I chose the one that best meets our company s security needs. COMMON OBJECTIONS Why wouldn t they buy your product/service? Beacon Digital Marketing | 26

++ ++ CISO Sam AFFILIATIONS & GROUPS Which Linkedin Groups are they likely to be affiliated with? What professional memberships do they have? Which annual conferences do they attend? Sam has many certifications, including: CISSP, CISM, ITIL, CISA and CRISC. He s a member of IAPP and follows SANS. DarkReading CSO Online Ponemon Blog Forrester Blog and Industry Analysis Gartner Blog Network and Industry Analysis ONLINE PUBLICATIONS THEY READ Trend Reports White Papers Webinars TYPES/FORMAT OF INFORMATION THEY LIKE MOST White Papers, Infographics, How-to articles, trend reports? Beacon Digital Marketing | 27

++ ++ CISO Sam MARKETING MESSAGING How should you describe your solution to your persona? [Type in your marketing message] ELEVATOR PITCH Sell your persona on your solution! [Type in your elevator pitch] Beacon Digital Marketing | 28

CTO Chris Chief Technology Officer Persona Beacon Digital Marketing | 29

++ ++ CTO Chris Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Chris has a 24+ year career in technology. He has worked for 4 companies in a total of 8 positions, staying at most 5 years in one position. Master of Science Degree BACKGROUND Job? Career path? Family? Male 52 years old Salary: 190,000/year New York, NY DEMOGRAPHIC Male or female? Age? Income? Location? Innovative and creative Strong tech skills and a problem-solver Excellent written and verbal communication IDENTIFIERS Demeanor? Communication preferences? Beacon Digital Marketing | 30

++ ++ CTO Chris Find and adopt technology that supports business goals and strategy Provide customers with technology that enhances engagement and increases business growth Being the lead innovator and creative mind behind new technology solutions Listening to customers to deliver products that put their needs first GOALS Primary goal? Secondary goal? CHALLENGES Primary challenge? Secondary challenge? Provide innovative cybersecurity technology that puts the business on the cutting edge Provide cyber security solutions that do not interrupt customer experience WHAT CAN WE DO to help our persona achieve their goals? ...to help our persona overcome their challenges? Beacon Digital Marketing | 31

++ ++ CTO Chris "[Being a] CTO depends on communication. It involves understanding what other departments are doing and being able to communicate the role technology will play" "It's really important to understand what people need on the business side and then listening to developers and understanding their challenges, or even application providers and understanding what products did and didn't do." (Source) REAL QUOTES About goals, challenges, etc Common Objection 1 Common Objection 2 COMMON OBJECTIONS Why wouldn t they buy your product/service? Beacon Digital Marketing | 32

++ ++ CTO Chris Chris is a member of the TGL Chief Technology Officer Group; IT Specialist Network; and CIO Forum LinkedIn groups. Christ attends the Gartner Catalyst Conference and HMG Global Innovation Summit. AFFILIATIONS & GROUPS Which Linkedin Groups are they likely to be affiliated with? What professional memberships do they have? Which annual conferences do they attend? Wired Endgadget TechCrunch Forbes ONLINE PUBLICATIONS THEY READ Blogs Social Media Online News Websites TYPES/FORMAT OF INFORMATION THEY LIKE MOST White Papers, Infographics, How-to articles, trend reports? Beacon Digital Marketing | 33

++ ++ CTO Chris MARKETING MESSAGING How should you describe your solution to your persona? [Type in your marketing message] ELEVATOR PITCH Sell your persona on your solution! [Type in your elevator pitch] Beacon Digital Marketing | 34

CIO Mark Chief Information Officer Persona Beacon Digital Marketing | 35

++ ++ CIO Mark Chief Information Officer (CIO) Mark has been in his current role 3 years. He worked his way up through IT over 15+ years and focused on developing business knowledge. Bachelor s Degree in Computer Science BACKGROUND Job? Career path? Family? Male 48 $182,000/year Washington, DC DEMOGRAPHIC Male or female? Age? Income? Location? Risk-averse, methodical, organized Learned to translate tech language in a way business leaders can understand IDENTIFIERS Demeanor? Communication preferences? Beacon Digital Marketing | 36

++ ++ CIO Mark Set an overarching technology strategy that supports the company s short-and long-term goals Manage the IT infrastructure, including budgeting and allocation of technological and human resources Creating a reliable IT infrastructure that runs and supports the business Clearly communicating technical issues to the board and organization on the whole GOALS Primary goal? Secondary goal? CHALLENGES Primary challenge? Secondary challenge? Provide dependable cyber defense and risk management services Provide cybersecurity technology that easily integrates into current systems and improves productivity WHAT CAN WE DO to help our persona achieve their goals? ...to help our persona overcome their challenges? Beacon Digital Marketing | 37

++ ++ CIO Mark As CIO, I m responsible for both the security of the company and the product. Balancing the two different sides is common for many CIOs, but security matters to more than just the IT department. . . . To be effective, the whole company needs to partner together to ensure that responsible controls are in place and security awareness runs throughout. (Source) REAL QUOTES About goals, challenges, etc I need to maintain stability in my IT structure and am hesitant about what effect adding in a new system will have on our work. COMMON OBJECTIONS Why wouldn t they buy your product/service? Beacon Digital Marketing | 38

++ ++ CIO Mark Mark is a member of the Chief Information Officer Network; CIO Forum and Forbes CIO Forum on LinkedIn. Mark attends the Landmark CIO Summit. AFFILIATIONS & GROUPS Which Linkedin Groups are they likely to be affiliated with? What professional memberships do they have? Which annual conferences do they attend? CIO from IDG InfoWorld Forbes Wall Street Journal TechCrunch ONLINE PUBLICATIONS THEY READ White Papers Webinars Blogs TYPES/FORMAT OF INFORMATION THEY LIKE MOST White Papers, Infographics, How-to articles, trend reports? Beacon Digital Marketing | 39

++ ++ CIO Mark MARKETING MESSAGING How should you describe your solution to your persona? [Type in your marketing message] ELEVATOR PITCH Sell your persona on your solution! [Type in your elevator pitch] Beacon Digital Marketing | 40

CPO Kim Chief Privacy Officer Persona Beacon Digital Marketing | 41

++ ++ CPO Kim Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) Kim worked her way up from compliance and privacy officer and manager positions to her current role, where she has been for 2 years. JD Fordham University School of Law BACKGROUND Job? Career path? Family? Female 44 $140,000/year Washington, DC DEMOGRAPHIC Male or female? Age? Income? Location? Adaptable, efficient and organized Trusted counsel and personable Seeks clear communication and strong collaboration IDENTIFIERS Demeanor? Communication preferences? Beacon Digital Marketing | 42

++ ++ CPO Kim Develop and implement policies to protect employee and customer data Ensure the company privacy policy adheres to regulatory requirements GOALS Primary goal? Secondary goal? Protecting customer data against increasingly sophisticated data breaches Providing training on and enforcing privacy policy across the company Provide professional perspective on data privacy issues and how the company can improve. Provide privacy audits to find weaknesses and test current computer security, policies and data agreements. CHALLENGES Primary challenge? Secondary challenge? WHAT CAN WE DO to help our persona achieve their goals? ...to help our persona overcome their challenges? Beacon Digital Marketing | 43

++ ++ CPO Kim Privacy professionals play a unique role in the organizations they support in that they are both an advocate for the organization and for the organization s customers. While I have the title of Chief Privacy Officer, every employee...understands that they also are privacy officers on behalf of the company and of our clients. Safeguarding data is just an everyday part of the way we do business. (Source) REAL QUOTES About goals, challenges, etc I m leary to give access to client information to any outside party. COMMON OBJECTIONS Why wouldn t they buy your product/service? Beacon Digital Marketing | 44

++ ++ CPO Kim AFFILIATIONS & GROUPS Which Linkedin Groups are they likely to be affiliated with? What professional memberships do they have? Which annual conferences do they attend? Kim has IAPP certifications CIPP and CIPM. She is part of Women in Security and Privacy (WISP) and attends the Global Privacy Summit. CPO Magazine Brink IAPP News ONLINE PUBLICATIONS THEY READ Trend Reports Webinars White Papers TYPES/FORMAT OF INFORMATION THEY LIKE MOST White Papers, Infographics, How-to articles, trend reports? Beacon Digital Marketing | 45

++ ++ CPO Kim MARKETING MESSAGING How should you describe your solution to your persona? [Type in your marketing message] ELEVATOR PITCH Sell your persona on your solution! [Type in your elevator pitch] Beacon Digital Marketing | 46

GC Mike General Counsel Persona Beacon Digital Marketing | 47

++ ++ GC Mike General Council (GC) Mike worked for 8 years at a private law firm before moving to in-house counsel, where he worked his way up to the GC role. JD Georgetown University Law BACKGROUND Job? Career path? Family? Male 55 $225,000/year New York, NY DEMOGRAPHIC Male or female? Age? Income? Location? A leader with high integrity and strong judgment Written communication that s clear and concise IDENTIFIERS Demeanor? Communication preferences? Beacon Digital Marketing | 48

++ ++ GC Mike Offer sound legal advice to ensure the company is following the law at all times Limit legal risks and identify issues that could harm the company by being part of all businesses decisions Balancing the legal risks inherent in company growth with acceptable risk Advising the board of any legal implications of a business decision early and authoritatively GOALS Primary goal? Secondary goal? CHALLENGES Primary challenge? Secondary challenge? Offer services to limit liability after a cyber incident during any legal or regulatory action Provide research to assess the political and business risks of moving into a new market WHAT CAN WE DO to help our persona achieve their goals? ...to help our persona overcome their challenges? Beacon Digital Marketing | 49

++ ++ GC Mike Being an excellent communicator is also important to translate legal concepts concisely and quickly into the language of the business as well as being a trusted adviser who is engaged in the business while maintaining the independence of the legal function. (Source) REAL QUOTES About goals, challenges, etc Common Objection 1 Common Objection 2 COMMON OBJECTIONS Why wouldn t they buy your product/service? Beacon Digital Marketing | 50