AI Cross-Funnel Persona Marketing

How and Why You Should Use Cross-Funnel Persona Marketing to Influence Buyers with AI

AI Cross-Funnel Persona Marketing: Creating buyer personas is just the beginning. To truly benefit from these insights, you need to apply customer personas to inform each stage of your marketing strategy, especially with the power of AI.

What are marketing personas?

Customer or buyer personas are fictional profiles representing target customer segments. They help marketing teams segment and target key demographic, psychographic, and behavioral traits of their target audiences. For example, if your target market includes young professionals, your persona might be “Tech-Savvy Tony,” a 30-year-old tech enthusiast who values convenience and innovation.

Personas are also used to analyze online users’ behaviors, such as website experience (CX, UX) or responses to marketing automation (e.g., email or mobile campaigns). Studies have shown that using personas can make websites 2–5 times more effective and easier to use by targeted users.

Why Create Customer Personas?

By researching and creating customer personas, marketers can gain valuable insights into buyers’ preferences, motivations, pain points, and online behaviors. Persona-based marketing techniques allow businesses to tailor their digital marketing campaigns to resonate with specific customer segments and deliver personalized experiences. According to a report by Cintell, companies that exceed lead and revenue goals are 2.2 times more likely to have and document personas.

Leveraging AI for Persona Marketing

AI enhances persona marketing by providing deeper insights and automating the process of targeting and engaging with your audience. Here’s how you can use AI to apply customer personas at each stage of your marketing strategy:

Top-of-Funnel (TOFU) Persona Marketing Strategies

1. Create Killer Content that Solves Problems

With personas in hand, develop targeted content that speaks directly to the needs and interests of different customer groups. AI can help identify the most relevant topics and create content that addresses the challenges and pain points of your personas.

• Challenges: What challenges does your persona face? For instance, “Busy Ben” might struggle with finding time-efficient solutions for his business tasks.
• Questions: What questions keep your persona up at night? “Eco-Friendly Emma” might wonder about the sustainability practices of your products.
• Barriers: What is the biggest barrier keeping them from becoming your customer, and how can you help them overcome it? “Budget-Conscious Bob” might need assurance that your product offers the best value for his money.

AI-driven content creation tools can help generate blog posts, social media content, and explainer videos that offer solutions to these challenges, connecting with your target persona on a deeper level.

2. Hit the Bullseye with Tech for Tactical Testing and Targeting

Tactical targeting involves the effective distribution of your persona-focused content to the intended audience. AI and machine learning enable automated testing of ad creatives, messaging, and timing, providing quick insights and data-driven decisions.

• Customer Lookalike Targeting: AI can identify and target audiences similar to your best customers. According to Facebook, lookalike audiences can increase conversions by up to 56%.
• Automatic Personalization: AI customizes content and recommendations based on user behavior, enhancing relevance and engagement. Research from Epsilon indicates that personalized emails deliver 6 times higher transaction rates.
• Testing: AI automates testing various elements to determine the most effective strategies, optimizing for better performance. A/B testing using AI can lead to significant improvements in campaign efficiency and effectiveness.

Using AI, you can optimize your marketing efforts to reach and engage your key personas more efficiently.

3. Form Strategic Alliances

Leverage the ‘Who You Know’ factor by forming strategic alliances with brands or influencers whose audiences align with your marketing personas. AI can help identify potential partners and analyze their audience’s compatibility with your target personas.

• Partnership Marketing: Collaborate with trusted brands or influencers to raise awareness of your product or service. Influencer marketing, powered by AI insights, can deliver ROI as high as 650%, according to Influencer Marketing Hub.
• Alignment: Ensure that partnerships align with your brand’s values and the personas you are targeting. For instance, partnering with eco-friendly influencers can resonate well with “Eco-Friendly Emma.”

AI tools can assist in finding the right partners and managing these relationships effectively, ensuring your marketing efforts are well-received.

Conclusion

Using AI to enhance your persona marketing strategies ensures that you not only meet but exceed customer expectations. By leveraging AI for content creation, tactical targeting, and strategic alliances, you can deliver personalized experiences that resonate with your target audience, driving higher engagement and conversions.

Integrate these AI-driven strategies into your persona marketing plan to gain a competitive advantage, optimize your marketing efforts, and achieve your business goals with JTM Digital Solutions.