Target persona: 10 lessons from a radio interview

A target persona is a semi-fictional profile of the person your company wants to reach: it starts from the market target and adds needs, behaviours, objectives and frustrations, so that marketing and sales can understand why that person chooses. It was one of the central themes of a radio interview I gave and later shared in my podcast.

Here is the version with video.

In the interview I explored how this figure has changed radically, together with its needs and expectations, and why companies and professionals must respond to this transformation. Identifying your target persona is no longer sufficient: you must understand it in depth and listen to it actively.

The ten lessons below come from my professional experience and from that conversation. I consider them crucial for every company, marketer or innovator who wants to grow in the digital economy, and they share one condition: an authentic dialogue with the persona.

Let us proceed in order:

• a definition of the target persona, and the questions people ask most often
• target persona examples
• 10 key lessons on the target customer

Target persona vs buyer persona: the frequent questions

In the FAQ at the end of the article I have collected the questions I receive most often on the target persona: how it differs from a generic target, how it relates to the buyer persona (I treat that subject in detail in the article on buyer personas in digital marketing), whether it applies to B2B and how many personas a company should define.

There is also the opposite figure, the negative persona: the customer you do not want to attract, because they consume budget and support without obtaining real value. Defining it clarifies, by contrast, who your ideal customer is.

Target persona examples

In the interview I explain how the target audience changed its habits rapidly during the pandemic.

One specific example is the use of digital platforms to order food at home during the lockdown, when going to a restaurant was impossible. In that period people had to find digital solutions by themselves, train themselves on new tools and adapt their behaviour.

You will also find the explanation of why defining the target audience is easier today. The anonymous data we generate continuously (with smartwatches, for example) contain key information to understand customer needs, on condition that companies have the competences, and a company culture that considers listening to the target customer, and deducing their needs, a key element.

1. The target persona has become exponentially selective

My lesson: I remember a time when the public was more receptive, almost passive. Today the situation is reversed. People receive a continuous flow of messages, offers and content. As a consequence, they have raised their defences, and their expectations have grown exponentially. An effective product or service no longer satisfies them: they search for commercial partners, companies they can trust, the ones I call “virtuous companies”. These organisations demonstrate integrity and transparency and, above all, they respond in a precise, almost tailor-made way to needs that are more and more sophisticated and conscious. Trust is obtained by demonstrating real value and alignment with the customer’s values. Being “present” is no longer sufficient: you must deserve attention.

2. Pandemic and lockdown: the accelerator of change

My lesson: One point I underlined with force is the impact of the pandemic, which acted as a very powerful catalyst. Obliged to stay at home, consumers became more conscious, more competent with digital tools and inevitably more demanding. They had time to reflect, research and compare. This accelerated the change in habits and in buyer persona expectations, at a speed many companies could not match. I saw this gap clearly: on one side consumers evolving rapidly, on the other companies still attached to old models, struggling to adapt to a proactive and demanding reality.

3. The target persona learns and finds solutions independently

My lesson: Think of the lockdown. Who did not learn alone to use a new app for groceries, to make video calls, to manage online accounts or to follow distance courses? Each of us had to digitalise parts of our life, inform ourselves quickly and solve problems independently. This collective experience created an “advanced” target persona, capable of self-training and problem solving.

This new autonomy carries an implicit expectation: if I was able to learn and adapt so quickly, I expect companies to understand my evolution and to be proactive themselves, proposing innovative solutions continuously and even anticipating the times.

4. Data alone are no longer sufficient: interpretation makes the difference

My lesson: We live in the era of big data. Collecting information on customers has become relatively easy, almost a commodity. The real challenge, the one that distinguishes the companies that really connect with their target persona, is the capacity to interpret data, more than the quantity collected. As I often say, “data speak”, but they speak a complex language made of numbers, patterns and hidden behaviours. You need the capacity to listen to this language attentively and to translate it into strategic insight: to understand what people do and why they do it. This deep understanding is what allows a meaningful response to emerging needs, transforming raw data into concrete value.

5. Anticipating future needs: the real strategic frontier

My lesson: A company that only reacts to the needs its target persona expresses is destined to stay behind. Excellence lies in anticipating future needs. This means understanding where the market will go and what the customer will want tomorrow, and then organising the whole company proactively around these forecasts. It requires vision, courage, investment in research and development, and a company culture oriented to innovation. This approach reinforces the brand’s reputation and relevance in the mind of the target, and it builds a competitive advantage that competitors find difficult to close.

6. Every positive interaction raises the level of expectations

My lesson: There is an interesting chain effect. Every time a target persona lives an exceptional experience with a company (an impeccable customer service, an intuitive app, a very rapid delivery), their general expectations rise. That experience becomes the new reference standard. The “virtuous companies” I mentioned earlier satisfy their own customers and, in doing so, raise the level for the entire market. The consumer starts to use that high standard as a measure for other companies too, even in completely different sectors. Competition becomes more demanding, and it rewards those who distinguish themselves through constant excellence.

7. Empathy and continuous communication: the keys to win the customer

My lesson: When I speak of “winning” the consumer, I mean building a relationship based on empathy and continuity, something larger than a commercial transaction. The objective is a constant, authentic dialogue that involves the target persona emotionally and responds to their deepest needs, which often go beyond the functional one. Empathy means putting yourself in the customer’s position, understanding their challenges, aspirations and fears. Continuity means being present in a useful and discreet way along the whole customer journey. This approach is essential in B2B too, where decisions depend on trust and relationship as much as on business logic.

8. From mass communication to the one-to-one relationship

My lesson: Digital technology has opened possibilities unthinkable a few decades ago. Today we have the instruments to leave the old logic of undifferentiated mass communication and move towards a personalised dialogue, almost “one to one”. Advanced CRM systems (the software that manages customer relationships), marketing automation and artificial intelligence allow us to know our customers at an unprecedented level of detail and to interact with them in a very targeted way. As a consequence, the target persona expects, rightly in my opinion, experiences and offers that are relevant to them, that speak their language and that consider their history and preferences. Marketing must fully accept this request for uniqueness and personalisation.

9. Target personas buy complete experiences, more than products

My lesson: This is a point I insist on. Today people buy personalised answers to their needs, solutions to their problems and complete experiences. The product or service is only one part of the equation. The experience includes everything: how easily information can be found, how fluid the purchase process is, the usability of the product, the efficacy of after-sales support, the quality of the relationship with the brand. For companies this is a radical change of paradigm: a good product is no longer sufficient, and the whole customer experience must be designed and governed. This is the new terrain of competition.

10. Being ready for continuous change is the only constant

If one awareness crosses all the previous reflections, it is this: the target persona is a dynamic entity, in constant transformation.

Its needs, expectations and behaviours change continuously. Companies must adopt a mentality of continuous innovation and adaptation.

Conclusion: towards a truly strategic mentality

What I wanted to transmit is that the target persona is a moving target. The company that wants to obtain its trust must abandon the idea of prepackaged solutions.

It must adopt an approach based on listening and continuous innovation.

The digital marketing mentality I promote is exactly this: a habitus, a way of being and operating in the digital market rooted in accumulated experience and constantly projected towards the future. These ten lessons are coordinates to orient yourself in a complex landscape, where the target persona is at the same time our guide and our greatest challenge, the stimulus to grow and the measure of our real capacity to evolve.

For those who listened to the podcast, for fellow marketers and for every company, I believe the direction is clear: listening to the target persona, understanding it, learning from it and winning it is the key to face today’s challenges and build tomorrow’s results.