BNJ Invents Target Profile Posters

In our continuing drive to improve Buyer Centric Marketing, we have come up with Target Profile posters. These posters are placed in our offices and in our client’s offices. They are a testament to whom our marketing is targeted toward and the importance of getting our buyer insights right. Kim Curry, our leader of Strategic Insights has really nailed these. Take a look at the example below. We developed this one for the CFO of a large enterprise company looking into upgrading his software portfolio. These profiles contain the most relevant data needed to lead our messaging, strategy and content.

We have developed profiles for CFO’s, COO’s, CIO’s, CMO’s, CEO’s and Directors and Managers of Operations and IT. What’s interesting to note is that each of our Brands has its share of decision makers and influencers that impact sales along the Buyer’s Journey. Our mission begins by determining the role of each and then selecting the right targets by priority. Typically, you can segment targets as follows:

• BDM: Business Decision Maker
• BDI: Business Decision Influencer
• TDM: Technical Decision Maker
• TDI: Technical Decision Influencer

Many times, agencies and clients want to focus on just one target. But the Buyer’s Journey has taught us that influencers can become equally important as the decision makers. They compile the decision making criteria and choices for the decision makers. In the above example, we develop four posters, one for each target.

The profile contains key information about each target designed to provide the most immediate understanding and actionable insights. They contain:

• Narratives and quotes to dive deep into the mind of the target
• Key tradeoffs that are relevant to each target
• A summary of the key brand benefits and their varying importance by target
• A synopsis of where the target rests along the Buyer’s Journey and the role they play along it
• The key buying criteria and engagement strategies needed to reach them

The secret in developing these in not in the format but through the expertise we have gained in the agency across all relevant targets. This has and will continue to come from personal interviews among customers, sales and SME’s. In addition, we read and analyze research from all major third-party sources, media publishers, surveys and just keep the discussions alive internally and with our clients.

We started Target Profiles for our CenturyLink client but are quickly rolling out customized versions for others.

We take our Targets very seriously and understand that they are at the heart of our Buyer Centric Marketing efforts. A good debate about what the right strategy is always gets us excited, but, the Customer target is always right.

If you would like a copy of a target profile, contact LG (laureng@bnj.com) and promise to give her some business. Also, read her recent post on the CIO.