Marketing Ideal Client Persona
Another essential tool in my marketing toolbox: the Ideal Client Persona (ICP).
But what is it, how do you create one, and perhaps most importantly, why should you bother?
Let me take you back to my very first experience with persona creation. I was part of a cross-functional marketing team for a pharma company. We were launching a new vaccine for the French market, and our global product manager said, “We all know our customer… don’t we?” That’s when the debate started.
Everyone believed they knew the customer already. “It’s the vet,” someone said. “No, the purchasing manager!” said another.
We decided to run a persona workshop to clarify our assumptions, and it turned into one of the most revealing exercises of my early marketing career. What started as a routine meeting became an intense, eye-opening process.
We had so much knowledge floating around: personal impressions built from years in the field. But this was the first time we put all those insights on paper and systematically compared them. It allowed us to validate assumptions, discover blind spots, and realign our messaging. That one workshop not only shaped our product launch strategy but helped the whole team gain a shared, actionable understanding of our target customers.
Since then, I’ve run many such workshops, and every single time, the outcome is clarity, creativity, and better marketing alignment.
Why knowing your audience is so important
Understanding your audience is the basis of it all, the cornerstone of any effective marketing strategy. Without it, you’re basically shouting into the void.
Let’s say you’re selling PCR kits for cattle disease diagnostics. Your ideal customer is likely a veterinarian or a livestock lab technician – and definitely not a forensic science student (unless cows have suddenly become suspects 🙂). Seems logical, right?
But now think again: who is your ideal customer really? The vet? The farmer? The purchasing agent? The breeder? The government testing lab? The lab manager? The end user? All of them?
Companies that successfully implement audience personas are significantly better at engaging their markets and increasing conversion rates¹. Personas help marketers grasp the specific language, challenges, and motivations of different customer types, leading to campaigns that actually speak to your audience.
So, what exactly are marketing personas?
Marketing personas are semi-fictional profiles – stereotypes of your sector – built from real data, behavioural insights, and market research. They capture key attributes like:
- Demographics (age, location, gender)
- Professional roles (job titles, responsibilities)
- Pain points (daily challenges, unmet needs)
- Motivations and goals
- Preferred communication channels
You’re not inventing someone ! You’re summarising someone who already exists in your customer base !
How to create effective marketing personas
- Gather the right data
Start with hard data: web analytics, CRM reports, and customer surveys. Combine it with human insights and talk to your sales and customer service teams!
(Side note for a future read: how to align marketing and sales? I did a carousel on this – but a blog will follow.)
Key tools: Google Analytics, Hotjar, HubSpot, customer interviews¹.
- Segment your audience
Group your customers by shared characteristics. This might include profession, company size, or lifecycle stage.
Think: “Decision-makers”, “End users”, “Distributors”. Each one needs different messaging².
This is very important, as you will target them all differently. For example, we once targeted the lab manager, thinking they were the final decision-maker – but they were influenced by the lab technician (end user), who had different pain points. The messaging for both parties was completely different. Once understood, the message was redefined, and the engagement rate significantly increased.
- Build the persona
Give your persona a name (e.g. “Lab Manager Lisa”) and fill in details (this is, of course, a very superficial example, just to give you an idea):
- Age: 42
- Role: Lab Manager, Molecular Diagnostics Lab
- Goals: Faster turnaround times, budget efficiency
- Pain points: Staff shortage, regulatory hurdles
- Channels: Email newsletters, LinkedIn groups³
- Validate and update
Don’t set it and forget it. Collect feedback, A/B test messaging, and update your personas annually to reflect market shifts.
How personas drive targeted marketing
With clear personas, you can:
- Choose the right channels
- Speak the customer’s language
- Pre-empt objections
- Highlight the benefits that matter most
- Data-driven personas significantly improve targeting and decision-making in digital campaigns, especially in complex B2B environments like life sciences4.
Why personas matter – the big pay-off 5,6,7,3
- Sharper customer understanding
You’re not guessing – you’re connecting. - Better targeting and ROI
You reach the right people with the right message at the right time. - Stronger product–market fit
Build products and services your personas actually need. - Higher loyalty and retention
When customers feel understood, they stick around.
Marketing personas aren’t an annoying exercise, they’re a strategic foundation. Done right, they can transform your marketing, your messaging, and even your product development. Use both data and empathy to build them, and don’t be afraid to update them as your market evolves.
Tip: If you’re a small business owner or startup, start with just two personas. Even one accurate, well-defined persona is better than a dozen vague guesses 🙂
Need help developing your personas?
This is one of my favourite parts of the job: whether you need a full workshop or just a brainstorming discussion, I’d love to help you refine your ICP and use it to power your marketing.
- Pardo-Jaramillo, S., Muñoz Villamizar, A., Osuna, I., & Roncancio, R. (2020). Mapping Research on Customer Centricity and Sustainable Organizations. Sustainability, 12(19), 7908.
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/19/7908 - Zeng, F. (2021). Analysis on the Application of Custom Segmentation. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Financial Innovation and Economic Development (ICFIED 2021), 129.
https://www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/icfied-21/125954347 - Ajiboye, T., Harvey, J., & Resnick, S. (2019). Customer Engagement Behaviour on Social Media Platforms: A Systematic Literature Review. Journal of Customer Behaviour, 18(3), 239–256.
https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/38887/ - Cai, T., Chen, W., Li, S., Qiu, H., & Shang, J. (2022). Customer Value and Customer Loyalty: Comparison and Application. Proceedings of ICFIED 2022, 1052–1053.
https://www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/icfied-22/125971981 - De la Roche, C., De Barros, T., Chuchu, T., Nyagadza, B., & Venter de Villiers, M. (2022). An Investigation on Consumer Perceptions of Email and Social Media Marketing. International Review of Management and Marketing, 12(4), 29–37.
https://doaj.org/article/9606e82bdfe443afb606a786b812fa0a - Sashi, C. M., Brynildsen, G., & Bilgihan, A. (2019). Social Media, Customer Engagement and Advocacy. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 31(3), 1247–1272.
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/ijchm-02-2018-0108/full/html - Hilong, L. (2023). Effectiveness of Social Media to Attract Customers for Start-up Business. International Journal of Management and Human Sciences, 7(1), 16–23.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/368343367_Effectiveness_of_Social_Media_to_Attract_Customers_for_Start-up_Business/fulltext/63e3b1fe6425237563994d6d/Effectiveness-of-Social-Media-to-Attract-Customers-for-Start-up-Business.pdf