what is a persona in marketing

In marketing, a persona is a fictional profile that represents a group of similar people in a target audience. Personas are created based on research and represent segments of a market. They help marketers to better define their audience and reach people on a more personal level, while delivering the right messages, offers, and products at the right time. Creating marketing personas helps marketing teams to get inside their users’ minds and figure out what they want in a product or service. A persona is a detailed, semi-fictional representation of a target customer that is informed by qualitative and quantitative data about existing customers and market research. A good marketing persona is a composite sketch of a key segment of the audience. It is important to note that a marketing persona is meant to represent a segment of the target market, not the whole thing. By creating a personalized message for a fictional character, marketers might attract a real-life person who fits this description, which could result in them becoming a long-time customer.