We are shocked to hear anyone say that buyer personas are fictional. Why would anyone rely on fiction for important decisions? And although simple approaches are always appealing, please be…
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2020 Success: Build Marketing Around The Buyers’ Needs, Not Yours
The close of 2019 and dawning of 2020 marks several important events, in addition of course to the holidays. Tis the season to be insightful, as the business world launches…
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Why Marketers Struggle to Reach Buyers Early in their Journey
What is the pain that shoves your buyers off the fence, and gets them looking for a solution like yours? If you can’t name it, you are in good company….
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The Problem With Buyer Persona Survey Questions
I’m always reading what other people have to say about buyer personas, looking for new ideas and successful outcomes, but I keep coming across marketers making the same tremendous mistakes…
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How Many Buyer Personas Does Your B2B Company Really Need?
Marketing strategies constantly evolve around fresh ideas and new tactics. Done correctly, buyer personas serve as guardrails to keep you from veering off track. But many marketing teams believe they…
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Market Research Mistakes Your Company Should Watch Out For
Do the best marketing strategies come from market research or buyer persona research? It’s not a trick question—these are completely different approaches, although many marketers get them confused. When looking…
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Marketing Plans Should Start with the Buyer’s Needs – Not Yours
I can’t blame marketers for avoiding the development of marketing plans, launch plans or any other version of a strategic plan. This apparently reasonable request usually requires countless hours of…
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Gartner says: Sales and marketing influences just 32% of B2B buyer’s journey
I am fascinated by a recent Gartner study about the journey of 700 enterprise buyers across the U.S., EMEA, Brazil, India and China. According to a recent interview with Hank…
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How Radio Shack lost their buyer focus and their business
I was saddened by Radio Shack’s recent bankruptcy filing. Its convenient stores and helpful staff are easy to find in any city I’m visiting. There is even a store in…
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Practitioner Perspective: The 6 Most Important (Surprising) Things I’ve Learned From Doing B2B Buyer Personas
This post is contributed by Gordana Stok, a Certified Practitioner of the Buyer Persona Institute methodology. Last year I decided to learn how to develop buyer personas so that I…
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