Leverages Buyer Personas to Launch a New Division
Challenge: Build a GTM strategy based on data
Since 1951, our client has become a leading data and records management company recognized the world over.
In late 2021, the company expanded its offerings in the digital environment to form a new division focused on
Asset Lifecycle Management (ALM) that provides a “cradle to grave” disposition program for enterprise digital
assets.
Responsibility for marketing the new initiative fell on Travis Wilkins, Product Marketing Leader. “We were making a major investment,” says Wilkins, “but we were lacking data in this space. I wanted to make go-to-market decisions based on facts, not guesses. Ours is a global business with many people with different perspectives. I sought one singular view to guide our expansion.”
Solution: Base marketing and sales enablement on the buyers’ perspective
Impressed by the Buyer Persona Institute’s (BPI’s) “elegant approach to a complex problem,” Wilkins engaged
the firm to conduct buyer research that could serve as a foundation for marketing messaging and sales
enablement.
BPI conducted one-on-one interviews with enterprise buyers of ALM services to arrive at an in-depth
understanding of buyer motivations, including the outcomes they desired, the pain points they wished to avoid,
and the standards by which they compared potential vendors. The compiled research results, rooted in direct
quotes from study participants, became the foundation for a messaging workshop that identified the
intersections between buyer wants and the company’s capabilities, arriving at themes with maximum buyer
relevance.
“Before we worked with BPI,” says Wilkins, “our story was based on the idea of ensuring data security and
supporting sustainability best practices. What was powerful and impactful about their research was getting
the customer’s perspective of ‘how’ and ‘why’ this mattered. With this nuanced customer insight we were
able to directly apply updated messaging into our sales enablement and marketing materials. Once we did
this, our messaging connected with our customers more deeply because they related to it on a personal
level. We were no longer ‘positioning’ with our messaging, we were now relating and personally connecting
as we had not done previously.”
Results: Everybody has the ability to be a top seller
Since the research and messaging workshop has been completed, Wilkins has applied the new insights to a
variety of marketing and sales initiatives founded on core messages. “Now we can have conversations that talk
about relevant themes,” Wilkins says. Specific applications include:
- Go-to-market plans based on what the company’s target buyers want, think, and believe.
- Vetted messaging that has been applied to all of the company’s critical assets including its website, collateral, trade show messaging, webinars, and more.
- Internal alignment that enables the client company to use the BPI results as the “factual and authentic” voice of the customer, forming one united approach to the customer worldwide.
- Sales play development that empowers the company’s salespeople to anticipate and meet their buyers’
chief concerns, replacing guesswork with data-based insight. - Improved talk tracks to inform more relevant FAQs – and provide more persuasive ways to handle objections.
- Email campaigns rooted in the new messaging, that are already producing a significant increase in volume and higher quality of leads.
- Sales decks with messaging options that allow prospective customers to self-select their concerns and
pain points.
“Overall, Wilkins believes, the buying insights-informed messaging means more accurate problem
identification and increased revenue growth. In fact, the pipeline experienced triple digit growth after the
new messaging was provided. “Our sales reps really appreciate the new messaging,” he says. “It makes their
lives easier because we’re telling them how to win. Now everybody has the ability to be a top seller!”
