How is a customer persona used in digital advertising?

A customer persona (or buyer persona) is a semi-fictional character representing key characteristics of a target audience.

The customer persona represents an ideally targeted audience, and includes demographics, interests, and behaviors that help define segmenting and advertising tactics. Using actual customer data, brands combine known behaviors, such as purchase history and business interactions, to create a profile to build targeting (e.g., channels, ad type and format) and strategy (e.g., content aimed at motivations).

Often a brand needs multiple personas to reach different audiences. For example, an office space leasing brand has two primary customer profiles: individual and small group tenants looking for temporary space; large organizations that need long-term space for dozens of staff in each city. The two customer personas inform the marketing approaches for each. For small temporary tenants, messaging might focus on cost, flexible leasing terms, convenience. For larger long-term tenants, messaging might focus on comparative amenities with other large business leasing brands. 

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