Q: Persona Development
Dear Gurus!
Everywhere I look, everyone recommends (nay insists), that we should be first developing a set of PERSONAS, before embarking on all other marketing activities. This makes sense because we should understand the target prospect first, and then ensure that we provide the service/product offering that perfectly meets their needs, and answer their specific questions.
HOWEVER ... in the international school setting, I am finding it almost impossible to narrow the personas down to anything that is specific and meaningful. For example:
We have over 40 nationalities - arguably these 'cultural' elements could be individual personas, in and of themselves (difficult to lump everyone into a box as being (say) Asian or European or ... )
We can segment parents in many ways:
Millennials for Early Years and Primary vs Gen-Xers in Middle/High School ...
Stay-at-home-mums vs entrepreneurial business owners vs C-suite exec ...
Those that arrive by bicycle (green/sustainable philosophies) vs. those that use a motorbike (interested in traffic congestion) vs. those arriving by bus vs. those using private car
Pay out-of-pocket themselves vs company pays (partial or full)
Those that are worried about cost vs. those that are not so concerned
Those who are only seeking English language acquisition
Those seeking mother tongue languages for their kids (e.g. German, French, ... )
Local nationals vs expatriates/foreigners
Those new families coming to the country for the first time vs. expats that are already in-country
Expats 'graduating' from Preschool/Kindergarten and entering 'big school' vs. those 'switching' from other schools
... and many, many more !!
I know we need to focus on our IDEAL prospect families, but we have such a range of current families, and every family is ideal :)
Each time I start the process of developing personas, I give up because there are too many, and then the exercise becomes pointless. All the material that I have read, seems to be very clear in the advice (each persona must be very specific and should not be general). Unfortunately, to bring the number of personas to under 10, personas in the international school context is still very general.
Any tips?
From Tony Shadwell, EUROPEAN International School HCMC, General Director
A: CAYLOR
Focus on what is common between the families. They are all choosing your school for a reason...especially over the other options. Is it because they value diversity? That would be common for all of the families. Is it that they value multiple cultures? There are common themes that this persona has, and it may not necessarily be demographic or ethnic-based...more about the ideas and values that they share. Look to define the values that these families bring to the table that drives their decisions rather than anything that is a traditional persona.
If you can tap into what makes them decide on you (the common values) and anything that those values drive into tactical elements (they are more educated, so they value more communication, for example) might be your key to defining them in a more comprehensive way.
A: GOODMAN
I agree with Bart.
I approach baseline research for brand messaging as a way to find commonalities across all constituencies within the school. There are always 3-5 overarching ideas that nearly everyone shares and those can be drilled down to create specific messaging for target markets.
But the big-picture reasons that parents choose your school (and that teachers choose to work there, and that alumni remain engaged) will be consistent and unique to your school.
A: SIMMONS
Trying to offer some additional ideas to this challenging task.
Certainly with the diversity of your families, it doesn't seem to be the best idea to define 40 different personas. Looking at commonalities makes the most sense, but I'd add that you can probably narrow this down to 3 or 4 personas based on these commonalities. We find that when developing personas, as part of brands strategy development, that interviews and surveys help a lot.
We tend to rely on data, when we can acquire it. The families are always the best source of information in this process. I'm sure you have several that would be more than happy to have you pick their brain. We find that happy parents are really eager to talk about their choice and experience, and are likely to become some of your best advocates.
If you're in a place where you have no personas developed, conducting this process and ending up with 3 or 4 detailed personas will prove invaluable. And then, you can simply expand from there as you identify a need.
Good luck!
A: Noakes
Personas are massively important, but often poorly implemented. You do not need 40 to be able to stress test your marketing & communication strategy. I agree with Bart & Mark, there are commonalities that exist that will inform your testing. Organisations too often focus on the fluffy traits of humans (e.g. owns a dog, reads the WSJ, drinks cappuccino..) to build an emotional picture - but in a 24/7 society the focus needs to be elsewhere. You should be looking into stakeholder needs (key tasks to fulfilment), stakeholder triggers (what is likely to make them do something), channels of choice (note: ignore 'voice' at your peril), and communication preferences (email, social, TV, etc). At Interactive Schools, we have created a base suite of 31 personas that cover every stakeholder group (prospects, parents alumni, etc) and every school configuration (k-6, pre-k-12, girls, co-ed, boarding, etc). We then use this base on a client-by-client basis to evolve to their needs. Personas are vital to testing any marketing and communication activation - but don't go overboard! Some great data is better than lots of thin data. Good luck, Tony.
A: Nelson-Isaacs
Great feedback from the gurus!
Personas are, undoubtedly, a very useful tool to streamline marketing efforts.
However, with any exercise like this, I recommend beginning with the end in mind (thanks Stephen Covey) and getting really specific regarding what outcomes you want from the work. What are you hoping to accomplish with the personas? What is not working in your marketing that you are needing to change? If you need more full/fuller pay families, that's different than if you need more 6th grade boys, or if you need to tap into the market more from a particular country, or if you need to develop relationships with major employers.This is not to disagree with the other advice - it is all useful and relevant. Good luck!
A: Connor
It would seem the primary characteristic families who attend international schools have in common, regardless of all the varied motivators they may have as you specifically and exhaustively outline in your question, is their interest in the value of placing their kids in an environment that will best prepare them to thrive in the world they will likely inherit.
That is not only the meta “cause” that distinguishes international schools, but is the likely outcome of an international school education. So I wouldn’t obsess over trying to come up with different personas to meet every situation each family has, but instead concentrate on the one thing they may all have in common.
Reinforce this with statements from families who came for all the various reasons/situations/motivations you cite, but who stayed to give their children the mindset and advantage to more easily navigate a richly diverse world as citizens of that world.
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A: Cain
To persona or not to persona. That is the question.
Personas are a great idea only if you are going to do something with them.
Rather than think about it qualitatively making sure to cover every different type of person in you audience prospect base, think of it more qualitatively by considering and matching them to what you as a school can deliver on.
It also makes sense to start small.
At Zehno, we usually start with 5-7 personas and then work on content to serve up to those persona types that also deliver on your brand key messages. Also consider developing personas for your best brand ambassadors for faculty, staff, alumni and parents…not just prospects.
Once you tackle those and see success, then you can consider adding more.
Check out our blog post for more https://zehno.com/personas-marketing/