Why Your Buyer Persona Is Wrong
A new perspective on B2B buyer personas…
Crafting a robust buyer persona is paramount for any company engaged in sales, whether targeting individual consumers or businesses. It’s imperative to understand the buyer’s identity, be it an individual or an entire enterprise. Astonishingly, this foundational question often goes unasked and unanswered within the insurtech space. The distinction between selling to an individual and selling to an insurance company is crucial, and more often than not, it leans towards the latter.
Herein lies a common misstep for many insurtech companies. Despite recognizing the corporate nature of their clientele, most insurtechs continue to structure their buyer personas with an individual focus. In this article, we unveil a novel strategy for insurtechs, offering insights into developing pertinent buyer personas and executing impactful campaigns tailored for a B2B market.
Selling to the Individual (Traditional Buyer Personas)
The conventional approach to creating buyer personas has traditionally centered around individual buyers, emphasizing details such as age, title, gender, preferences, and dislikes. While these personal characteristics hold significance in a Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) setting, the dynamic nature of the insurance industry introduces a unique challenge. In this sector, roles and titles undergo frequent changes, rendering traditional buyer personas obsolete whenever there’s a turnover in personnel.
The additional challenge lies in the fact that traditional personas overlook the intricate organizational structure of the target prospect. If you’re marketing a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution to an insurance carrier, crafting a buyer persona solely for the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) won’t suffice. The insurance industry operates within large and intricate organizational frameworks, each with its unique roles and responsibilities. Attempting to designate a single person as ‘the buyer’ or constructing a persona around an individual lacks an understanding of the complexities inherent in insurance operations.
Another significant drawback of traditional personas is their failure to acknowledge that buying decisions in most organizations are not singularly driven. In the realm of insurance, companies typically initiate a request for proposals (RFP), an extensive questionnaire that encompasses requirements from various departments such as business, actuarial, information technology, product, claims, billing, underwriting, and more. In this context, the limitations of a traditional buyer persona become evident—it simply doesn’t align with the multifaceted decision-making processes within insurance organizations.
Selling to the Corporate Landscape (Strategic Prospect Personas)
Recognizing the intricate organizational dynamics of insurance companies, insurtechs must reimagine their buyer persona strategy beyond individual titles. Instead of honing in on one role, it’s crucial to analyze the organization holistically.
At Ink Digital Marketing, our approach involves categorizing the organization into three key segments: Influencers, Decision Makers, and Executives (typically the signatories). This method allows for a tailored messaging strategy that addresses pain points across various organizational levels.
Influencers
Influencers, as the name suggests, wield significant influence and serve as an extension of your sales team. Convincing influencers of your product’s excellence ensures they relay that message up the hierarchy. In the insurance realm, influencers are primarily the main users, including roles like business analysts, actuaries, underwriters, claims representatives, quality assurance, product developers, and more.
Decision Makers
Decision makers, comprising managers, directors, and supervisory roles, play a pivotal role in determining the necessities for team success. While they may not experience software-level frustrations like influencers, the technology used by influencers directly impacts their ability to optimize work. Outdated or complex technology can hinder overall efficiency and financial goals.
Executives
Executives operate on a corporate-level, focusing on big-picture items. Although they may not be attuned to specific software challenges, they are more aware of budgetary and overall performance issues.
By understanding and targeting these distinct roles within an organization, insurtechs can strategically align their offerings to meet the diverse needs of insurance companies.
Crafting a Comprehensive Prospect Persona
Now, with a nuanced understanding of diverse organizational personas and the realization that decisions are not singular, it’s time to delve into the intricacies. Filling in the persona details becomes paramount, contingent on your specific solution. The roles and responsibilities within each persona will vary based on the offerings of your solution.
For instance, if your product is a data solution, your influencers might include data scientists or actuaries. Conversely, if you operate as a product distribution platform, influencers may take the form of underwriters or business analysts.
Below is the template utilized by Ink Digital Marketing, designed for ease of use and aimed at facilitating a thoughtful examination of the different roles and challenges within your target organization.
| Influencers | Decision Makers | Executives | |
| Roles or Titles | Enter the roles of who uses the software | Enter the roles of who manages the influencer teams | Enter the executive roles that relate to your product. |
| Responsibilities | What are their overall responsibilities? | What are their overall responsibilities? | What are their overall responsibilities? |
| Primary reason for being a target? | Why are they being considered a target?
What are their main challenges? What problems do they have that your software can potentially solve? |
Why are they being considered a target?
What are their main challenges? What problems do they have that your software can potentially solve? |
Why are they being considered a target?
What are their main challenges? What problems do they have that your software can potentially solve? |
| Upside? | What is the upside / value in having them as a target? | What is the upside / value in having them as a target? | What is the upside / value in having them as a target? |
| Downside? | Is there any downside in having them as a target? | Is there any downside in having them as a target? | Is there any downside in having them as a target? |
Messaging is Everything
Now that we established the comprehensive personas, we can craft proper messaging that is tailored to each of them, targeting their specific needs.
Influencers
Focus your messaging on the influencer pain points. Target the challenges they have and the frustrations they may be experiencing in their current solution. Demonstrate how your solution is better, provides more operational efficiency, and makes their job faster and easier.
Decision Makers
Focus your messaging on how your solution is cost effective for them. Demonstrate how your solution can not only save them money in the long run (by doing things faster and more efficiently), but also improve their overall operations.
Executives
Focus your messaging on the strategic initiatives. Modernizing their technology stack, future-proofing their operations, and positioning them to be more competitive in the market.
Once you have your tailored messaging crafted, now you can build custom campaigns in LinkedIn that targets those specific companies, roles, and titles.
Quick Guide…
- Build a prospect persona matrix based on influencers, decision makers, and executives
- Create messaging that is tailored to each of them
- Launch campaigns targeted to those specific audiences