Human beings are too important to be treated
as mere symptoms of the past.
as mere symptoms of the past.
― Lytton Strachey
Persona-based marketing―marketing automation's linchpin―is kaput, says Ernan Roman in CMO.com.
In 2016 his research firm witnessed "a surge in the number of companies disappointed by the lack of a significant increase in response and engagement from their traditional persona-based segmentation."
Customers are knottier than marketers allow―which comes as no surprise.
Roman quotes a Fortune 1000 CMO: “We are using new CRM technology to automate old bad behaviors. The result is irritating and brand-damaging spray and pray.”
Persona-based marketing is flawed, Roman says, in large part because it ignores customers' opinions about competitors' offerings.
Marketers' crude attempts to apply personas to personalize communications irritate customers, waste marketing dollars, and tarnish brands.
It's time for them to nix their trite imaginings and "establish human partnerships and relationships" with customers, Roman says.
"Consumer relationships require authentic and relevant communications and interactions.”
