past present & future of personas in search (extended version)
TRANSCRIPT
The Past Present & Future of Personas in Search (extended version)
Michael KingSEO Manager
Publicis Modem@ipullrank
WE’RE DOING IT WRONGTHERE’S TOO MUCH DATA OUT THERE FOR SEO TO SUCK
We are not just Search Marketers anymore we are full-fledge Digital Strategists.
Search Marketers Need to Grow Up
Search Marketers are Short Sighted
Informational, Navigational, Transactional classification of keywords is not enough to truly understand the intent of a user.
NavigationalInformationalTransactional
Need StatesBusiness GoalsNavigationalInformationalTransactional
Keywords must be categorized by the need states of personas and messaging must reflect those need states to improve conversion.
People Search to Fulfill a Need
Does your content fulfill the need associated with the search intent?
Does it give the person the compelling experience they are searching for?
Give People What they are Looking For
If you don’t already use personas in your Search efforts you are trying to strike an invisible moving target while your competitors are effortlessly hitting the bullseye.
You’re Too Late To Be Cutting Edge
In the next 30-45 minutes and counting I will get you up to speed and take you into the future.
Luckily You Just Met Me…
THE PAST PERSONA RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT USING SOCIAL MEDIA
Social Listening/ Need
State Determination/
Persona Development/
Keyword Research
Keyword Mapping /
Information Architecture
Creative / Copy / Tech
Development
Push Live / Conversion
Rate Optimization / Measurement
SEO DefinesInfo Architecture
SEO Validates User Experience
SEO Drives Measurement
Recipe for Success
Before you do anything you need to identify who you are trying to talk to.
Who is Your Target Audience?
Use Social Media to Your Advantage
Hundreds of Millions of people are telling you their every mundane thought everyday; use it!
Use the existing conversation in social media to identify need states and inform keyword research to ultimately define personas.
Using Social Media to Define Personas
Social Listening Tools
Scout Labs
For my shoestring budget hustlers
Social Mention
Alterian SM2
Scout Labs, Alterian SM2, Radian6 are extensive and expensive social listening tools but you can grab a decent data set for free using Social Mention, Amplicate, Topsy
Invest in Quantitative Analysis Tools
Invest in sites like ComScore, Compete or Quantcast to identify a demographic by industry and to get a preview of their search behavior.
Develop Personas
See Vanessa Fox’s presentation on Personas for an in-depth how-to: http://www.slideshare.net/optify/using-personas-to-boost-online-marketing-and-seo
Develop Personas to understand your users and to inform Search and UX.
Start with the Audience’s Questions
Identify the questions the audience is asking that apply to your business goals. Quora is a great place to start.
Identify Need StatesWeight Loss Weight Management
TWTU SkepticsThis diet is unrealistic and not healthy – too
extreme
The Dieter[Yogurt Brand] helps curb
my cravings so I can continue on my path toward
losing weightThe Maintainer
I’ve lost a lot of weight, I can’t afford to cave to
temptation when I’ve come this far
.
The TWTU SupporterThis diet is perfect for anyone
who needs that “umph” to lose those few pounds, quickly
The Event PlannerI need to lose 5-10 pounds in time for this event. I need a
plan that gets noticeable results
New MomI want a low-calorie way to get my calcium so I can get the nutrients we need while losing the rest of this baby
weight
The Calorie TrackerI’m so glad [Yogurt
Brand] is compatible with my points
system .
Steady AchieverI’ve lost a considerable
amount of weight except for these pesky few pounds. I need to reach my goal by
Thanksgiving.
Distill the conversation in social media down to the need states of the people talking with regard to business goals.
Define Personas
Super TastersNewer to the product category but partial to authentic Greek yogurt because of the taste and texture; loyal to brands like Fage , Oikos and Chiobani; appreciates the authenticity of ingredients; uses Greek yogurt for cooking and baking; likes to enhance Greek yogurt with fruit and other toppings
Integrity ProtectorsConsumed Greek yogurt before it became popular – feels entitled to defend ‘real’ Greek yogurt against newer ‘inferior’ brands entering the product category; savvy about ingredients and passionate about the unique straining process; tends to be set in her ways in terms of maintaining a healthy diet; loyal to original brands like Fage and Oikos
Brand LoyalistsWants a more familiar way to enjoy Greek yogurt; overall, hates the taste of Greek yogurt; loyal to the [Yogurt brand ]and appreciates the variety of flavors that Yoplait offers in their Greek yogurt line; appreciates not having to enhance the flavor of Greek yogurt to make it more enjoyable
OptimistsLooks for ways of improving Greek yogurt but wishes she had a more accessible way to enjoy it; experiments with different brands like Yoplait and Dannon to find the best tasting option; sensitive to the higher price point of the original Greek Yogurt brands
The Steadfast Seeker
The Connoisseur
Give your 4 core audience segments a story and personality
Identify Keyword OpportunitiesThe
Connoisseur
The Steadfast
Seeker
The Amate
ur
The Reluctant Partaker
loves Greek straining processminimal
ingredientsno
preservativesFageOikos
rich textureGreek-style
gross tastehigh pricetoo thickYoplaitDannon
better tasting options
health benefitsneed more
variety toppings
never/hardly tried likes blended
yogurtwants Greek
benefitstart taste
attracted to variety
no brand loyalty
high proteinchoke downsmoothiestoppingstoo tangy
weight trainingbody building
low fatphysical fitness
recipesno brand loyalty
Use the conversation to understand what words personas naturally associate with elements of your product or service and apply those to keyword research and messaging
Present optimized messaging that will resonate with your personas with of the goal of maximizing conversion.
Create Targeted Messaging
This is the magic behind Facebook Ads
Test Everything
Test your messaging in Pay-Per-Click to get a sense of how well they will perform in Organic Search.
Insights from Tests Inform MessagingInsight 1Focus on taste is the key opportunity
Insight 2Everyday nutrition done the Yoplait way will resonate with consumers across the board Insight 3Nurturing of family takes precedence over the target’s own well-beingUse insights from testing to understand what resonates with
the personas and then create messaging and user experiences that reflect these insights
Case In Point: Air Travel Research Decision-
making Booking Pre-flight Travel Post-travelMotivation to travel
Need States
Examples of W
hat’s happening
Occasion:-Season/Holiday-NY’ eve -Valentine’s D-Honeymoon-Birthday gift-Anniversary-Stag do-Reunion-Accomplishment-Time off
Experience: -Broaden horizon-Hobby/skill-Well-being/R&R-Adventure-Landscape (sea, mountain, plant)-Weather (sun, snow, wind)
Get Ideas:From friends, family,colleagues, extended social media network, bloggers, TV personalities, movies, activity groups & forums
Search for:Occasion or experience sought on google, publications, forums, social media groups,etc
Search for:Activity and experience options at different destinations
Compare:Destination options based on timings, costs, and ease of getting there
Search for:-Cheapest flight options based on timings - Cheapest flight options based on destination (look for promos and time suggestions)
Compare:Time options vs. budget across key providers
Commit:To a scenario
Locate:Key trip info: -Luggage rules-Check in time-Terminal to go to-Currency exchange -Ways to and from airport-Travel tips
Book: -Car hire-Accommodation-Airport bus
Manage:Info updates, efficient and easy task completion
Connect:-With local info -With resources (guides, gurus)-Activity ideas
Record:-Experiences-Memories-New ideas, contacts, knowledge
Organize:-Memories/events -Evidence you’ve been there/ Memorabilia-New ideas
Package:Trip takeouts so as to extend the benefits gained from the trip
Share: To build on and showcase who you are
I want to collect new experience,
add to my personal story,
and create special memories
What is out there that would be fun and interesting to do alone and/or
with the people I care about?
Of the options available, what is
feasible given time & budget constraints?
Who’s going to help me fine tune
and make the plan possible?
What do I need to do to activate my trip so that it’s as easy as possible?
Who can I rely on to help me make the most of my
trip?
How do I crystallize my travels so that
they are easy to share, and
provide inspiration to me
and others evermore?
Inspiration Research Commitment Experience
1. 2. 3. 4 5. 6. 7.
We dove deep into need states to see what questions people wanted answered.
Semantic Grouping
Research Decision-making Booking Pre-flight Travel Post-travelMotivation
to travel
Occasion Activity Destination Offering Simplify Connect Remember
1. 2. 3. 4 5. 6. 7.
Flights
Logistics
City/Airport
Cheap Flights
Timing
Country/Region
Core Semantic Groups We identified the need states that matched the client’s business goals and mapped them to semantic groups.
Keyword Mapping
We mapped core semantic groups to keywords informed by social listening.
UX that Reflects NeedsNavigation and sub-navigation
reflect need states
UX and content developed with the concerns of our personas
We built a user experience indicative of these considerations
Performance
Bookings
Organic Traffic
Conversions improved in every need state in concert with improvement of traffic from Organic Search. It worked.
TALK TO THE RIGHT PEOPLEINTRODUCE YOUR CONTENT TO THE PEOPLE WHO CARE
THROW AWAY YOUR FORM LETTERS!
Do Not be a Jordan Hogenson; tailor your outreach link building to your audience
The guy sent a form letter to Avinash
Kaushik for a link.
There is evidence that Google will use rel-me and rel-author as ways to connect people to content and apply a sliding scale of value to links based on algorithmically determined authority of the writer to help solve search quality issues.
Read: Google’s Heading for Life after Link Trust – Here’s How to Prepare by @simonpenson - http://seogadget.co.uk/life-after-link-trust/
BUILD YOUR NETWORKS NOW.
Social and Search Will Continue to Integrate
Link Building Golden Rule
Personas are the Key to Scalability
Personas help you identify how to find your link prospects and how to start a conversation with them once you do.
Curious GeorgeThis group represents people considering buying a 3D TV
GamerGamers talk about their 3D gaming experience and the components and games they use.
Film PuristThis conversation revolves around use of 3D in film. They talk about 3D in a broad way, and occasionally touch on 3DTV specifically.
Tech GeekThis group talks about the technical details of their AV setup. They treat their TV’s like a racecar driver treats their car.
INFLUENCERSTARGET
Watch: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/scalable-link-building-using-social-media-whiteboard-friday
Twitter Before Email
Twitter is made for inane and unsolicited conversation. Start your outreach link building there.
Use the SEER Method for Link Prospeting
I absolutely love the SEER Interactive method of using Twitter and Open Site Explorer together to identify link prospects!
Read: http://www.seerinteractive.com/blog/using-twitter-and-backlinks-to-build-links/2011/07/28/
BUT![I LOVE ADULT SWIM]
Issues with the SEER Method
The Simply Measured tool gives you URLs with shorteners and Open Site Explorer exports only give you up to 10k links.
So I made a tool…
Upload your Simply Measured Export and get an SEOmoz Site Intelligence API and it will exhaustively prepare a link prospect report as an Excel workbook. I don’t have a name or UI for this tool.
How Does it Work?
All shortened URLs are expanded
All Root Domains are pulled from Open Site Explorer
Data is exported to an Excel
Workbook. One sheet of
prospects, one sheet of people already linking
to you.
Output
Have a Persona for Link Building
People will most likely check out your timeline so fill it with cool relevant content and conversation. Build an authentic separate persona and use it for your link building.
Do Your Research
ProTip: A lot of people use the same username for many different social networks. Put it in Knowem and find out what they are about.
Create mental models of your link prospects by spending 5 minutes to view their Social Media profiles
Use Followerwonk with Scraper
Read: http://justinbriggs.org/quick-link-prospecting-with-scraper-extension (@justinrbriggs)
FollowerWonk doesn’t have an export feature so install Scraper for Chrome andget your data straight into Google Docs
Link Prospecting by Persona
Keep track of your twitter prospects by persona to measure hit rates and effectiveness in the context of conversion which further justifies the link building effort.
Talk to People Like People
Outreach Link Building should be fun. If you approach it with a genuine interest in people you will increase your hit rate and not think of it as such an fruitless task by having actual conversations.
Make Your Message Stand Out
Use Short Subjects
Use Natural Subjects
Do NOT Use “Link Request”
Send Emails as an Actual Person not a Company or Team
Include a Natural Salutation
Converse with Context
Do NOT Just Tweet a Link at a Prospect
Escalate Quickly (“Follow So I can
DM”)
Participate in the Subject’s
Conversation
Ride a Relevant Hashtag
Offer Value
Value does not mean always mean incentives. Show the person that it interacting with you is valuable by being entertaining or a resource by sharing other relevant content or information.
KNOW YOUR
INDUSTRY
[PRO TIP]
Dangle the Carrot
If you have nothing more to offer or can’t spend the time use incentives. Couple incentives with campaigns to draw links in a one-to-many fashion.
Maintain the Rapport
After you close a link continue to engage with your link prospects over time on Twitter or G+. Add them to private Twitter lists and Google Plus Circles.
Real Life Examples
@ipullrank
Follow me on Twitter. I will soon share examples of my outreach conversations on my blog (http://ipullrank.com)
Measurement of Link Efforts
The ability to track the effectiveness of link building efforts by persona is a powerful means of understanding which segment of your audience is driving the most traffic and conversions.
Curious GeorgeThis group represents people considering buying a 3D TV
GamerGamers talk about their 3D gaming experience and the components and games they use.
Film PuristThis conversation revolves around use of 3D in film. They talk about 3D in a broad way, and occasionally touch on 3DTV specifically.
Tech GeekThis group talks about the technical details of their AV setup. They treat their TV’s like a racecar driver treats their car.
Curious George Gamers Film Purists Tech Geek
THE FUTURE KEYWORD ARBITRAGE: CAPITALIZING UPON OFFSET IN LONG TERM KEYWORD VALUE
THE PRESENTKEYWORD-LEVEL DEMOGRAPHICS
What if I told you….
…there is a free way to find out exactly who every person is that comes to your site for per keyword
By the way I’m Michael KingSEO Manager at Publicis Modem
recently left Razorfish
Studied Computer Science at Howard
University
Lives in BrooklynFrom Philadelphia
Born August 29th, 1981
Speaks American English & Pig Latin
Wouldn’t you want to have this info for every person that comes to your site?
FB:Admin
The Flux Capacitor
Search Referrers
Keyword-LevelDemographics
FB:Admin Code
@matclayton’s presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/matclayton/mozcon-seattle-2011-social-design
ProTip: Sessionize the original referrer when they first get to the site in case the user opts-in via Facebook later during their visit. Clear the session variable if they come from Search again.
JavaScript does not natively support Session Variables so check out SessVars.js by Thomas Frank - http://www.thomasfrank.se/sessionvars.html
More CodeFunction to grab the Search Referrer
Function to grab Facebook Data
All code can be found at: http://www.ipullrank.com/code/keyword-demographics
GA Custom Variables Code_gaq.push(['_setCustomVar', 1, // This custom var is set to slot #1. Required
// parameter. You can do 1 - 5 ‘Referrer', // Category for the user activity. Required parameter. ‘Keyword', // Value of the custom variable. Required parameter. 1 // Sets the scope to page-level. Optional parameter.
// 1 – Visitor-Level, 2- Session-Level, 3- Page-Level ]);
Google Analytics function for pushing to Custom Variables
Function for passing data to Custom Variables
Magic Data!
Here we are storing 4 pieces of data from Facebook as well as the referrer. Ideally you would model the persona in the code just push the persona name to Google Analytics.
Data In Context of Keyword
You can view the demographics data in context of any dimension. Here we are looking at birthdates in context with the referring keyword.
KEYWORDBIRTHDATE
If you are concerned with privacy you can encrypt user IDs using md5 hashes or model the persona in the code and only push the persona name to analytics.
Privacy?
123456 e10adc3949ba59abbe56e057f20f883e
An md5 hash is a 128-bit encryption of a string. You can compare users
without saving their user IDs
Pzyche allows you to get demographics data on visitors in real-time requiring no opt-in.* http://www.pzyche.com *I asked Pzyche where their data comes from they said their sources are “proprietary”
Pzyche
LinkedIn and Google+ are both options for data mining the people that come to your site but keep in mind that with signed in G+ users you will not get Search Referrers.
Other Data Sources
Read: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/making-search-more-secure.html
Dynamic TargetingUsing the Facebook data user experiences can be tailored dynamically to reflect properties of the persona when they visit.
Curious George
• 18-32• Male• Loves indie rock• Wishes he had a
beard
What Normal Users See
What Curious George Sees
Use it! It Works!
MixCloud uses Facebook data to customize landing pages and has achieved a 55% reduction in bounce rate for FB users.
THE FUTURE MEASURING ROI:CAPITALIZING ON OFFSETS IN LONG TERM KEYWORD VALUE
MEASURING PEOPLESHOW WHO IS DOING WHAT AND HOW TO MAKE THEM DOIT MORE
Measuring People
Using personas allows you step away from abstracts and identify insights in terms of people and their needs.
Almost didn’t look like a watermark,
right?
Keyword OwnershipOnce a statistically significant dataset is compiled it can be determined which demographic and/or persona is more likely to convert for a given keyword and develop messaging that focuses on that group.
Curious George
Gamer Film Purist Tech Geek
• 18-32• Male• Loves indie rock• Wishes he had a
beard
• 18-32• Male• Loves all music• Wishes he could
move out his mom’s basement
• 22-40• Male• Loves film
soundtracks• Wishes he could live
in the movie Avatar
• 22-40• Male• Loves Techno• Wishes you would
stop invading his online privacy
OWNER
• 5000 Searches Monthly
• Conversion Rate 5%
• 600 Searches Monthly
• Conversion Rate 2%
• 1000 Searches Monthly
• Conversion Rate 0.5%
• 100 Searches Monthly
• Conversion Rate 0.2%
Keyword Arbitrage
Tracking keyword demographics also allows the attribution of future purchases to the original keyword and will give way to keyword matrices.
Initial Keyword
Conversion Rate
Persona Keyword Revenue
Subsequent Keyword
Conversion Rate
Keyword Revenue
Sneakers 5% Curious George $50 Sneakers 40% $50
Sneakers 5% Curious George $50 Windbreakers 60% $100
Sneakers 5% Curious George $50 T-Shirts 20% $20
Windbreakers 3% Curious George $100 Sneakers 32% $50
Windbreakers 3% Curious George $100 Windbreakers 5% $100
Windbreakers 3% Curious George $100 T-shirts 80% $20
T-shirts 2% Curious George $20 Sneakers 50% $50
T-shirts 2% Curious George $20 Windbreakers 40% $100
T-shirts 2% Curious George $20 T-shirts 75% $20
Subsequent Conversion Prediction
These keyword matrices will allow the prediction of what the persona is likely to buy next so you know which people to aggressively pursue through retargeting and other channels such as email.
Curious George
60% of these users that buy sneakers from the keyword “sneakers” come back and purchase windbreakers
Rankings
Push your rankings to your Analytics for viewing in context with personas, localization and conversion goals to prioritize opportunitiesRead and get the code for this: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/gettings-rankings-into-ga-using-custom-variables (@dohertyjf)
Annual Keyword ValueBased on how often an initial keyword leads to future conversions of subsequent keywords businesses will be able to measure the annual value of a keyword and react accordingly.
Keyword Earnings Ratio
Price per KeywordAnnual Earnings per initial click
Keyword Earnings Yield Price per
Keyword
Annual Earnings per initial click
AppendixMat Clayton’s Social Design Presentation:http://www.slideshare.net/matclayton/mozcon-seattle-2011-social-design
John Doherty’s Notes on Mat Clayton’s Presentation:http://www.johnfdoherty.com/social-design-how-to-co-mingle-social-features-earn-traffic-mozcon/
Facebook Open Graph Protocol Reference:http://developers.facebook.com/docs/opengraph/
Google Analytics Custom Variables:http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/tracking/gaTrackingCustomVariables.html
My Keyword-Level Demographics Post on SEOmoz:http://www.seomoz.org/blog/keyword-level-demographics
My Code Repository:http://www.ipullrank.com/code/keyword-demographics
My Whiteboard Friday on Link Building Using Social Mediahttp://www.seomoz.org/blog/scalable-link-building-using-social-media-whiteboard-friday