Defining your audience models means you can define and target your ideal audience. Learn how and when to effectively use them in your online and offline marketing.

1. Gettoknowyour
Audiencemodels:
Aplanner’sguide.
TRANSFORMING ‘I THINK’ TO ‘I KNOW’

2. Instructions.
This presentation is designed to give you a detailed insight
into how you can use Audience Models for defining and
targeting the right audience.
But if you’re like us and like to have a cheat sheet to refer to
at a glance, we have also provided an overview here.
Enjoy!

3. 8 AUDIENCE MODELS
CONSUMER PERSONAS
CONSUMER PROFILES
CONSUMER SEGMENTATION
EMPATHY MAPPING
EXPERIENCE MAPPING
DIGITAL PERSONAS
DIGITAL PROFILES
DIGITAL SEGMENTATION

4. How many audience models are you confident
defining?
Too often these definitions are interchanged and muddled, it’s
easy to do.
But knowing the role and relevance of each model is important
for defining and assessing your brand’s audience – both on and
offline.
A question of definition.

5. [1] Consumer Personas

6. WHAT
Consumer personas are pen portraits of
key personality types within your audience.

7. They contain demographic, lifestyle, attitude and
behavioural information.
Example
John is 42, divorced with 2 kids. He rents his flat and has regular time with his children.
John invests a lot of time in playful and creative pursuits, with the lines between work and social becoming
increasingly blurred.
He appreciates brands and businesses with a social conscience, often making decisions on what he eats, what
he wears and what he attends based on his perception of their ethics.
SUCH AS

8. Use them to guide and focus marketing
teams, internally and externally, on who your
customers are.
WHEN

9. And create a common understanding of
audiences to allow for a consistent approach to
briefing and developing outbound marketing activity.
WHY

10. BUT…
Be careful not to get too granular.
Aim for a balance between evocative imagery and
statements.
CAUTION

11. [2] Consumer Profiles

12. Consumer profiles are a way of grouping
your personas using consistent and
measurable attributes.
WHAT

13. These attributes should relate directly to your brand/
product or market and indicate likely future behaviour.
Example
Male, 30-49. Doesn’t own a house or a car. Has children, works part time. Spends less than $200/week on food.
Bought brand X twice in last 3 months.
SUCH AS

14. They allow you to understand your audience on the
basis of common attributes.
WHEN

15. Use them to identify patterns in behaviour and in
evaluating performance for internal reports.
WHY

16. Beware of relying on profiles…to the detriment of
your personas.
CAUTION

17. Profiles are the WHAT, they look at the past.
CAUTION

18. Profiles are the WHAT, they look at the past.
Personas are the WHO and remind you where to focus
for the future.
CAUTION

19. Profiles are the WHAT, they look at the past.
Personas are the WHO and remind you where to focus
for the future.
You need to use them both.
CAUTION

20. [3] Consumer Segmentation

21. Consumer segmentation is a method of
creating homogenous groups of people within
your audience.
WHAT

22. Segments are based on aggregated profile values and
are defined by priority attributes.
Example
Segment A: 30-49, male, low income, moderate spender, low frequency purchaser.
SUCH AS

23. Segmentation gives you an insight into your
audience’s response to your marketing efforts.
WHEN

24. They are the what (which makes them very useful for
reporting).
WHY

25. With them you can create high level reports
to identify the general direction of your
brand’s performance.
WHY

26. But don’t be fooled…
For accurate feedback support them with regular
profile analysis.
CAUTION

27. A comparison chart
when to use
who/ what/ why/ when
MODEL
NAME
key ingredients
purpose
only
WHAT
CONSUMER
SEGMENTATION
aggregated profiles based
on priority attributes
group profiles for
targeting messages
high level
performance
reporting
identify ideal
audience
CONSUMER
PERSONAS
qualitative data
quantitative data
demographic data
internal workshops
staff feedback
to define
customers
(internal &
external use)
lots of WHO
some WHAT
only
WHAT
CONSUMER
PROFILES
demographic & socio-
economic data
product/ brand
interactions
e.g. transaction data
identify patterns in
behaviour
performance
evaluating
(internal)

28. [4] Empathy Mapping

29. WHAT
Empathy mapping is a method used to create
a greater understanding of how your personas see,
think and feel about your brand.

30. It requires you to listen, acknowledge and understand
your audience.
Example
Pain point: John accesses his banking app using the log in screen. The app rejects his password practically every
first time - even though he input it correctly - causing John much frustration.
Key gain: A simpler way of logging in such as a pin code.
SUCH AS

31. Use them to understand the emotional
interactions of your audience…
WHY

32. You’re thinking that this is sounding a bit
‘fluffy’, right?
Well it’s not.
WHY

33. Empathy mapping is a shift in your approach to
your audience.
WHY

34. From it you gain insight into the how and why of
their behaviour.
WHY

35. Changing your approach can be scary. And it wont
necessarily be easy.…
But it is worth it, to actually know what makes
your personas tick.
WHY

36. [5] Experience Mapping

37. Experience mapping is a method of
immersing yourself into the lifestyle context of
your personas.
WHAT

38. It involves the experiences they have before, during
and after interacting with your brand.
Example
John uses a banking app to check his balance. He does this every morning, usually on route to work. He likes to
check it before going to the ATM to withdraw cash so that he can transfer money between accounts if necessary.
Any failure in the app requires him to use telephone banking, which is bloody annoying as it means he has to punch
in his customer number which he hasn't committed to memory and is already known by his app.
SUCH AS

39. They plot the behaviour of your audience as they
move between the real and online worlds.
WHEN

40. Applying empathy helps you understand what
drives your audience’s behaviour.
WHY

41. They allow you to learn the whole story and illicit
new insights.
WHY

42. Which means you can improve their experience
with your brand across all touchpoints.
WHY

43. T
BUT to be useful Experience maps must be
done well.
Use real data, don’t base them on
assumptions.
CAUTION

44. when to use
who/ what/ why/ when
MODEL
NAME
key ingredients
purpose
only
WHY
EMPATHY MAPPING
audience listening
informing
propositions,
communications,
planning etc.
qualitative research
staff feedback
(esp. frontline)
3rd party opinion formers
WHY
and
WHEN
EXPERIENCE
MAPPING
behaviour insights
inform finessing
of product/
service offerings
qualitative research
customer interviews
staff feedback
quantitative data
A comparison chart

45. [6] Digital Personas

46. Digital personas are pen portraits of the key
personality types within your online audience.
WHAT

47. They contain information around digital attitudes and
behaviours.
Example
John, 42 is a part time worker and freelancer. He spends the majority of his time using either a laptop or smartphone. His
life is managed via Google apps, contacts, social media and his mobile phone.
He uses the Cloud to save most things but forgets to regularly back up his laptop. There isn’t a clear distinction between
work/social life and he actively revels in being able to work whenever he wants from wherever he likes. Powerful Wi-Fi
connection is critical, so that he can work fast and watch film/video/TV with his children in his downtime.
SUCH AS

48. They give
Digital personas give you a richer understanding into the
online and digital behaviours of your audience.
WHY

49. Use them to optimise and improve your brand’s
digital activity.
WHY

50. But…
They are only useful if you make them useful.
CAUTION

51. Define personas by using attributes that matter.
e.g. Nowadays ‘owns a smartphone’ is relatively useless. Whereas, ‘owns the latest iPhone and has a max
data plan because she likes to browse and remain connected 24/7’ is interesting.
WHY

52. [7] Digital Profiles

53. Digital profiles are a way of grouping your
digital personas with consistent, measurable
attributes.
WHAT

54. These attributes are directly relatable to their
online behaviour in your market, and in relation to
your product or brand.
Example
Male, 30-49, 2+ devices, high internet usage, cloud storage reliant, visited your site less than 3 times in
last year.
SUCH AS

55. bb
They allow you to identify patterns in the digital
behaviour of your audience.
WHEN

56. These common attributes give you a better
understanding of your digital audience,
WHY

57. and indicate likely future behaviours to inform
your marketing efforts.
WHY

58. Remember how consumer profiles and personas
work together?
Well, their digital cousins are the same.
CAUTION

59. For best results digital profiles and digital
personas need to work hand-in-hand.
CAUTION

60. [8] Digital Segmentation

61. Digital segmentation is a method of creating
homogenous groups of people within your
online audience.
WHAT

62. They are based on aggregated digital profile values and
are defined by priority attributes.
Example
Segment A: 30-49, heavy internet, heavy cloud storage, low frequency visitor.
SUCH AS

63. bb
Use them to provide direction and identify
broad patterns.
WHEN

64. bb Digital segmentation is critical for data analysis.
WHY

65. bb
Providing you with a good high level view to
inform and focus your brand messaging.
WHY

66. BUT once again like their cousin…
they are only useful when used in combination with
profiles and personas.
CAUTION

67. A comparison chart
when to use
who/ what/ why/ when
MODEL
NAME
key ingredients
purpose
only
WHAT
DIGITAL
SEGMENTATION
aggregated profiles based
on priority attributes
group digital profiles
for targeting
messages
data analysis
to understand digital
audience
DIGITAL PERSONAS
qualitative data
user data
customer insights
planning and
optimising
digital
activity
lots of WHO
some WHAT
only
WHAT
DIGITAL PROFILES
user data
(internal & external)
identify patterns in
digital behaviour
in
determining
marketing
efforts

68. Real
World
Which world?
Online
World
Digital personas
Digital profiles
Digital segmentation
Consumer personas
Consumer profiles
Consumer
segmentation
Empathy
mapping
Experience
mapping

69. MODEL NAME CONSUMER PERSONAS CONSUMER PROFILES CONSUMER SEGMENTATION EMPATHY MAPPING EXPERIENCE MAPPING DIGITAL PERSONAS DIGITAL PROFILES DIGITAL SEGMENTATION
WHICH WORLD? Real Real Real Real/online Real/online Online Online Online
DEFINITION
A pen portrait of the key
personality types within your
audience.
Contain demographic, lifestyle,
attitude and behavioural
information.
A way of grouping your
personas using consistent and
measurable attributes directly
relateable to your product/
brand or market and indicate
likely future behaviour.
e.g. new home owners are
likely to spend more on
furnishings.
A method of creating
homogenous groups of people
within your audience based
on their aggregated profile
values and defined by priority
attributes.
A method used to create a
greater understanding of how
your profiles see, think and feel
about your market/categories
/products/services.
A method of immersing
yourself into the lifestyle
context of your personas
before, during and after
they interact with your
marketcategories/products/
services.
A pen portrait of the key
personality types within your
online audience.
Contain digital attitudes and
behaviour.
A way of grouping your digital
personas using consistent,
measurable attributes directly
relateable to their online
behaviour in your market and
in relation to your product or
brand.
e.g. time spent online by
device, frequency of visits to
your site, time spent on your
site, pages viewed, etc
A method of creating
homogenous groups of people
within your online audience
based on their aggregated
digital profile values and
defined by priority attributes.
EXAMPLE
John is 42, divorced with 2
kids. He rents his flat and has
regular time with his children.
He invests a lot of time in
playful and creative pursuits,
with the lines between
work and social becoming
increasingly blurred.
He appreciates brands and
businesses with a social
conscience and often makes
decisions on what he eats/
wears/attends based on his
perception of their ethics.
Male, 30-49. Doesn’t own a
house or a car. Has children,
works part time.
Spends less than $200/week
on food. Bought brand X twice
in last 3 months.
Segment A: 30-49, male, low
income moderate spenders,
low frequency purchaser.
A pain point for John when he
uses his banking app is the log
in screen. The app rejects his
password practically every first
time - even though he input it
correctly.
Key gain: A simpler way of
logging in e.g. a pin code.
John uses a banking app to
check his balance. He likes
to check it before going to
the ATM to withdraw cash
so that he can transfer
money between accounts if
necessary. Any failure in the
app annoys him as he has to
use phone banking and enter
his customer number.
John, 42 is a part time worker
and freelancer. The majority of
his time is spent using either a
laptop or smartphone. His life
is managed via Google apps,
contacts, social media and his
mobile phone.
He uses the Cloud to save
most things but forgets to
regularly back up his laptop.
There isn’t Powerful Wi-Fi
connection is critical, so that
he can work fast and watch
film/video/TV with his children
in his downtime.
Male, 30-49, 2+ devices, high
internet usage, cloud storage
reliant, visited your site less
than 3 times in last year.
Segment A: 30-49, heavy
internet, heavy cloud storage,
low frequency visitor.
WHEN TO USE
To define customers.
(internal & external use)
Performance evaluating.
(internal)
High level performance
reporting.
Informing propositions,
communications, planning etc.
Inform finessing of product/
service offerings.
Planning and optimising digital
activity.
In determining marketing
efforts.
Data analysis
Audience models are an important part of our brand marketing, but often we use them interchangeably. Knowing which model to use
is important in effectively targeting our audience, determining messaging and focusing on the right channels.
AUDIENCE PLANNING MATRIX
LEARN MORE
Visit our site and learn more about audience planning and how
we could help: www.digitalbalance.com.au
linkedin.com/company/digital-balance
twitter.com/dbsocialAU
Perth: (08) 9227 8073
Melbourne: (03) 90971699
hello@digitalbalance.com.au
TRANSFORMING
‘I THINK’ TO ‘I KNOW’

70. Questions?