Buyer Personas and their Motives for Social Media Activities
The aim of this research paper is to analyse the provided case study named Magpie: developing and using buyer personas and exploring the various implications of the involvement of buyer persona into the social commerce footprints.
Discussing the possible motives for participation in social media activities (i.e. social publishing and social commerce footprints) for each buyer’s persona and its implication
A buyer persona can be regarded to be a fictional representation of the ideal clients and the target customer groups of organizations. Based on the basic outline of buyer personas, the Magpie team decided the analysis four customer personas through criteria’s such as blogging lifestyle, current monetization strategy, buying journey and most salient value proposition.
Hobbyist Harry, early-stage hobby blogger– The possible motives for entering into social publishing for the new bloggers are mainly based on value integrity and showcasing authentic creations instead of focusing entirely on the business lining. Since blogging is an unusual part-time endeavour for these personas, they strive far away from experiencing monetization out of their content [1].
Web Wendy, tech savvy entrepreneur- The blogging personas frequently channel their identities as entrepreneurs who are into running a small and medium business in the fashion industry. They can be regarded as the early or the middle stage bloggers and has a serious chance of taking blogging further as a full-fledged career option. The main motivation behind these personas to be a part of social media activities like blogging is to earn within the process of commercialising the contents like fashion, writing and styling. It can be said that bloggers into the persona of Web Wendy are equipped with technical knowledge and a sheer will to explore further unlike the strict fashion bloggers [2].
Full-time Faye, hobby blogger making income- It can be said that these personas belong from the category of the mid-to-late stage bloggers, several of whom, might have already become successful full-time bloggers. The motivation behind these personas is the significant monetary benefits that have been received by them in substantial periods. The acknowledgement of their efforts makes them more interested in focusing on their specific genre of content delivery.
Big-League Beth, successful large scale blogger- These personas are considered to be big leagues for the sole reason for receiving a high set of followers in the social media platforms due to their consistency in maintaining quality and quantity of content delivery. The multiple monetization solutions are often observed to be used by these bloggers and often rely on the promotion of sponsored content even from the biggest brands in the market. The influence of these personas reaches so high in social media activities that they are often found to have hired assistance to get help in content production and management [1].
Reflecting on the specific archetypes of social media participation identified in the literature, and information in the case study explaining the specific segments that each buyer’s persona represent.
Following the contents of the case study closely it has been learnt that social media archetypes are regarded as the different kinds of personalities that are reflected by the consumers and the contribution each consumer persona enforces in creating social media engagement for the brands are listed as-
Social Media Archetypes and their Representation by Buyer Personas
Key Influencers- The key influencers are considered to be one of the leading archetypes within the domains of social media circles considering the high rate of viewer engagements managed by them on a daily basis [2]. From analysing the case study, the personas that are representing this archetype is the Big-League Beth, a successful large scale blogger. The primary focus of these personas is to represent the huge followers that they have gained over time and the power of influencing a huge mass at once.
Engagers- The engagers ate the second in line of the most valuable social media archetypes that are vehemently directed towards helping the audiences to get engaged in discovering their personalities. The influencers supposedly share a big reach of audiences in a wider circle, on the other hand, the engagers also enjoy a big reach but in a stringently inner circle [3]. The engagers are considered to be fairly opinionated and often emphasizes a specific field of interest. The buyer persona that predominately represents the engagers community is Hobbyist Harry, an early-stage hobby blogger who is interested in presenting authenticity through shared opinions.
Standard Consumers- This section of the social media archetype mostly operates in an offline influencing mode as well as share the contents in the digital domains. The main goal of such influencing is through the traditional concept of “word of mouth” [4]. The identified buyer persona that can be noted from the Magpie case study which is capable of representing this genre of social media engagement is the Full-time Faye, hobby blogger making income considering the privilege of monetary benefits enjoyed by these sections of bloggers.
Multichannel consumers- The multichannel customer archetypes are the most flexible as they can operate engaging customers through variations in content as well as managing different modes influencing even at large groups [5]. The most appropriate buyer persona that can represent this archetype is the Web Wendy, tech savvy entrepreneur. This buyer persona is regarded as the most efficient considering the flexibility in dealing with different contents and the knowledge shared about technology.
Identifying the reasons for a combination of needs that may have a unique relevance for the identified personas’ motivations to be engaged with Magpie based on consumer needs and motivation theory
Marketing in the present times can be considered to be a scientific method that deals with understanding the various needs and demands of the consumers for adjusting the product features and characteristics to influence the buyer behaviours of the targeted groups [5]. The identified buyer personas and the possible reasons for motivating them to engage with Magpie are subsequently analysed from a critical outlook within the domains of the most popular customer needs and motivation theory-
The Motivation-Need Theory- Maslow’s motivation-needs theory is regarded as the most popular theory to analyse the various kinds of needs that are experienced by human beings. The relevance of the motivation-need theory with forecasting social media actions is directed towards entailing the promotional messages into the thought process of the consumers by creating a scenario of artificial needs [6].
Identifying Motivations for Buyer Personas to Engage with Magpie
The EKB Model- The Engel, Kollet, Blackwell (EKB) Model, defines the consumer behaviour through a detailed five-step process that ascertains the actions reflected by the consumers from the beginning of conceptualization of the idea of purchase till the actual step. It is noted that the consumers usually step into the decision making process after a period of thinking in order to choose the products that are most convincing. The main role played by the engagers and influencers associated with the marketing strategies of Magpie, efficiently meddle with to change the course of thinking towards purchasing Magpie products.
Hawkins Stern Impulse Buying- The theory of impulse buying proposed by Hawkins Stern signifies four basic categories of buying, which are directed by sheer impulse, reminded impulse, suggested impulse and planned impulse. These impulses are executed by the consumers depending upon the different circumstances and elements of promotion that are applied by the marketers. This theory of addressing customer needs provides a competitive advantage to the marketers to capture the impulsive thoughts of the consumers through several factors like the packaging to promotional strategies [7].
Theory of Reasoned Action- Martin Fishbein’s Theory of Reasoned Action proposes that the critical decisions making of the customers are influenced through the several engagement actions that have been implemented by Magpie. Social media plays an important role with the help of the different archetypes Magpie focus on attracting the interest of the consumers towards certain products or services. The learnt information through the social cycle plays a major role in influencing consumer decision making which determines the intention of the consumers in terms of purchase [6].
Identifying which persona would be best for Magpie to target initially? Why? Which buyer’s persona should Magpie target next? Why? What are the business implications for priorities and sequencing?
Following the arguments presented in the case study about the differences in opinion in targeting either the Web Wendy’s or the fledged bloggers, targeting the Web Wendy at the initial level is going to be profitable for Magpie solutions. It is due to their capability of them providing sophistication in the content delivery from their immense knowledge [1]. The most crucial reason to target the web Wendy is for the low demand for money which is going to be financially beneficial for Magpie, alongside that, the other reason would be her understanding of the statistics and well-researching abilities alongside active participation in the blogger community.
At the later course of the business, Magpie can consider targeting the Big-League Beth or the large scale bloggers to facilitate the volume of activation by reaching out to a large group of consumers through the huge follower base of these bloggers. Considering the high scale operations of the large scale influencers it is going to be difficult right at the beginning to convince them to work for Magpie [2]. Once Magpie reaches a stable position in terms of quality, targeting the large scale bloggers is going to help the company prioritize big scale events like fashion magazine launches that are going to provide the publishers with a huge reader base.
Consumer Needs and Motivation Theory
Sequencing and prioritizing are generally defined as the process in which the order of actions is arranged to follow a successive order in terms of importance and benefits. It is regarded to be a crucial part of business planning since an organized list of activities helps the management to plan the different activities that need to be fulfilled by the organisation for most profit [8]. The major business implications associated with prioritizing and sequencing are likely to be associated with Magpie are-
Increased Productivity and Efficiency- Planning the workload to achieve short-run goals is going to help Magpie focus on the long terms activities with improve the efficiency of production. Even though setting long term goals are usually appreciated for organizational success, focusing on the short term requirements often helps improve the business [9].
Open new opportunities- Since Magpie is going to focus on the tasks that need the most attention after proper sequencing, the chances of discovering bigger opportunities will significantly open up for the future.
Reduce Stress and Anxiety- Once the owners of Magpie start sequencing the workload, it subsequently helps them manage the time of work, which would result in reducing the level of work-related stress [9].
Reflecting on the consumer self-concept theory, justifying what messaging/value proposition should Magpie use to communicate with the priority persona? Why? Which marketing vehicles being considered should Magpie use with the priority persona?
Self-concept is generally considered a complex process of gaining a sense of self-awareness within individuals. Analysing the concept of consumer behaviour, it can be considered that the theory directs the impulse of the consumers to act upon their attitudes of identifying with their self-image. The implication of the concept is significantly focused on addressing the various ideas of value proposition and messages that essentially needs to be communicated to the prioritised personas [10]. The theory portrays the multidimensional areas of consumer behaviour that is the main concern that needs to be addressed by the companies through effective social media marketing and promotional strategies. The owners of Magpie Solutions have significantly chalked out two personas that they would be addressing at an initial level as well as for planning long-term actions for expanding the business.
The message or idea of a value proposition that Magpie has been looking forward to communicating with Wendy is about the significant strong means of monetizing the content and increasing the engagement with the readers simply promoting the product tagging process. In the case of Big-League Beth, the monetary benefits by updating the HTML code of her website and tagging the product line using the tagging tool provided by Magpie itself which is as simple as dragging a tag over a picture [1]. Magpie would also provide both of them valuable data about readers’ interactions which would optimize their contents enabling them to track the responses. This value proposition is going to be mutually beneficial for both the influencers and the company to increase their reach over the digital media.
It is advisable that out of the considered marketing vehicles Magpie should proceed with the content marketing with Wendy considering her multipurpose approaches in dealing with content. She has shown interest in publishing write-ups as promotional activities apart from concentrating on any specific genre. Most importantly her active participation in the bloggers’ community is going to optimize different kinds of content shared on behalf of Magpie [11]. On the other hand, channel partnership is going to be beneficial to deal with Beth since the partnership with renowned brands like Digital Brand Architects (DBA) going to direct genuine interest of established bloggers for maintaining reputation and Magpie will also be getting an opportunity to work with multiple influencers, thus reach a huge customer base in a smooth process.
References
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