3
WHAT THEY ARE
The concept of a persona has been around since ancient Roman times , when it described a
mask worn by an actor to por tray a specific role.
S ince then , the term has cropped up in per forming ar ts , literature, and psychology before finally
making an appearance in the field of marketing sometime in the 9 0s . B ut it 's only ver y recently
that marketing personas have star ted to gain traction .
In fact , G oogle Trends suggests that no one was searching for " buyer personas" before 2007.
And The B uyer Persona Institute wasn't even founded until 2010.
Yet suddenly, today, they 're ever y where. If you're a marketer, you're either hearing about them ,
talking about them , or wondering how much longer you can coast along without them . H ow did
personas become the latest must- have marketing tool? And do they actually live up to the hype?
1 ITS M A O nline Sur vey: Increasing Relevance With B uyer Personas and B2I M arketing , 2014 .
2 Curata , C ontent M arketing Staffing & Tactic s Study, 2016 .
A Brief History of Personas
ANCIENT TIMES 1950 1990 2014 2016
R o m a n acto rs u s e
"p e rs o n a s" to b e c o m e
d if fe re nt p e o p l e o n stag e .
J u n g i a n p syc h o l o g ists
a n d m o d e rn ist p o ets
u s e p e rs o n a s to ta p
into reve a lin g h u m a n
a rc h et y p e s .
U X d e s i g n e rs a n d th e
m a rketin g va n g u a rd u s e
p e rs o n a s to u n d e rsta n d
a n d g u i d e p e o p l e's
b e h av i o rs in d if fe re nt
e nv iro n m e nts .
N e a rly h a lf (4 4%)of
m a rkete rs u s e p e rs o n a s
to g u i d e a n d info rm
in b o u n d (a n d o utb o u n d)
m a rketin g strate g i e s .
1
N e a rly t wo -th ird s (6 3 %)
of m a rkete rs c re ate
m a rketin g c o nte nt u s in g
b u ye r p e rs o n a s .
2
