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Rethinking Target Personas: Moving Beyond the C-Suite
Updated: Oct 18
A senior title alone does not identify the right audience for a B2B campaign. Start with the people who experience the problem, evaluate options, influence the choice, approve the spending, and use the solution. Those responsibilities may sit with different people.
Map the buying roles
Review recent opportunities with sales and the people involved in delivery. Ask who first recognized the need, who brought your company into the conversation, and who had to agree before a decision could move forward. Include opportunities that stalled or were lost, as well as wins.
Distinguish the user, internal champion, technical evaluator, budget owner, and final approver where those roles apply. A title can help identify a contact, but the person's role in the buying process is what should shape the message.
Connect the message to the person's work
Different participants may need different information. In an illustrative software purchase, an operational user might focus on workflow, an IT reviewer on integration and security requirements, and an executive sponsor on the business case. Confirm those priorities with the people involved rather than assuming every organization buys the same way.
Build content that helps each audience evaluate the decision. That might include an explanation of the problem, a product demonstration, implementation details, or a supported business case. Be clear about what the offering can and cannot do.
Decide when executive outreach is useful
Executive attention can matter when a purchase requires strategic sponsorship, affects several functions, or involves a significant commitment. It is less useful to pursue a senior audience simply because the titles look impressive in a campaign report.
When executives are part of the audience, connect the message to relevant business priorities and give them concise, credible information. Avoid guessing about personal ambitions or motivations. Plan how outreach will support the rest of the buying group.
Help the internal champion
A contact who values the solution may still need to explain it to colleagues. Provide accurate, shareable material that answers common questions about fit, effort, cost, and the next step. Make it easy to identify which questions require a conversation with your team.
Align marketing and sales on how contacts move through the process. Track whether the right people are engaging and whether opportunities are progressing, alongside activity measures such as clicks or downloads.
Keep personas open to revision
Treat personas as working assumptions. Review them when the offer, market, or buying process changes. Use customer and sales evidence to update the roles, questions, and objections that shape your marketing.
EAV helps B2B and B2G organizations clarify priority audiences, positioning, and the marketing work needed to support the buying process.
