Audience research
Part of Seven steps to stronger professional services marketing audience research
Check your buyer personas before you build the campaign
Buyer personas for professional services marketing go wrong when they describe a mood, not a buying process. Build five fields, evidence each one, and refresh them.
What to take away
- A persona earns its place only when it changes a decisionwhich channel, which message, which proof, which person you approach first.
- Build five fieldsdecision unit, trigger, buying process, objections, evidence sources.
- Evidence beats description. Every claim needs a source you can name, whether that is an interview, a CRM export or a published rule.
- Refresh on a schedule. Buying committees and referral habits move faster than most firms rewrite their collateral.
Why most personas fail
A persona that reads "Sarah, 44, ambitious, values trust" cannot be used. Nobody can brief a designer or a writer from it. The problem is that it describes a personality rather than a purchase.
A partner deciding whether to instruct counsel behaves differently from a finance director approving the fee. Same firm, different triggers, different proof. Treat them as separate people.
So write personas around decisions. Each one should answer a question a colleague will actually ask in a planning meeting. If it cannot, cut it.
The five fields that matter
Decision unit. Who signs, who influences, who blocks. Name roles, not job titles alone, because titles vary between firms of different sizes.
Five persona fields
- Decision unitwho signs, influences, blocks
- Triggerevent that starts a search
- Buying processhow the shortlist forms
- Objectionsfour or five reasons buyers stall
- Evidence sourceswhere each claim came from
Trigger. The event that starts a search: a tribunal claim, a refinancing, a regulatory deadline, a supplier dispute. Triggers predict timing better than demographics do.
Buying process. How the shortlist forms. Referral, panel review, tender, or a partner's existing relationship. Map the steps and note where firms commonly drop out.
Objections. The four or five reasons a buyer stalls: fee uncertainty, capacity doubts, conflicts, a preference for an incumbent.
Evidence sources. Where each claim came from and when it was checked. This field is what separates research from guesswork.
Gather evidence, not adjectives
Start with the clients you already have. Your engagement letters and matter records show which sectors repeat and which fee bands recur. That is data, not opinion.
Evidence before adjectives
- Start with existing clients and matter records
- Talk to buyers in structured interviews
- Line findings up against the wider market
- Handle personal data under ICO security guidance
Then talk to buyers. A structured interview programme beats a survey for this kind of work, because you need the reasoning behind a choice, not a score. Our guide to professional services marketing customer interviews sets out how to run those conversations without leading the witness.
Line the findings up against the wider market picture before you commit budget. The professional services marketing audience research guide shows how persona work fits with demand analysis and sector mapping.
Where you hold personal data on prospects and clients during this work, handle it under the ICO's security guidance for organisations, which covers the technical and organisational measures expected of you.
Where personas change the plan
Channel choice is the first place they bite. If your decision unit researches quietly before making contact, a broad awareness push wastes money. If they ask peers first, referral proof matters more than reach.
Message follows. A managing partner wants risk and precedent. An in-house lawyer wants speed and defensibility. Same service, two briefs.
Content format follows the buying process. Early-stage buyers want comparison material. Late-stage buyers want fee structure and timelines.
Social presence is part of this. A credible company page gives buyers somewhere to check you exist before they reply, and LinkedIn's own guide to creating a company page covers the basics of setting one up.
Keep them honest
Any published claim you make about your services, including in persona-led campaigns, sits under the advertising rules. The ASA's sanctions page explains what happens when a firm breaches them, which is worth reading before a claim goes live.
Review personas every twelve months, or sooner if your sector shifts. Set a named owner. A persona with no owner becomes a document nobody opens.
For example, a firm paying £600 a month for a persona project that never reaches the pitch team has bought a report, not a tool.
Glossary
- Decision unit:
- everyone who influences or approves a purchase.
- Trigger:
- the event that starts a buying process.
- Objection:
- a reason a buyer delays or declines.
- Evidence source:
- the named origin of a persona claim.
- Refresh cycle:
- the scheduled date for rechecking a persona.
Common questions
How many personas does a professional services firm need?
Usually three to five. Fewer than three rarely captures a mixed client base. More than five tends to be unmanageable for a small marketing team.
Can we build personas from CRM data alone?
No. Records show who bought and when, but not why they hesitated. Pair the data with interviews so the objections field is grounded.
Who should own the personas?
Someone close to business development, with a partner sponsor. Ownership by marketing alone often means the pitch team ignores the output.
How often should personas be reviewed?
Annually as a minimum. Review sooner after a merger, a regulatory change or a shift in how clients buy.
