Passed on 7 April, 2025

2. Customer personas

This lesson introduces customer segmentation and customer/buyer personas, and how they can help you create meaningful connections with target audiences by crafting tailored messaging and content.

✅ Learning objectivesBy the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:Understand types of customer segmentation and why it's important.Build customer personas for a business.

Learning objectives

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:

Understand types of customer segmentation and why it's important.

Build customer personas for a business.

Customer segmentation

Customer segmentation helps ensure that you can reach the right people with the right message, optimising marketing efforts and driving engagement—improving customer retention and getting more from your marketing budget.

So, what is customer segmentation?

Customer segmentation is the process of dividing a broad audience into smaller groups based on characteristics like demographics, location, interests, behaviours, and needs. It can help you reach your ideal audience and tailor your content for maximum impact.

Types of customer segmentation

Customer segmentation can take different forms, each focusing on unique aspects of your audience.

Demographic

Demographic segmentation focuses on customer characteristics such as age, gender, education, and occupation.Example:A travel agency may target younger people for an under-30s holiday.

Example:A travel agency may target younger people for an under-30s holiday.

Geographic

Geographic segmentation groups customers based on their location, such as city, region, or country.Example:An e-commerce store may promote specific products only in regions where they are available for delivery.

Example:An e-commerce store may promote specific products only in regions where they are available for delivery.

Psychographic

Psychographic segmentation considers customer values, interests, and lifestyle choices.Example:A camping equipment company targets adventurous travellers interested in sustainability by promoting eco-friendly tents.

Example:A camping equipment company targets adventurous travellers interested in sustainability by promoting eco-friendly tents.

Behavioural

Behavioural segmentation groups customers based on their behaviours, such as purchasing habits, product usage, or online activity.Example:A gym may offer discounts to frequent members and different promotions to occasional visitors.

Example:A gym may offer discounts to frequent members and different promotions to occasional visitors.

Why is segmentation important?

Understanding these segmentation types allows you to tailor marketing strategies effectively, allowing greater impact and reach.

Save time and resources

By focusing efforts on high-potential groups, businesses avoid wasting resources on uninterested audiences.

Personalise marketing messages

Tailoring content for specific segments increases relevance and engagement.

Improve advertising

Online advertising platforms allow precise targeting based on audience data (e.g., location or interests) and help support compliance with regulations like the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Drive better customer engagement

Segmentation helps deliver the right message to the right people at the right time.

How a furniture company’s segmentation transformed their campaign

Find out how a furniture company discovered surprising audience insights and maximised results with smart segmentation.

What did they find?

The furniture company initially believed their audience was primarily women aged 25-44, based on social media engagement. But through tools like Google Ads, they found 45% of their customers were male, and the average age was 44—shattering their assumptions.

How did they react?

The furniture company divided their audience into three groups for testing:ParentsNon-parentsMature audiencesBy customising their content, they aimed to deliver the right message to each segment and uncover what truly resonated.

Parents

Non-parents

Mature audiences

By customising their content, they aimed to deliver the right message to each segment and uncover what truly resonated.

What were the results?

Using audience insights, the furniture company achieved 2x higher YouTube views, increased branded searches, and 20% growth in brand awareness across Europe—proving the power of data-driven segmentation for more effective campaigns.

AI Assistance

Segmentation can feel challenging, but many marketing tools have built-in AI assistants and tools to help you identify customer needs, trends, and challenges across touchpoints and adjust your messaging.You’ll learn more about this in theAnalyticsmodule.

You’ll learn more about this in theAnalyticsmodule.

Customer personas

Customer personas are fictional profiles that represent different groups of customers within your target audience. By visualising your audience as individual personas, you can connect with them more meaningfully and tailor your messaging to address their unique challenges.

Key components of customer personas

Let’s examine how creating customer personas helps businesses reach their ideal audience and customise content for maximum impact.

Who

Provide a brief description, including the customer’s name, age, location, occupation, and household situation.Example:Mia is a 29-year-old marketing manager who works remotely from her small city apartment. She’s currently looking for ergonomic home office furniture.

Example:Mia is a 29-year-old marketing manager who works remotely from her small city apartment. She’s currently looking for ergonomic home office furniture.

Goal

Identify what the persona wants to achieve through your product or service.Example:Mia wants an adjustable office chair that provides all-day comfort and improves her posture during long work hours.

Example:Mia wants an adjustable office chair that provides all-day comfort and improves her posture during long work hours.

Barrier

Describe the challenges or obstacles preventing the customer from achieving their goal.Example:Mia struggles to find an ergonomic chair that fits her limited apartment space without compromising on comfort or style.

Example:Mia struggles to find an ergonomic chair that fits her limited apartment space without compromising on comfort or style.

Campaign message

Create a message that directly addresses the persona’s barrier by offering a clear solution.Example:‘Compact comfort – the perfect chair for your small space.’

Example:‘Compact comfort – the perfect chair for your small space.’

Create your own customer persona

Spend some time completing the activity on this page. It will provide a foundation for the lessons that follow. Keep your persona handy, as we’ll revisit it later in theCreating digital contentlesson.

✅ ActivityUse this checklist to build your own customer persona. In the box below, write down the details based on a target audience relevant to your business or product or a business you know, or simply invent one.Check the items off as you go.Who:Name, age, location, household, and education.Goals:What does this persona want to achieve with your product or service?Barriers:What challenges or obstacles are preventing them from reaching their goals?

Activity

Use this checklist to build your own customer persona. In the box below, write down the details based on a target audience relevant to your business or product or a business you know, or simply invent one.

Who:Name, age, location, household, and education.

Goals:What does this persona want to achieve with your product or service?

Barriers:What challenges or obstacles are preventing them from reaching their goals?

Download PDF

Enhance your persona with AI

When finished, go to your preferred AI assistant or tool to build out your persona further.AI assistants like Gemini or ChatGPT can provide tailored insights and ideas, helping you create detailed and actionable customer profiles.

AI assistants like Gemini or ChatGPT can provide tailored insights and ideas, helping you create detailed and actionable customer profiles.

Check your knowledge

It's time for you to check and reflect on what you’ve learned about customer personas.You must complete the knowledge check to move to the next lesson.

You must complete the knowledge check to move to the next lesson.

Turbocharge Alex’s strategy

Alex is a mechanic who owns a garage and writes blog posts about cars. Despite his passion, his content hasn’t gained traction online. Alex has identified four actions to improve his blog, but he’s unsure which to prioritise. Can you help Alex arrange these steps in the correct order?

Find out who his audience is

Segment his audience into groups

Create or adapt specific content targeted to these audience profiles

Publish the content and promote it to his audience

Submit

Yes.First, Alex needs to identify his audience, and then group them into segments. With these insights, he can create tailored content that speaks directly to each group’s needs. Finally, he should publish the content and promote it to his audience for maximum engagement.

Lesson complete

Great job!You now understand how to create detailed customer personas that help you identify your audience, define their goals, and address their barriers.Head to the next lesson, where we’ll explore customer buying behaviours.

You now understand how to create detailed customer personas that help you identify your audience, define their goals, and address their barriers.Head to the next lesson, where we’ll explore customer buying behaviours.

Head to the next lesson, where we’ll explore customer buying behaviours.

2. Customer personas ​

Learning objectives ​

Customer segmentation ​

So, what is customer segmentation? ​

Types of customer segmentation ​

Why is segmentation important? ​

Save time and resources ​

Personalise marketing messages ​

Improve advertising ​

Drive better customer engagement ​

How a furniture company’s segmentation transformed their campaign ​

What did they find? ​

How did they react? ​

What were the results? ​

AI Assistance ​

Customer personas ​

Key components of customer personas ​

Who ​

Goal ​

Barrier ​

Campaign message ​

Create your own customer persona ​

Activity ​

Enhance your persona with AI ​

Check your knowledge ​

Turbocharge Alex’s strategy ​

Lesson complete ​