The whole point of personas, especially buyer personas, is to tell a story about customers. If storytelling sounds too fluffy for the workplace consider these two points: (1) data—including all that expensive market research—is dry, dull, drab, dreary, dusty, and difficult to digest; and (2) humans are hardwired for narrative.
Stephen Gould, the great evolutionary biologist, called humans “the primate who tells stories.” Because storytelling was one of our first forms of communication, we humans have thousands of years of genetic experience digesting information in narrative format. Quite simply, we have come to crave stories. You can observe the result of this hunger and narrative expertise the next time you are in a room where “serious” business has been discussed and someone says, “Bear with me while I tell you a story.” Take a look around to see if people’s body language changes. Do they sit back in their seats, pick up their mugs, or generally show signs of settling in and relaxing to listen? Do they put their pens down, perhaps because they know a story will be easy to listen to, understand, and remember? We process information best when it is presented in narrative form. We can recall it better later, too. And perhaps most importantly, we enjoy it.
Scientist and storyteller Kendal Haven, in Story Proof: The Science Behind the Startling Power of Story, says “I have reviewed over 350 research studies from fifteen separate fields of science. Incredibly, every one of those studies, as well as every study they cite—every one—agrees that stories are an effective and efficient vehicle for . . . the general communication of factual information . . . .” (p. 4) He goes on to explain how he changed his career as a scientist to that of a storyteller because he recognized that no one wanted to read his factual reports. Today he teaches scientists how to write stories about their research.
If scientists are investigating stories and using them to communicate information, marketers should find it easy to embrace their power. As marketers, we know that stories are important; we use them all the time to communicate with customers. Yet many of us feel reluctant to use stories as internal communication tools. We need to get past that stigma. Personas are a tool to disseminate research in the form of fictional but accurate stories that our colleagues will easily understand and immediately use. Because market research is often overwhelming or quickly forgotten, personas and scenarios may be the best way to mine value from that research. Personas are great at taking a mass of information and both simplifying it and holding the pertinent complexity of the data. Personas and scenarios are the communication tool that can make research memorable, relevant, and focused.
As storytelling advocate Andy Goodman says, “Numbers numb, jargon jars, and nobody ever marched on Washington because of a pie chart." But we are all captivated by stories. So don't be shy about telling stories at work. Dig into the customer data and use buyer personas to make it come alive.
