Persona Development Agency for Higher Education, B2B and Healthcare

Knowing who your audience is doesn’t necessarily tell you what motivates them. A prospective student choosing a degree, a B2B executive evaluating a supplier, and a patient seeking healthcare may share demographic characteristics, but have very different goals, concerns and decision-making criteria.

At Elliance, we develop ideal customer profiles (ICPs) and audience personas to help organizations understand these differences. An ICP defines the types of prospective customers that are the best fit for an organization. Personas bring those audiences to life, revealing their motivations, aspirations, challenges and decision-making criteria.

The result is a more informed foundation for positioning, messaging, content strategy and digital marketing.

Our Process for Creating Higher Education Personas

1. Research: Develop audience hypothesis. Survey alumni, current students and industry insiders. Examine relevant admissions, CRM, search and paid-media data.
2. Synthesis: Identify patterns in audience motivations, aspirations, barriers and decision criteria. Develop personas and translate the findings into positioning and messaging.
3. Messaging & Optimization: Apply persona insights to content, campaigns and digital experiences. Test, measure results and refine the approach.

Higher Education Persona Example

A Michigan online college asked us to create personas for its adult online and grad students. Here is what we came up with:

Alina Gomez, seeker, age 22

“Once you find a purpose, change becomes a way of life.” 

• Chose to work for a few years to support her family and save up for further education.
• Immigrated from Mexico with her family at age 3 with her younger sister.
• Parents spoke no English before leaving Mexico. Alina learned English by watching American television and going to school.
• Selected for Summer Search college prep program as a sophomore at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. High School.
• Father died at 50 from misdiagnosed stomach infection.
• Mother works two jobs and is now a single mother to two.
• Motivated by altruism, passion, and heart.
• Exploring professions like Psychology, Human Services, and Social Work. 

Demeatria Jackson, reinventor – age 25 

“It’s hard to be what you don’t see” 

• Volunteer for National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association, CASA, working with children impacted by opioid crisis.
• Born in Detroit, MI.
• Had early volunteering experience with Alternatives For Girls Street Outreach.
• Attended CASS Technical High School.
• Influenced by her 9th grade experience with the University of Michigan Medical School Doctors of Tomorrow outreach program
• Follows Zendaya, actress/activist.
• Listens to gurltalk by Adwoa Aaboah.
• Interested in studying Biology, with hopes to go to medical school and become a doctor serving underprivileged populations 

Josh Felder, career changer, age 25 

“Been there. Done that. Now I want a real career where I make a difference.” 

• Works in an insurance company’s actuarial department, where he is close friends with the office’s Network Security Manager.
• First in the family to go to college.
• From a young age, his parents and teachers found that math came easily to him.
• Tinkered with programming and tech toys in River Rouge STEM Academy.
• Has a bachelor’s in mathematics.
• Has a strong interest in cybersecurity.
• Wants to get a Master’s in Information Technology and Cybersecurity. 

Marketing implication: Show how a graduate program builds on his mathematics degree and helps him transition into cybersecurity.

Jessica Boucher, degree finisher, age 33 

“Nurses are the hospitality of the hospital.” 

• Associate’s from Macomb Community College.
• Stay-at-home mother of two.
• Takes care of her aging parents who live nearby.
• Reads health blogs, follows interesting health links from Facebook.
• Sometimes catches Dr. Oz and Oprah — and listens to local talk radio show devoted to health.
• Admires nurses in her neighborhood and amongst friends.
• Loves Robert Wood Johnson Foundation videos on Nursing.
• Admires the role that the nursing staff played at Laguna Honda, a long-term care facility (as covered in the book titled “God’s Hotel”)
• Thinks Nursing may be her calling. 

Marketing implication: Emphasize program flexibility, manageable scheduling and the practical steps involved in returning to education while balancing family responsibilities.

Ephraim Carter, career advancer, age 28 

“Yes we can.” 

• Operations Manager at MI Department of Education.
• BBA from Cleary University.
• MBA from Central Michigan University
• Loves numbers, exploring policy issues, and connecting the dots between issues.
• Aspires to move into policymaking in higher education.
• Follows: Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and Kaufman Foundation
• Role models: Barack Obama and John Johnson
• Thinks the way forward in his professional development is through obtaining a DBA. 

Layla Aswad, change maker, age 27 

“Don’t get mad. Get smart.” 

• Supports family’s retail business.
• Born in Dearborn, MI.
• The oldest of three in a second-generation Syrian immigrant family.
• Majored in Business at Wayne State University.
• Interned at ACCESS – Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services while in college
• Role models: Linda Sarsour, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
• Follows Sarah Bahbah, artist and activist
• Believes she can drive change for the larger Arab American community in the Detroit area through Arab American Chamber of Commerce
• Is passionate about social justice and diversity.
• Goal is to get an MBA in leadership 

Personas become useful when they change the way an organization communicates. A working parent may need reassurance about flexibility and scheduling. A career changer may want to understand how existing experience translates into a new profession. An experienced manager may need a clear case for how an advanced degree supports the next stage of a career. Each persona informs a different set of messages, content priorities and conversion opportunities.

Turn Audience Insight Into Marketing Results:

The better you understand your audience, the better you can shape your strategy, sharpen your message and improve your results.

Elliance helps higher education institutions, B2B organizations, and healthcare providers turn audience research into actionable personas, strategic positioning, and more relevant marketing.

Let’s identify the audiences that matter most to your organization and develop a strategy around what motivates them.