Piercing Personas with Tools from English 101 - PowerPoint Presentation

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Piercing Personas with Tools from English 101

Stephen Outten

@

StephenOuttenSlide2

Introduction

Stephen Outten

Content Strategy Manager for YourCareEverywhere@StephenOuttenBackground in product marketing, segment marketing, content marketing, and social media marketing

Psychological studies are demonstrating that literary fiction readers not only gain a cognitive boost over people who scan Twitter or newspapers, but they also have a greater empathic understanding of humans than readers of popular fiction. Today we’ll explore these implications on marketing

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The Studies

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Experiment participants either read a piece of literary fiction or popular fiction then identified facial emotions solely through the eyes. Those who read literary fiction scored consistently higher, by about 10%.

There’s Something About Your EyesSlide5

One critical difference between literary and popular fiction is the extent to which the characters are complex, ambiguous, and difficult to get to know—as opposed to stereotyped and

two-dimensional characters.

Keep It Complicated, StupidSlide6

The process of trying to understand what literary characters are feeling and the motives behind them is the same in our relationships with other people.  

The Journey is the RewardSlide7

Applying critical reading skills to the real world makes sense because "the same psychological processes are used to navigate fiction and real relationships.”

It’s Not All In Your HeadSlide8

Literary fiction

is not just a simulator of a social experience.

It is a social experience.Slide9

The Writer’s PersonaSlide10

Powerful literature features complex characters who drive relentlessly toward—or against—a goal.

As the psychology studies show us, people are no different

.Literature is PowerSlide11

The most important lesson I’ve gleaned from the many creative writing workshops I’ve taken can be applied to our day-to-day worlds of healthcare marketing

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If You Take Away Nothing ElseSlide12

Imagining and bringing to life a persona requires a creative process much like writing a fictional character.

There are templates, best

practices, and feedback from the field, but when you distill writing marketing personas to its core, a persona is someone who wants.Marketing Can Be Creative WritingSlide13

These insights are not intended to replace your current persona-building methodologies, but to enhance them with a unique blend of scientific- and creativity-based perspectives.

To that end, what follows is the simplest but most effective character-building exercise I performed in any creative writing workshop.

I’ve modified it for persona-building.PERSONA is an ADJECTIVE NOUN who wants THING.Example: The Patient Experience Officer is a 45-year-old woman

 who wants 

to fundamentally change how patients interact with hospital staff at every encounter

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Creative Persona ExerciseSlide14

Case Study:

YourCareEverywhereSlide15

What does a consumer want from a health content site?

It Started with a QuestionSlide16

Leah

is a

first-time mom who wants to know whether her 12-month-old’s midnight fever is a result of teething or of an illness.Whose Answer Became Our Starting PointSlide17

Evolution of Health Consumer Personas

Preliminary Personas

Engaged Active

Family and Caregivers

Anxious Well

Chronically Ill

Refined Personas

Engaged Active

Family (Mom)

Anxious Well

Caregiver

of someone elderly or with a chronic illness

Chronically Ill

with a manageable illness

Chronically Ill

with a serious illnessSlide18

I’m the family doctor, and the Internet is my nurse.

Persona: Family (Mom)Slide19

User Scenario: Family (Mom)Slide20

YourCareEverywhereSlide21

Persona-Driven ContentSlide22

Stephen Outten

@

StephenOuttenStephen.Outten@yourcareuniverse.comYourCareEverywhere.com@YourCareEQuestions?