A ContentEd+ Premium members session
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Personas might seem easy to create. But how do you create personas that actually get used?
Too often, personas become a one-off exercise. A workshop output. A beautifully designed document that quietly gathers dust while content decisions continue to be driven by instinct, internal opinion, or organisational structure. And rarely are they actually useful for content decisions!
So, how do we move beyond static profiles and create something that actively shapes content strategy and day-to-day decisions? Whether that's personas or a suite of audience-insight assets.
This hands-on workshop focuses on practical techniques to design, test and embed personas that are grounded in real audience insight and built for action.
Together, we’ll explore:
How to move from assumptions to evidence-based personas
Techniques for gathering and synthesising audience insight (even with limited time and budget)
Creating personas that reflect behaviours, needs and decision-making journeys - not just demographics
Writing persona profiles that are usable for content teams, not just interesting to read
Connecting personas directly to content planning, UX decisions and messaging
We’ll also work through practical exercises to:
Turn research and stakeholder insight into clear, actionable persona frameworks
Stress-test personas against real content challenges
Identify how personas can inform content types, formats and distribution
By the end of the session, you’ll have a set of approaches you can take straight back to your institution - helping you design content that is more focused, more relevant, and more effective.