If there’s anything marketers love more than overused buzzwords and cold brew, it’s obsessing over their audience. And for good reason: knowing who you’re selling to (and why they care) is the backbone of any respectable marketing strategy.
Enter buyer personas and ICPs — those charming, semi-fictional characters we invent to represent our ideal customers. They wear blazers, make decisions, and definitely read whitepapers before bed.
But here’s the twist: everyone has a different opinion on what makes a good persona. Some swear by psychographics. Others dig through CRM data like it’s an archeological dig. And then there are those who just make educated guesses and pray to the Marketing Gods.
Lucky for you, we’ve collected 11 perspectives from marketing pros who don’t just guess. These folks have built, refined, and wielded buyer personas and ICPs like sharp tools in a tactical toolkit. And they’ve got opinions. Great ones.
Let’s get into it.
1. Let Real-World Insights Lead the Way
Julie Woon from Codal doesn’t start with speculation. She starts with data.
Her team digs into age, gender, job title, and even has direct conversations with customers to color in their personas. They pair that with online research and competitor snooping. Why guess when you can just ask?
2. Pain Points Are The Gold
Sera Churn from Virtudesk took a different path: start with what annoys your audience.
Her team targeted real estate agents because they were real estate agents. That insider POV helped them laser in on the pain: too much admin, not enough selling. Persona success? Delivered.
3. Focus on ROI, Not Vanity Metrics
Chris Mancik of Mil-Speak Marketing gets spicy.
Too many teams chase touchpoints and impressions. He uses buyer personas and ICPs to go deeper—past the noise and into actual customer psychology. The result? Leaner campaigns with way more punch.
4. Use ICPs to Shape Products
Jenny Mae at DataHyv doesn’t stop at marketing. She uses ICPs to guide product development.
Her team digs into what the best-fit customers need, then tailors the actual service or product to match. Because what good is a perfect ad if the thing you’re selling isn’t what they want?
5. Talk to Your Customers (It’s Not That Scary)
Amber Theurer from ivee swears by one-on-one convos.
Yes, surveys are fine. But deep, candid feedback from top customers? That’s where the juice is. Personas should evolve as your audience does—not collect digital dust in a strategy deck.
6. Make ICPs Your Paid Media BFFs
Lee Dussinger from WebTeck nails the link between personas and paid ads.
Concrete ICPs allow your paid campaigns to shine. You’re not just guessing what your audience wants—you know, because you listened to sales calls and combed through traits that matter.
7. One Size Doesn’t Fit All
Miguel González of Dealer’s League reminds us: each service needs its own persona.
The local SEO guy? Not the same as the nationwide eComm manager. Refresh your personas annually and get specific. Like tax season, it’s a pain—but ignoring it will cost you.
8. Go Deep or Go Home
Devin Schumacher from SERP gets philosophical. Demographics are just the start.
Real personas require you to get inside your audience’s heads. What motivates them? What do they value? Where do they actually go for answers? Spoiler: it’s not always LinkedIn.
9. Personas and ICPs Serve Different Purposes
Brogan Renshaw of Firewire Digital breaks it down simply.
Use personas to craft messaging. Use ICPs to target campaigns and measure value. Confusing the two is like using a butter knife to chop onions. Wrong tool, wrong results.
10. Personas Are a Marketing Art Form
Jaimin Dave from attri says creating personas is as much art as it is science.
You need data, yes. But also intuition. Know what people search, what they say, what they mean. Think like a customer. Stalk like a marketer.
11. Use Personas to Build a Customer-Centered Business
Saad Qureshi from Ivacy reminds us of the real goal.
Personas aren’t about selling more. They’re about aligning your entire business to serve people better. From product dev to customer success, personas make you more empathetic. And that, friends, is the real growth hack.
So, What’s the Takeaway?
Buyer personas and ICPs aren’t meant to be static slides in a dusty strategy deck.
They should evolve—just like your market, customers, and competition.
Here’s what matters most:
✅ No single formula works for everyone Every marketer, every team, and every industry sees personas through a different lens—and that’s a good thing.
✅ Personas should be living, breathing tools Not vanity documents. When rooted in real data and updated regularly, they guide messaging, campaigns, and product decisions.
✅ Use the right tools to stay agile Platforms like BuyerTwin let you build dynamic personas that adapt in real time, giving your team an edge with every insight.
If your current personas aren’t keeping up, it’s not your fault. You just need a smarter system.