Customer Persona Update — Healthcare & Allied Health Edition
A procedure for reviewing and updating patient personas to ensure they accurately represent the current target audience and inform marketing strategy.
Purpose
To maintain accurate and useful patient personas that reflect the evolving characteristics, needs, and behaviours of the target audience, ensuring marketing activities are properly targeted.
Scope
Covers the review and update of all patient personas used by the marketing, sales, and treatment teams for audience targeting and messaging.
Prerequisites
- Existing patient persona documentation
- Current patient data from CRM, analytics, and surveys
- Input from sales, patient service, and treatment teams
Includes safeguards for Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), Medicare compliance, and health record management under the My Health Records Act. All patient data handling follows AHPRA guidelines.
Step-by-Step Procedure
Gather Updated Patient Data
Collect the latest patient data from all available sources to inform the persona review.
- 1.1Extract patient demographic and behavioural data from the CRM system
- 1.2Review website analytics for audience characteristics and behaviour patterns
- 1.3Collect feedback from sales and patient service teams on patient trends
Analyse Patient Segments
Analyse the collected data to identify current patient segments, their characteristics, and any shifts from the existing personas.
- 2.1Segment the patient data by demographics, behaviour, and value
- 2.2Compare current segments against the existing persona definitions
- 2.3Identify new segments or significant changes in existing segments
Conduct Stakeholder Interviews
Interview key stakeholders from sales, patient service, and treatment teams to gather qualitative insights about patient changes.
- 3.1Schedule interviews with representatives from patient-facing teams
- 3.2Ask about changes in patient needs, objections, and buying behaviour
- 3.3Clinical record insights and themes from the interviews
Update Persona Profiles
Revise the persona documents to reflect the latest data and insights, updating demographics, goals, pain points, and buying behaviours.
- 4.1Update each persona with revised demographic and psychographic details
- 4.2Revise goals, challenges, and pain points based on current data
- 4.3Update preferred communication channels and content preferences
- 4.4Refresh the persona narrative and representative quotes
- Include real patient quotes and data points to make personas tangible and relatable
Review and Approve
Present the updated personas to the marketing team and leadership for review and approval.
- 5.1Present the updated personas with the supporting data and rationale for changes
- 5.2Collect feedback from the marketing and leadership teams
- 5.3Finalise the personas and obtain approval
Distribute and Train
Distribute the updated personas to all teams that use them and provide training on the changes.
- 6.1Publish the updated personas on the internal knowledge base
- 6.2Conduct a briefing session for marketing, sales, and treatment teams
- 6.3Update any tools or systems that reference persona data
Quality Checkpoints
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Expected Outcomes
Whether personas have been reviewed and updated within the scheduled cycle, typically annually.
Extent to which updated personas are referenced and used in marketing campaign planning.
Frequently Asked Questions
What data sources should inform persona updates?
Use a combination of CRM data, website analytics, patient surveys, sales team feedback, patient service interactions, and market research to build a comprehensive view of each persona.
How many personas should we have?
Most organisations benefit from three to five core personas. Too few may be too generic, while too many become difficult to manage and apply consistently.
How often should personas be updated?
Personas should be reviewed at least annually and updated whenever significant changes are observed in patient behaviour, market conditions, or business strategy.
Want this customised for YOUR business?
We'll tailor every step to your exact operations, tools, and team structure.