How to Write Personas That Don’t Suck

We’ve all seen them. The stock-photo personas with cringey names like “Soccer Mom Jill” or “Tech-Savvy Tom.” Heavily focused on demographics and anecdotes, but light on genuine behavioral insights. These personas are easy to build and easy to ignore. Best Buy once bet on them—designing entire stores for “Jill,” a so-called suburban mom intimidated by tech. It made headlines, but didn’t generate the sales they were hoping for. They ditched this approach. We’ve also seen companies develop too many personas, which can dilute marketing efforts. 

Instead of sparking insight, bad personas create distance. But done well, personas can help teams get unstuck.

Personas Done Well

We recently worked with a client who needed personas to drive clarity for their marketing approach. 

Here’s what actually moved the needle:

• Prioritize human-centered data: We interviewed 40+ customers. We had actual, human conversations that surfaced unexpected insights
  
  

• Keep it focused: Out of thousands of users, we identified three core personas (and one was a subset).
  
  

• Mindset over demographics: It wasn’t about age or occupation—it was about how they think, behave, and buy. We included which demographics were more likely to fit into each mindset, but didn’t limit any persona to any particular demographic
  
  

• Use meaningful names: We labeled personas with evocative names based on their shared mentality, not “Emily, 38, works in HR and likes smoothies.”

The Value

Even though our client was already deeply familiar with their audience, these clear  personas gave them:

• A filter: “This is who we’re actually building for.”
  
  

• A decision point: Stick with this audience or pivot?
  
  

• Alignment: Everyone—from product to marketing—got on the same page.
  
  

And something else happened. Once we identified the “beachhead” customer, conversations lit up. The team started imagining how to welcome the next wave of users—people newer to the space, but curious. When personas are sharp, grounded, and specific, they help a team move from strategy to action.