{"id":23663,"date":"2025-03-20T16:15:13","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T21:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/?post_type=insight&#038;p=23663"},"modified":"2025-06-11T23:56:34","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T04:56:34","slug":"the-severance-guide-to-marketing-personas","status":"publish","type":"insight","link":"https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/insights\/the-severance-guide-to-marketing-personas\/","title":{"rendered":"The Severance Guide to Marketing Personas: Stop Treating Your Customers Like \u201cInnies\u201d\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In the hit TV show, <em>Severance<\/em>, Lumon employees exist in two completely separate realities. One version exists as their \u201cInnie\u201d work self, who spends their days refining ominous-looking numbers in a fluorescent-lit dystopia. The other, lovingly referred to as their \u201cOutie\u201d self, goes about their life with no memory of what happens at work.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s a fascinating (and mildly terrifying) concept. It\u2019s also a pretty accurate metaphor for how most marketers treat personas.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Too often, marketing teams operate under the assumption that they\u2019re selling to \u201cInnies\u201d, or work-focused professionals who exist in a neat little vacuum. They assume these buyers make purchasing decisions based purely on logic, efficiency, and ROI.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But in reality? <strong>You\u2019re marketing to unsevered people.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your audience doesn\u2019t check their personal experiences, fears, and biases at the door when they log into their work email. They bring their entire selves, which includes career ambitions, risk tolerance, industry skepticism, and, yes, the occasional existential spiral about whether they should have gone to law school instead.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your B2B personas don\u2019t reflect that complexity? Your marketing will be about as effective as Lumon\u2019s team-building exercises, which are deeply unsettling and wildly out of touch. That\u2019s why knowing how to create marketing personas that account for both logic and emotion is crucial for modern marketing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The &#8220;Innie vs. Outie&#8221; Problem \u2013 Why Many Personas Fall Short&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-image stk-block-image stk-block stk-617149e\" data-block-id=\"617149e\"><style>.stk-617149e {max-width:700px !important;min-width:auto !important;}<\/style><figure><span class=\"stk-img-wrapper stk-image--shape-stretch\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"stk-img wp-image-23675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1-2.png\" width=\"2000\" height=\"500\" alt=\"Key Idea: Most B2B personas focus too narrowly on professional pain points while ignoring personal motivations, aspirations, and human factors.\u00a0\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1-2.png 2000w, https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1-2-300x75.png 300w, https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1-2-1024x256.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1-2-768x192.png 768w, https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1-2-1536x384.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><\/span><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the most unsettling things about <em>Severance, <\/em>aside from the unnervingly polite corporate cult vibes, is that Innies only exist at work. No personal life, no hobbies, no embarrassing middle school memories to haunt them at 2 AM. Just pure, unfiltered productivity.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And yet, this is exactly how many marketing teams build personas.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Marketers love clean, one-dimensional profiles that make people sound like work-obsessed AI assistants.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>CIOs want innovation.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Developers care about efficiency.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Compliance officers think about security 24\/7.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>At least, that\u2019s what the glossy persona slide deck says.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But let\u2019s be real. <strong>Nobody is this predictable<\/strong>. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/insights\/cybersecurity-perspective-ciso-cmo\/\">CISO evaluating a security solution<\/a> isn\u2019t just thinking, \u201cDoes this meet my company\u2019s needs?\u201d. They\u2019re also thinking:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How much of a nightmare will this be to implement?&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If this fails, will I be looking for a new job next quarter?&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Will my boss finally approve my budget, or am I about to enter another 45-minute debate with the CFO?&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do I really have time to sit through ANOTHER vendor webinar today?&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>They\u2019re not the only ones weighing in. Today\u2019s enterprise purchases involve multiple stakeholders, each with their own priorities, making the decision-making process even more complex. A CISO may be focused on risk mitigation, but a CFO is looking at cost reduction, while a VP of Product is evaluating speed-to-market.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Buying decisions aren\u2019t just about logic. Career risks, internal politics, and personal biases play a much bigger role in B2B purchasing than most marketers assume. In fact, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/1914185\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a study by <strong>Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman<\/strong><\/a> found that emotions drive about 90 percent of our decisions, while logic accounts for only 10 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your personas don\u2019t account for emotional drivers, you risk marketing to a decision-maker who only exists on paper and lives in an idealized B2B dreamscape where decisions are made purely on rational analysis.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\u2019s not how the real world works.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What this means for marketers:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Think beyond job titles<\/strong>. Not all CISOs think the same way (try saying that five times fast). One might be risk-averse and need overwhelming proof; another might want to be seen as a trailblazer in their space.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Factor in external pressures<\/strong>. Are they fighting for budget? Trying to build internal credibility? Making a decision that could impact their career long-term?&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Understand trust levels<\/strong>. Are they an early adopter, or do they need three Gartner reports and a s\u00e9ance before they\u2019ll consider switching vendors?&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Personas should capture the reality of human decision-making, <\/strong>not just job titles and pain points, but motivations, fears, and the external pressures that shape buying behavior. Otherwise, you\u2019re selling to someone who only exists in a vacuum, completely disconnected from the real world.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And if we\u2019ve learned anything from <em>Severance<\/em>, it\u2019s that nothing good happens in a vacuum.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Misaligned Messaging = The Break Room Experience&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-image stk-block-image stk-block stk-98998f7\" data-block-id=\"98998f7\"><style>.stk-98998f7 {max-width:700px !important;min-width:auto !important;}<\/style><figure><span class=\"stk-img-wrapper stk-image--shape-stretch\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"stk-img wp-image-23674\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2-1.png\" width=\"2000\" height=\"500\" alt=\"Key Idea: Bad personas create jarring, disjointed marketing experiences that feel as unsettling as the Severance Break Room.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2-1.png 2000w, https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2-1-300x75.png 300w, https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2-1-1024x256.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2-1-768x192.png 768w, https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2-1-1536x384.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><\/span><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re unfamiliar, the Break Room in <em>Severance<\/em> is where Lumon employees are subjected to deeply unsettling, scripted apology rituals without fully understanding what they did wrong. The Break Room experience for Innies is cold, repetitive, and painfully out of sync with their own experience. Coincidentally, this is exactly how bad marketing feels to a misaligned audience.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ever download a research report only to get aggressively chased by a sales rep within five minutes? Or read a thoughtful blog about IT strategy, only to get retargeted with a hard sell for a free trial you didn\u2019t ask for? That\u2019s the Break Room experience, and it\u2019s often triggered because many brands are still pushing sales far too soon.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>B2B International found that B2B buyers typically complete <a href=\"https:\/\/6sense.com\/blog\/dont-call-us-well-call-you-what-research-says-about-when-b2b-buyers-reach-out-to-sellers\/#:~:text=As%20a%20result%2C%20B2B%20buyers,a%20rep-free%20sales%20experience.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">60 percent of the purchase process<\/a> before engaging with a supplier or its sales team. Instead of guiding buyers through a journey that feels natural, you\u2019re forcing them through an unnatural interaction that makes them question why they engaged in the first place.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When personas aren\u2019t built with real customer behavior in mind, messaging feels off. It\u2019s either too aggressive, too disconnected, or just plain irrelevant. And when that happens, people actively avoid your brand.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Pro Tip<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/insights\/brand-awareness-top-metrics-and-key-performance-indicators\/\">Understanding the right KPIs<\/a> for brand awareness can help prevent this disconnect.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Signs your marketing personas are missing the mark:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Your audience isn\u2019t engaging:<\/strong> They match your persona criteria, but your content isn\u2019t resonating.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Your messaging doesn\u2019t match their intent: <\/strong>They\u2019re looking for education, and you\u2019re shoving a demo down their throat.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Your leads are confused: <\/strong>Prospects show up to sales calls with no idea how your product actually fits into their world.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Want to break free from the Break Room experience? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/demand-more-for-your-b2b-tech-brand\/\">Demand more<\/a> from your personas. When your buyer research is data-driven, dynamic, and tailored to real-world decision-making, every interaction feels aligned instead of forced. But relying on old assumptions? That\u2019s how you get stuck in the Lumon way of thinking, marketing in a way that\u2019s just plain wrong.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Lumon Effect: When Assumptions Replace Data&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-image stk-block-image stk-block stk-bb87933\" data-block-id=\"bb87933\"><style>.stk-bb87933 {max-width:700px !important;min-width:auto !important;}<\/style><figure><span class=\"stk-img-wrapper stk-image--shape-stretch\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"stk-img wp-image-23673\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3-1.png\" width=\"2000\" height=\"500\" alt=\"Key Idea: To connect with real buyers, personas must reflect dynamic, evolving human behavior, not just static job functions.\u00a0\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3-1.png 2000w, https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3-1-300x75.png 300w, https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3-1-1024x256.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3-1-768x192.png 768w, https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3-1-1536x384.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><\/span><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>At Lumon, no one questions the system (well, no one <em>did <\/em>until the Macrodata Refinement team started connecting the dots). Employees follow the rules, repeat the rituals, and never ask why. The company handbook is gospel, and deviation from the status quo is met with suspicion, if not outright punishment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sound familiar? It should, because many marketing teams operate very similarly when it comes to crafting B2B personas.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Personas get built once, often based on a mix of assumptions, sales anecdotes, and industry stereotypes, and then they\u2019re treated as immutable. They sit in Google Docs and PowerPoints, getting dusted off for new campaigns without anyone stopping to ask if they still reflect reality. The world changes. Buyers change. Yet, personas remain frozen in time, detached from the very audience they\u2019re meant to represent.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think about it: If you built a persona for a DevOps leader in 2019, would it still be accurate today? Probably not. The pandemic redefined how companies think about IT infrastructure, remote work, and security risks. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/insights\/ai-seo-adapting-search-for-google-ai-overviews\/\">AI has transformed efficiency expectations<\/a>, hiring strategies, and automation priorities.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The buying committee has expanded, and many technical decisions now involve CFOs, procurement officers, and risk management teams, not just IT leadership. Cognism recently found that the typical buying group for a complex B2B solution involves <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cognism.com\/blog\/ultimate-guide-to-the-b2b-buyers-journey#:~:text=The%20typical%20buying%20group%20for,and%20services%20emerge%20every%20year.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">six to 10 decision-makers<\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And yet, many brands still market to the 2019 version of their audience, using messaging that feels outdated or misaligned. The result? A complete disconnect between what buyers <em>actually <\/em>need and what brands <em>think <\/em>they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Common mistakes that lead to &#8220;Severed&#8221; personas:&nbsp;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Relying on guesswork instead of real customer conversations.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Assuming buyer pain points never change despite shifting industry trends.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Forgetting that the buying committee is larger and more complex than ever.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fixing them:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Talk to real customers.<\/strong> Not just sales teams, but actual buyers.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/insights\/how-pr-and-marketing-pros-can-get-the-most-out-of-measurement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Use data, not assumptions<\/strong><\/a><strong>. <\/strong>Are search trends, content engagement, and customer feedback telling a different story than your persona docs?&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Make personas dynamic, not static. <\/strong>Your audience is evolving, and your personas should evolve with them.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Otherwise, your marketing is just going through the motions, stuck in Lumon\u2019s outdated system while the rest of the world moves on.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reintegration: Building Marketing Personas That Work in the Real World&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-image stk-block-image stk-block stk-a7dfb0c\" data-block-id=\"a7dfb0c\"><style>.stk-a7dfb0c {max-width:700px !important;min-width:auto !important;}<\/style><figure><span class=\"stk-img-wrapper stk-image--shape-stretch\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"stk-img wp-image-23672\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/4-1.png\" width=\"2000\" height=\"500\" alt=\"Key Idea: To connect with real buyers, personas must reflect dynamic, evolving human behavior, not just static job functions.\u00a0\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/4-1.png 2000w, https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/4-1-300x75.png 300w, https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/4-1-1024x256.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/4-1-768x192.png 768w, https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/4-1-1536x384.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><\/span><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>As we get closer and closer to the finale of season 2 of <em>Severance<\/em>, Lumon\u2019s employees are starting to piece together their full selves, realizing they don\u2019t want to be neatly divided into two separate identities. They\u2019re not just workers blindly refining numbers; they\u2019re real people with memories, relationships, fears, and agency.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Marketers need to embrace the same realization.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For too long, B2B personas have been treated like static, one-dimensional profiles. Sure, it would save time if every CIO thought the same way, every security leader had the same concerns, and every DevOps professional valued \u201cefficiency\u201d above all else.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But just like Helly, Mark, and Irving all react differently to the same environment, your audience isn\u2019t a monolith. A risk-taking, forward-thinking CTO evaluating a software purchase has an entirely different mindset than a conservative, stability-focused CTO making the same decision. If your marketing treats them the same way, you\u2019re missing the mark (pun very much intended).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is where dynamic, data-driven personas come into play. Personas shouldn\u2019t just be a set of job titles paired with assumed pain points. They need to reflect real behavioral patterns, motivations, and decision-making styles. Learning how to create personas that evolve with your audience ensures that your messaging stays relevant, rather than feeling as outdated as Lumon\u2019s corporate policies.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To build marketing personas that actually work:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Segment by behavior, not just job title<\/strong>. Is this buyer an early adopter or someone who needs overwhelming proof before making a move?&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Consider personal motivations<\/strong>. Are they fighting for career growth? Are they risk-averse and protecting their budget? Are they looking for ways to get executive buy-in?&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Match messaging to awareness level<\/strong>. Some prospects need education about a problem they barely recognize, others need proof that your solution is the right one, and some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/insights\/breaking-through-the-noise-with-timely-cybersecurity-storytelling\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">just need a reason to trust you<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Start Demanding More from Your Personas&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At the heart of this blog (besides me getting to write about my favorite show) is one key truth: You\u2019re marketing to whole people, not Innies.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your audience does not turn off their personal experiences when they log into their email. They bring their industry skepticism, career goals, and decision-making fears with them. If your personas do not account for the whole of someone, you are speaking to a version of your audience that does not actually exist. And yet, many brands still fail to update their personas regularly, despite the fact that 65 percent of companies who exceed lead and revenue goals have refreshed their buyer personas within the last six months.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On top of that, buying decisions are no longer made in isolation. Buying committees continue to grow, with multiple stakeholders weighing in at every stage. So if your personas are too rigid or one-dimensional, your marketing will not connect with the full range of decision-makers involved in the process.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is time to move beyond outdated, surface-level personas. Just as the employees of Lumon begin to reclaim their full identities, marketers must <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/demand-more-for-your-b2b-tech-brand\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">demand more<\/a> from their personas.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Great marketing requires more than just reaching an audience. It requires you to understand who they are, what drives them, and how to engage them at every stage of the buying journey. The brands that win are the ones that speak to real people, not just job functions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are ready to build personas that actually work, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pancommunications.com\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">let\u2019s talk<\/a>. Otherwise, we\u2019ll assume your Outie has no idea this conversation is even happening.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":23677,"template":"","categories":[159],"insight_type":[164],"insight_author":[704],"class_list":["post-23663","insight","type-insight","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-integrated-marketing","insight_type-blog","insight_author-grant-burfeind"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Severance Guide to Marketing Personas \u2013 PAN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Like Severance, many B2B marketing personas separate people from their true motivations. 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