Targeting

Buyer Persona

A picture of the person on the other end of the message, not the company they work for.

Definition

A semi-fictional profile of a specific job role describing its goals, daily frustrations, and likely objections, used to shape what a message says rather than who it's sent to.

An ICP answers which companies and roles to target; a buyer persona answers what to actually say to them once they're on the list, by capturing how that role thinks and what convinces it. The two work together rather than replacing each other.