A persona should reflect your site visitors' attributes, goals, and behaviors. You should conduct user interviews and field observations to gather information about how visitors interact with your site. Analyze what distinguishes some users from others by asking questions such as the following:

• What is the target site visitor’s role?
• What goals or tasks does a site visitor want to achieve by coming to your site?
• How can you position your content to get this person to take a desired action?

For example, a persona could be Ted the Technical Decision Maker. You know Ted’s title, and a few pieces of data to identify him, such as his industry, business challenges, and so on. From this information, you can design a persona to target the current stage in a site visitor's decision-making process. For each persona you create, define a personalized set of site features and content to guide the person through the sales process and, ultimately, have the person perform the desired outcome.

A persona is assigned to a site visitor, and tracked, as follows:

1. On initial page load, the Persona Management HTTP module launches an asynchronous process that...
   1. Checks caches for persona matches and returns personas that match the current user.
   2. If no matches are found, the user's visitor context is recorded and cached.
   3. The page is loaded.
2. On second page load, personas are retrieved from cache.
   1. If persona matches are found, they are added to cookiesData related to a user and Web browsing activity, such as login information, shopping cart data, and other data..

      A persona uses the VisitorContext data class in the Ektron.PersonaManagement.Common.dll to represent a site visitor's context and passes collected site visitor information, including any third-party IDs, to Persona Management. The VisitorContext data class has the following properties.

      • Cookies—The current user's cookiesData related to a user and Web browsing activity, such as login information, shopping cart data, and other data.. By default, persona providers can use a site visitor's cookies.
      • Headers—All HTTP headers associated with the current Web request. As of now, no persona providers use them.
      • URL—The current URL being browsed. As of now, no persona providers use this.
      • UrlReferrer—The current user's IP address. As of now, no persona providers use this.
      • Properties—Can be used for any additional visitor information.
   2. If the page is a PageBuilder page that has a Targeted Content widget, the first Targeted Content rule that includes a matched persona determines the visitor's site experience. See also: Creating a personalized site experience for persona (for marketers).
   3. The first persona match is sent to Google Analytics. See also: Setting up analytic tracking for personas (administrators).

Creating a persona (for marketers)

A persona consists of a title, description, attributes, and rules. A persona bridges the gap between what your internal systems know about site visitors, and what the site knows about them. By building rules that connect persona names and descriptions to attributes that define those personas, you can target content and learn more about the visitors who are using your site.

1. If you are logged on to the server on which Persona Management was installed, click Windows Start button > All Programs > Ektron > Persona Management > Persona Management.

   If you're using Windows 8 or 2012, press the Windows key () /Q then enter Persona Management.

   NOTE: Your system administrator provides sign-on instructions.

2. Click Add (). A new persona is created with the title Anonymous Persona, and generic description text.
3. Edit the title and description by clicking on each. A persona description identifies the demographics and story of a persona to help create targeted content that is appropriate to the persona. The description is optional.
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4. To apply attributes to the persona, click Attributes. The attributes panel opens.
   Choosing attributes

   Attributes are data fields that define the qualities of a persona, using information stored in your CRMCustomer Relationship Management (such as Salesforce), marketing automation system (such as Marketo), or any other DXHDigital Experience Hub connection. Examples of persona attributes include the following:

   • industry = healthcare
   • annual revenue = $10 million
   • position = Chief Technology Officer

   If you determine that a site visitor with those qualities fits the profile of an important buyer of your products or services, create a persona rule using those criteria. Alternatively, you may use a persona in other marketing channels and want to track those users as site visitors.

   You can choose from among the following attributes:

   • data. Display all attributes.
   • connection. Display attributes for one enterprise application.
   • Search. Display attributes that include certain characters only.

     

     You can combine the connection criteria with the search field. For example, you can find Marketo attributes that include b.

     

     NOTE: By default the Connection drop-down lists all connectors, even those that are not enabled in DXH. To suppress unused connectors, your administrator should open C:\inetpub\PersonaManagement\ektron.persona.app.config and comment them out.
     
     If you see no attributes for a connection, and you previously saw them, ask your administrator to research possible problems with the connection. For example, is its license still valid?
     
     Even if a connection is missing, you can still remove rules that use its attributes.

5. Click an attribute that defines this persona and it appears below + add attributes.
6. Choose an operator and value(s) to complete the rule.
   Defining rules

   Rules are logical statements that include a connection, attribute, operator, and value. For example:

   (Connection)(Attribute)  (operator)  (value)
    Marketo     Employees  greater than  5000

   • The connection is type of connector from which you are collecting data.
   • The attribute is a field in the connector.
   • The operator indicates how to match the field and value. Operators correspond to the attribute's content type. For example, if the content type is string, operators are: is, is not, contains, starts with, ends with. The enterprise application determines an attribute's content type.
   • The value represents possible choices for the field in the connector.

   

7. Add rules until you define the persona completely.
8. Click Save ().

Creating a personalized site experience for persona (for marketers)

After you create a personas, an Ektron site administrator can use it with the Targeted Content widget, to develop personalized site experiences that move individuals through the marketing funnel. The Targeted Content widgetA mini-application that you place on a Web page using PageBuilder; a widget provides either specific functionality (calculators, search, social bars, and so on) or areas into which you can add content (content blocks, list summaries, collections, and so on). uses personas and other criteria to customize the experience for that person. For example, if the persona is CTOChief Technology Officer; a company executive that is focused on technological uses for the company or organization. in the data storage industry, you may offer a white paper to download called, Widespread adoption of flash in the enterprise data center. On the other hand, if the persona is CTO in the Web Analytics industry, you may offer a white paper to download called, Latest research in Web analysis, conversion optimization, funnel analysis and decision support systems.

1. Log into your website and go to the PageBuilder page on which you want to display personalized content for a persona.
2. Place a Targeted Content widget onto the page.
3. In 1 or more Targeted Content widget conditions, use a persona that you created.
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4. You can add fields to each condition to further identify the site visitor who will receive personalized content. In the example, the site visitor's country must be United States or United Kingdom. If a site visitor matches more than one targeted content rule, the first matching rule (as ordered in the Targeted Content widget) determines which content appears.
5. You also can place widgets in the Targeted Content Widget, which appear only if the site visitor matches the conditions. For information about adding widgets to the Targeted Content widget, see Creating a targeted content configuration.

Installing persona management (administrators)

You can install Persona Management (PM) on the DXHDigital Experience Hub or Ektron server. Consult a certified Ektron partner when planning a Persona Management deployment. The following image shows setup tasks for communicating between Ektron, DXH, and Persona Management.

• You can install Ektron, DXH, and Persona Management on the same server.
• You can install Ektron on one server, and DXH and Persona Management on another.
• You can install Ektron and Persona Management on one server, and DXH on another.
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1. Contact your Ektron account manager to obtain a link to download the Persona Management installation file.
2. Download and run the Persona Management installation file as an administrator.
3. Accept the license agreement.
4. Click Next. Select a folder in which to save Persona Management installation files.
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5. Click Next. Enter the path to the DXH with which Persona Management will connect, which you can obtain by logging onto the DXH server and clicking the Windows Start button > All Programs > Ektron > DXH > DXH Connection Url. (If you're using Windows 8 or 2012, press the Windows key ()/Q then enter DXH Connection Url.)
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   NOTE: If you need to change this path, open C:\inetpub\PersonaManagement\web.config and edit the value of the ContextBusEndPointUrl element.

6. Click Next. Enter database connection information.
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   • Server. Enter a database server in which to store Persona Management information. To set up the database on this server, accept the default. Otherwise, enter a SQL or SQL Express server that already exists. For a local SQL, this would typically be (local). For SQL Express enter (local)\SQLExpress.
   • Username. Enter the user name that will be used to access the database.
   • Password. Enter the password that will be used to access the database.

     NOTE: If you want to use NT authentication and set up a trusted connection, leave the user name and password blank.

7. Click Next. You are prompted to click Install to begin installing files.
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   Click Install to complete the installation.

8. On the Ektron server, open the Ektron siteroot folder/web.config file.
9. Remove the comment (<!-- and -->)from the following tag.

   <!--<add key="PersonaManagementEndPointUrl" value="http://localhost"/>-->

10. For the value of PersonaManagementEndPointUrl, enter the path to the Persona Management application, which you can obtain by clicking the Windows Start button > All Programs > Ektron > Persona Management > Persona Management. Make sure the path has no trailing slash (/).

    If you're using Windows 8 or 2012, press the Windows key ()/Q then enter Persona Management.

11. Remove the comment (<!-- and -->) from the following tag.

    <!--<add name="PersonaManagementMatchesModule" 
     type="Ektron.Cms.PersonaManagement.HttpModules.PersonaMatchesModule, 
     Ektron.Cms.PersonaManagement" preCondition="integratedMode" />-->

12. Save web.config.

After installing Persona Management, you have 2 options to grant access to users who will manage personas.

• Install Persona Management on an internal server, and restrict access to authorized users.
• Use Windows authentication to control access to the Persona Management site.

Controlling persona attributes (administrators)

The following data sources and objects populate the Persona Management attributes list.

• ExactTarget. Subscriber
• HubSpot. Contacts
• Marketo Lead Management. Lead
• Pardot. Prospects
• Salesforce. Lead, Contact, Account
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Lead, Contact, Account. Within these Microsoft Dynamics forms, Ektron supports only these field types:
  Bool, Customer, DateTime, Float, Integer, Status, Lookup, Memo, Picklist, PrimaryKey, State, String
  

Setting up analytic tracking for personas (administrators)

Google Analytics lets you track persona activity on your site. You can discover the following information about users who match a persona:

• visit duration, bounceLeaving a site rather than continue viewing other pages within the same site. rate
• geographic location, language
• new vs. returning visitors
• paths visitors took through your site
• browser, network information
• top content, top landing and exit pages

You can use analytic information to refine a persona's Web experience, and with other Ektron features like Multivariate Testing, ultimately increase their conversionA goal that a user has completed, which occurs when a visitor takes action as a result of subtle or direct requests from marketers, advertisers, and content creators. See also CTA. rate.

When you tracks analytic activity with persona data, these events typically occur.

1. An Ektron website visitor completes an HTML form that maps to an enterprise application, such as Salesforce.
2. If a field value on the form matches a persona, a cookie is placed on the person's device. For example
   • On the HTML form, the user entered Chief of Operations into the Title field.
   • The persona definition contains attribute=Title, operator=contains, and value=Chief.

   NOTE: If a site visitor matches more than one persona, only the first one (as ordered on the Persona Management screen) is applied to that user's activity.

3. Google Analytics uses the cookiesData related to a user and Web browsing activity, such as login information, shopping cart data, and other data. to track the user's activity, and categorizes it under the identified persona.
4. Within Ektron, use the Google Analytics feature to track persona activity.

The following image shows communications between Ektron, DXH, and Persona Management.

To set up analytic tracking for personas:

1. Create a Google Web Analytics account, if you do not already have one.
2. Open siteroot/web.config.
3. Add the following key under <appsettings>.

   <add key="Persona_GoogleAccountId" value="UA-*****-**" />

4. Replace the value parameter with your Google AccountId.
5. Also, uncomment the following element.

   <add name="PersonaManagementMatchesModule" 
     type="Ektron.Cms.PersonaManagement.HttpModules.PersonaMatchesModule, 
     Ektron.Cms.PersonaManagement" preCondition="integratedMode"/>

6. Register Ektron.PersonaManagement.Analytics.js in the master page(s) or any page on which you want to track persona, using this code.

   <script src="Workarea/FrameworkUI/js/Ektron/Ektron.PersonaManagement.Analytics.js">
   </script>