“You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.” This phrase applies when trying to create and run custom campaigns.
If you focus too much on understanding the needs and preferences of prospects or customers, you won’t be able to scale the campaign. If you go too superficially, the message lacks relevance and connection with buyers. This is a challenge we have faced working with our clients over the years.
We can deepen our understanding of buyer preferences and motivations, creating truly personalized offers, but we are limited by our ability to do this at scale. That was until we discovered the 65/75 rule.
Understanding the 65/75 rule: it’s similar in B2B
At its core, the 65/75 rule exists because birds of a feather flock together. People with similar personalities are attracted to working in certain industries, roles and organizations. Additionally, they learn, shop, and purchase products and services in very similar ways.
After years of research and profiling the personalities of tens of thousands of buyers, we found that at least 65% of industries, companies, and roles are made up of two dominant personality types (using the DISC Personality Type indicator).
In some areas it was higher. For example, we found that 53% of CEOs at Fortune 500 companies have the same personality type. Up to 65% of chief information and security officers (CISOs) in the financial services industry also have the same personality type.
The more advanced degrees (or professional certifications) a person has, the more likely it is to reflect their personality type. In other words, your personality will often dictate the profession you choose or pursue. If you’re unhappy in your current position, it may go deeper than just the job and/or manager. This may be at odds with your personality.
Dig Deeper: How to Use AI Personality Profiling for B2B Engagement
Applying Personality Insights to Marketing Strategies
Discovering this idea taught us that personality types have preferences in how they learn and consume information. Influencers (the “I” in DISC) were fond of light, quick information like animated videos and infographics. Often their motivations were to seek new information to share with others – hence the term “influencer”.
The same goes for how personality types consume certain content (case studies, white papers, videos, etc.). By combining this information with that of industries, companies and roles, we can now create specific assets to attract the precise audiences we are targeting.
We can use the right “bait” depending on the body of water and the type of fish we want to catch.
Identifying buyers with high added value: the challenge of the “mobilizer”
Years ago, Pat Spenner, co-author of “The Challenger Customer,” and I sought a way to target and attract “mobilizers,” a type of buyer identified in the book’s research. These buyers played various roles within the buying group, and two types were of particular interest and value to sales and marketers. These people were more likely to be motivated to start or complete a purchasing journey.
We understood their personality traits, but we couldn’t figure out how to target and attract them. In a sense, we knew the fish we wanted to catch but not the best lure to catch them. At the time, we lacked the data and technology to solve this mystery that had existed for years.
Today, thanks to predictive and generative AI, we have the answers. These “high value” mobilizers can now be identified by their personality traits. Understanding their personalities allows us to find them in specific industries, companies and roles.
Create content for specific personality types with the help of AI
Knowing who these mobilizers are gives us insight into how to speak to them personally and do it at scale. AI tools can be trained to create content in their preferred language. Engagement data matched to personality type guides us to their preferred sales and marketing assets (case studies, videos, etc.).
For the Conscientious (the “C” in DISC who tend to be “skeptical”), we use data and research-based content in an analytical tone. To harness this and catch the fish (RSSI) in the water (financial services industry), we identified the bait (research and data-driven content). It’s not 100% sure they’ll “bite”, but they are more likely to commit.
This raises another interesting insight into personality behaviors. For the skeptics I just mentioned, credibility is everything. Their four main sources of information are person-to-person channels (peers, analysts, etc.). Even if they don’t bite, you don’t lose credibility by giving them information they might find too promotional or lacking in substance.
The Final Piece: Marketing at Scale Using Personality Data
This brings us to where they will appear in the purchasing process. The 65/75 rule continues to apply depending on the sector of activity. In professional services for example, 65 to 75% of audiences at the start of the purchasing process will be made up of two distinct personality types (the DI of DISC). The middle and end of the journey are the same story. Personality types change with late-comer skeptics for example, but the rule is the same.
This is the last piece that completes my fishing analogy. We know where the fish are most likely to be found in the vast ocean of opportunity. Teaching a marketer to fish (using the persona-based marketing described above) can not only “scale up” but can also nurture the sales force for the year.
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