“NFI is working with Volvo, Daimler, and others on an ambitious project to “[o]perate the first 100% zero-emission drayage fleet in the U.S. with the deployment of 60 battery-electric tractors.” NFI wants to achieve this by 2023.”
“NFI and Prologis Mobility launched a new electric truck charging depot in Ontario, California. The 1 MW facility features 10 dedicated charging ports and charges up to 20 vehicles daily.”
Biometric marketing leaders already know that I’ve talked about reader personas to death. But what about WRITER personas? And what happens when you try to address ALL the reader and writer personas?
Reader personas
While there are drawbacks to using personas, they are useful in both content marketing and proposal work when you want to tailor your words to resonate with particular types of readers (target audiences, or hungry people).
I still love my example from 2021 in which a mythical Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued by my hometown of Ontario, California for an Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS). The proposal manager had to bear the following target audiences (hungry people) in mind for different parts of the proposal.
The field investigators who run across biometric evidence at the scene of a crime, such as a knife with a fingerprint on it or a video feed showing someone breaking into a liquor store.
The examiners who look at crime scene evidence and use it to identify individuals.
The people who capture biometrics from arrested individuals at livescan stations.
The information technologies (IT) people who are responsible for ensuring that Ontario, California’s biometric data is sent to San Bernardino County, the state of California, perhaps other systems such as the Western Identification Network, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The purchasing agent who has to make sure that all of Ontario’s purchases comply with purchasing laws and regulations.
The privacy advocate who needs to ensure that the biometric data complies with state and national privacy laws.
The mayor (Paul Leon back in 2021, and still in 2025), who has to deal with angry citizens asking why their catalytic converters are being stolen from their vehicles, and demanding to know what the mayor is doing about it.
Probably a dozen other stakeholders that I haven’t talked about yet, but who are influenced by the city’s purchasing decision.
Writer personas
But who is actually writing the text to address these different types of readers?
Now in this case I’m not talking about archetypes (a topic in itself), but about the roles of the subject matter experts who write or help write the content.
I am currently working on some internal content for a Bredemarket biometric client. I can’t reveal what type of content, but it’s a variant of one of the 22 types of content I’ve previously addressed. A 23rd type, I guess.
But what would happen if someone in a role other than product marketing consultant wrote this content?
An engineer would emphasize different things. Maybe a focus on the APIs.
A finance manager would emphasize different things. Maybe an ROI focus.
A salesperson may focus on different things. Maybe qualification of a prospect. Or eventually conversion.
So the final content is not only shaped by the reader, but by the writer.
You can’t please everyone so you’ve got to please yourself
With all the different reader and writer personas, how should you respond?
Do all the things?
Perhaps you can address everyone in a 500 page proposal, but the internal content Bredemarket is creating is less than 10 pages long.
Which is possibly already too long for MY internal target audience.
So I will NOT create the internal content that addresses the needs of EVERY reader and writer persona.
Which is one truth about (reader) personas in general. If you need to address three personas, it’s more effective to create 3 separate pieces than a single one.
Which is what I’m doing in another project for this same Bredemarket biometric client, this one customer-facing.
And the content targeted to latent examiners won’t mention the needs of Paul Leon.
In which I address the marketing leader reader persona
So now I, the biometric product marketing expert writer persona, will re-address you, the biometric marketing leader reader persona.
You need content, or proposal content.
But maybe you’re not getting it because your existing staff is overwhelmed.
So you’re delaying content creation or proposal responses, or just plain not doing it. And letting opportunities slip through your fingers.
Jobseekers need to know their potential employer when something about a job opportunity doesn’t feel right. And there are ways to do that.
Trusting the person who says to trust your gut
I’ve previously talked about how common sense can minimize the chances of being fooled by a deepfake.
But common sense can help prevent other types of fraud such as employment fraud, as noted by Rachel Lund, chief risk officer with Sandia Area Federal Credit Union.
“Trust your gut- if it feels off, it probably is.”
But can we trust Lund?
Using search engines for employment fraud scam research
Let’s look at another tip of hers:
“Research the company: Google “[Company Name] + Scam” and see if anything comes up.”
Although you can use Bing. Google isn’t the only search engine out there.
So I entered “Sandia Area Federal Credit Union Scam” into Bing…and found out about its warnings about scams.
From Microsoft.
As far as Bing is concerned, Scandia Area Federal Credit Union is not a scammer itself.
But Bing (and Google) are old fashioned dinosaurs.
Using generative AI for employment fraud scam research
So I clicked on the tab for Copilot results. (ChatGPT isn’t the only generative AI tool out there.)
From Microsoft.
Well, it’s good to know that a regulated credit union isn’t a scammer.
So credit unions are fine
But what about something with a slightly sleazier reputation…like stuffing envelopes?
From Microsoft.
OK, Copilot isn’t hot on envelope stuffing opportunities.
People can use forged government identities to scare you, rob you, or kill you. How can you protect yourself from fake law enforcement officers, or fake ICE agents? And how can police agencies and ICE protect THEMSELVES from these fakes?
I’ve already shared the story of the person driving around Delaware with flashing lights. Nothing terrible happened in that encounter, but similar impersonation encounters have been more critical.
The visitor, wearing an American flag-adorned baseball cap and a tactical vest with the words “Security Enforcement Agent,” announced the single word “Immigration,” implying that he was from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Several employees fled the scene, but the cashier did not and was immediately zip-tied.
So what happened next?
The so-called ICE agent took $1,000 and was gone 30 seconds later.
Vance Boelter is alleged to have shot Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette at their home, then shot and killed State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband.
In both cases Boelter presented himself as a police officer.
“[C]all 911 from your cell phone. Tell the 911 dispatcher that you are concerned that someone…may not be a police officer.”
Of course a person in a car is generally safer than a person at the front door of a home or business, but in any case you can call 911 and ask for confirmation.
“Do not flee.”
This appears to be sound advice if the person is a real police officer. But if the employees hadn’t fled from the fake ICE officer in Philadelphia, perhaps they would have been robbed also.
“If the dispatcher cannot confirm that you are being [visited] by a police officer, stay on the line with the dispatcher, and ask for police assistance.”
Wise to get the real cops on the scene.
“Do not provide personal documents – driver’s license, insurance information or other documents – to someone who you suspect of being a police impersonator.”
No need to add identity fraud on top of everything else.
How do you know if it IS ICE?
Unfortunately, telling true ICE agents from fake ones is a little more difficult. Your local 911 dispatcher isn’t going to know if that’s a real ICE agent at your door.
5NBCDFW published some tips for those who receive an email, call, or visit from ICE. In regards to personal visits, the station offered this advice:
“ICE agents carry official badges and credentials. They may have identification cards with their name, photo and the department logo. You can ask them to show you their badge or ID.”
“If they refuse to show their identification, you are under no obligation to open the door.”
This of course is not foolproof, since anyone can print a fake business card (perhaps on their own printer, avoiding a commercial business such as the UPS Store), create a fake ID, or create a fake badge.
Challenges of identifying police officers or ICE agents
It’s a challenging identity problem. Especially since police officers may NOT be required to identify themselves. Uniformed officers are required to identify themselves in California (California Penal Code Section 830.10), but plainclothes officers obviously don’t wear badges, and California identification laws don’t apply in other states.
“Hey,” someone suggests. “Why not create a database of all the police officers and ICE agents so that can immediately prove their authenticity?” Unfortunately, that runs into a huge privacy problem, because what happens when (not if) that database is hacked? Or if the data is intentionally leaked?
(And before you say “not my problem, those people need to be in a database,” what if it WAS your problem? In my case, what if all marketing/writing sole proprietors were required to be in a database managed by the Department of Commerce? You’d be worried if it affected YOU.)
The only way that this will change universally is when the police officers, ICE, and other agencies have to deal with impersonators. For example, if fake ICE agents cause problems for the real ones, then ICE itself will insist on positive identification of real ICE agents.
Willbrand, a product expert who has worked for multiple identity companies, started his story by saying that he uses Perplexity AI.
I realize that many of you just fell off your chairs in shock. Because the first rule of Generative AI is that you ALWAYS talk about ChatGPT. Well, there are other generative AI tools. Deal with it.
Anyway, Willbrand was prompting Perplexity about shoes, and awaiting the responses.
Which were unreadable.
“Every result forced inserted an Apple map with shoe stores onto the response page. It was 2/3rds the screen. Now as a text based app primarily this is super annoying because you can’t see … The …. Text.”
Monetization gone bad
Should we be surprised? No.
Now I don’t fault software vendors for trying to make money. I have no sympathy for those who complain that Threads should never ever have ads because Facebook makes a bajillion dollars. If Threads isn’t making money for Meta, then Meta will kill it.
Where I DO have a problem is when a software vendor’s monetization efforts infringe with my ability to use the software.
This applies to some smartphone games in which you play the game for 30 seconds before you’re locked in to watching 60 seconds of ads.
And this also applies to what I fear will be the future format for generative AI responses.
“The best way to overcome a marketing challenge is to do something, rather than surrendering to paralysis. But before you begin…what would you do for a Klondike bar?”
Sadly I don’t make any money off this.
Repurposing
And yes, this blog post was repurposed from something I wrote on the Bredemarket Technology Firm Services LinkedIn page. Now I just need an idea for a video…
Bredemarket 