The Enneagram Personality Test has gone through a resurgence this year. Did you know that being familiar with Enneagram types can not only enhance dinner party conversation, but it can also be used to transform your marketing efforts?

Growth and relationships are central to success in marketing, and the Enneagram can be an effective tool for transforming relationships and enabling personal growth. If you are new to the Enneagram, here is one of our favorite descriptions:

The Enneagram personality test is a transformative tool. While many assessments help people understand their strengths, the Enneagram takes it a step further. It’s a map of the human psyche, providing a deep understanding of human behavior.

The Enneagram is a system of nine personality types, showing the interactions among each type. Although we all have the nine types within us, one is most dominant, and with it comes its own set of unique gifts and challenges.

Haven’t taken the Enneagram Personality Test? Here’s a free online assessment(you will need to provide your email for results).

Three ways to use the Enneagram in marketing efforts:

  1. Use the Enneagram to know your leadership style

Marketing success is tied closely to business and leadership success. Becoming more self-aware of your own core motivations will enhance your business and leadership styles. As Forbes states:

By understanding your type, you can get let go of habitual patterns and open up to your own inherent gifts. As you become more aware of your type, you can move up the levels of growth and ultimately lead from your best self. You understand your reactions, preferences, and how you show up for your team.

With this level of self-awareness, we can be free of the patterns that hold us back and develop an understanding of those with whom we interact.

  1. Use the Enneagram to work better with your team

Whether your team consists of yourself and an intern, your department, leadership team, etc. it’s helpful to know the strengths and aptitudes of those who you coordinate with to accomplish marketing tasks. The Enneagram In Businessis a great resource on the topic.

As an example, take a look at insight into a Type 1 individual:

  • Strengths: Help design and organize high quality deliverables, responsible and hardworking
  • Challenges: Overly certain they know the right solution or best approach, inflexible or overly detailed and controlling
  • Team Development tips: Learn to value a variety of work styles and opinions, especially ones that are different from or more fluid than your own

Read about how the other types work in teams.

  1. Use the Enneagram to know your audience

As marketers, we are always on the hunt for new ways to understand our audience. Creating audience personas is always a great place to start, and the Enneagram can help with that:

The real purpose of a persona is to improve the customer experience. A better experience for your customer leads to higher conversion rates, more repeat business, and increased revenue and profitability. (If you’re into that kind of thing, and I’m pretty sure you are.)… I like to refer to the Enneagram as a starting point. Use it to get a better understanding of how a particular Enneagram type thinks and acts on a scale of healthy to unhealthy, and the flaws that affect each type. Is she caring and generous, but manipulative? Is she a cerebral visionary, but at the expense of reality or physical activity? Is she versatile, adventurous, and multi-talented, but indecisive and scattered? Is she a conscientious perfectionist, but resentful and critical?