This educated, affluent, ambitious persona is coveted by Madison Avenue. Here’s where to find her online.

Meet Jessica. She’s the persona that sits in the cubicle right across from you; she’s the persona who calls on you from time to time; she’s your customer, your client, your colleague and your friend.

She’s also one of the most lucrative and desirable segments that is coveted universally by Madison Avenue.

Jessica is educated, affluent (within the context of being a young, upwardly mobile professional with zero dependents and little to zero concerns) and ambitious. She’s climbing the corporate ladder and uses the Internet to help her with her ascent in a variety of ways.

For starters, she’s tenured with a capital T—her online experience began more than seven years ago. She knows what she wants and knows how to go out and get it—and that applies to both her philosophy on life and her expertise with the Web!

Jessica’s favorite activities or categories are laid out below, based on at-work and at-home usage

Several categories are consistent across work and home, such as the usual suspects of search, email, general interest portals and communities, news or Internet tools. “Universities” is another consistent category that deserves mention. The pursuit of knowledge is a defining characteristic of the 18- to 34-year-old single female persona; it underscores her ambition and drive, and the prioritization of her career.

Apparel/beauty and maps/travel info show up in the top 10 during work, but not at home. One possible common explanation is the importance of image and appearance at both the professional and personal levels. Jessica is no hermit, and although she works hard, she plays hard too—drinks/cocktails, dating and hitting the town after work are all common after-work and before-home popular activities.

In the comfort of her home, however, Jessica takes care of some of the essentials, such as banking or shopping for examples.

The implication here is one-size-does-not-fit-all when it comes to reaching and connecting with Jessica. Despite some of the activity commonalities throughout the day, Jessica’s mindset adjusts during different times of the day and access environments (work/home).

Marketers would do well to accommodate and allow for these differences.

When it comes to understanding Jessica’s interests relative to the other personas/segments, the chart below illustrates how Jessica and her troop use the Internet throughout the day, based on various categories relative to the rest of the Net:

For example, between 6 and 9 a.m., travel and search engines/portals and communities register off the charts with indexes of 287 and 212 respectively. Lunchtime (defined as noon to 2 p.m.) is the time to shop, with multi-category commerce in at an index of 152. It’s also a time to catch up on the latest gossip and happenings in the world of entertainment (index: 187).

However, it is what happens toward the end of the day (5 to 8 p.m.) that really pique interest and offer up new insights into the persona known as Jessica.

This is the time known as at-work down time. It’s the time when most 9 to 5’ers hit the roads and it’s the time when Jessica hits the Net. It’s the time when client and supervisor requests subside and a time when Jessica gets to do some real work, grab a bite to eat and spend some quality time at the computer.

News and information indexes at 324 during this period: Jessica is catching up with current affairs, business headlines and the trades. Next is education and careers, which comes in at 271: Jessica is pursuing her pursuit of knowledge and enhancing her skill set.

At some stage during this time, Jessica leaves work for home, but the Internet stays ever-on, largely thanks to her broadband connection.

The chart below shows Jessica’s ever increasing adoption of broadband as the connection of choice at home.

There once was a time when females lagged behind men as the dominant users of the Internet. Today, however, women have replaced men as the majority (51%+). A similar trend would appear to be happening within the broadband space as epitomized by Jessica’s persona.

It’s All About Communication

Jessica milks the Web for every last drop of networking potential it offers its users. Instant messaging and email are ever present throughout the day. Mobile messaging is gaining popularity fast as a new way to connect.

Meeting people, keeping in contact, making friends and discovering love are all prime directives for Jessica. Online services such as Friendster and Match.com are literally exploding in usage from month to month.

In a world often thought of as impersonal, the Internet is anything but that to Jessica. The richness, emotion and depth are three attributes of a medium that in reality is well done indeed.