Buyer personas are important. But creating them can be a tedious chore that a lot of marketing teams would prefer to avoid. Still, outdated or non-existent personas mean missed opportunities to connect with customers in evolving markets. So no matter how painful, putting in the time on buyer personas remains crucial.

What if AI could help? Specifically ChatGPT, the viral chatbot from Open AI  that crunches data to generate human-like content. Could it streamline the process?

We decided to investigate. We wanted to assess if AI can offer a cost-effective, scalable, and - dare we say it - fun method for researching and writing buyer personas. 

The short answer is yes. But with some important caveats. To provide actionable advice, we did some hands-on testing and role-playing. Read on as we share key learnings and recommendations for getting the most out of this increasingly essential marketing tool.

Understanding the Role of AI in Creating Buyer Personas

First of all, don't expect to replace traditional buyer persona research methods with AI, as no language model can offer the nuanced insights humans can. 

Instead, marketers should aim to use chatbots and other AI tools to complement and enhance their current strategies and capabilities. Think of it as a way to brainstorm ideas and come up with hypotheses that you can then test and validate through research and experimentation.

AI will give a solid, but maybe slightly generic, set of needs and observations for your personas. These large language models have been trained on an enormous quantity of source data and documents, so they have picked up some insights into buyer preferences and behaviour along the way.

Once you have your AI-Generated personas them you can ask your colleagues and perhaps some key clients to respond to them and improve them. This is a far more efficient way to develop a nuanced set of personas than if you ran a day long workshop with a whole team. ChatGPT lets you get the basics out of the way, and it does that really quickly.

The Wisdom of Crowds

Understanding the concept of training data is vital for grasping the mechanics behind how ChatGPT constructs buyer personas.

Because an AI’s training data covers millions of sources from across the internet, it can distill patterns and make predictions. It’s like having access to a vast library of insights on everything from Millennials’ pet social causes to the communication preferences of C-suite executives.

Extracting these details from its training data allows AI to simulate your potential buyers. Your team can build multiple personas to reflect the perspectives of everyone involved in your customers’ buying decisions. Roleplaying with these crowd-sourced personas gives you an unprecedented opportunity to brainstorm communication strategies and messaging approaches in a way that would be nearly impossible otherwise.

Test Driving ChatGPT’s Buyer Persona Creation Skills

To see it in action, we prompted Chat GPT to create personas for a fictional client team: 

I would like some help developing B2B personas. Thinking about a management consultancy located in London, UK that has around 50 employees and works mostly with UK and US clients to improve their business performance, could you please generate pen-portrait personas for the following roles:

• Marketing Director

• Finance Director

• IT Director

• Head of Consulting Services

• Director of Business Development

From our fairly sparse prompt the AI instantly generated a set of surprisingly detailed results:

Marketing Director - Angela Patel

Angela is a dynamic leader with a passion for driving business growth through innovative marketing strategies. She has over 15 years of experience in the field, with a proven track record of creating and implementing effective campaigns that improve brand awareness, generate leads, and increase customer engagement.

Angela is data-driven and leverages analytics to inform her marketing decisions.

She's always keen on understanding the latest trends in digital marketing and integrates these insights into her work. Outside of the office, Angela is a keen runner and a mother of two.

Finance Director - Jonathan Mills

Jonathan is a detail-oriented and strategic finance leader with over 20 years of experience in financial management. His role in the consultancy is pivotal in maintaining the financial health and guiding the strategic growth of the business.

Jonathan is well-versed in financial planning, budgeting, risk management, and regulatory compliance. He prides himself on his ability to translate complex financial data into actionable business insights. Known for his analytical skills, Jonathan believes in making data-driven decisions that align with the company's goals. In his free time, Jonathan enjoys playing chess, and he often draws parallels between the strategic game and his financial work.

IT Director - Emily Watson

Emily is a technology visionary with a focus on aligning IT strategy with business goals. With a background in both business and information technology, Emily has 18 years of experience in managing and implementing IT solutions that increase efficiency, collaboration, and cybersecurity. 

She believes in the power of digital transformation and is always eager to explore the latest tech trends to see how they could benefit the consultancy. Her approachable style fosters a culture of collaboration and innovation within the IT team. Outside of work, Emily enjoys hiking and exploring the UK's national parks with her family.

Head of Consulting Services - Adrian Turner

Adrian is a solution-focused leader with over 25 years of consulting experience. He oversees the consulting services of the firm, ensuring that clients receive optimal solutions to their business challenges. Adrian is highly skilled in building and managing client relationships, strategic planning, and problem-solving. His ability to identify client needs and deliver effective strategies is key to the consultancy's success. 

With a deep knowledge of various industry sectors, Adrian enjoys mentoring junior consultants, sharing his wealth of experience, and helping them develop. He's an avid reader and enjoys historical novels in his downtime.

Director of Business Development - Laura Griffiths

Laura is an ambitious, goal-oriented leader with a knack for identifying and capitalizing on business opportunities. With over 15 years of experience in sales, client relations, and business strategy, Laura drives the company's growth by securing new client relationships and expanding existing ones. 

She's renowned for her ability to understand complex business landscapes and craft tailored strategies that drive revenue. Laura values building strong relationships both within the team and with clients, believing that people are the key to a company's success. In her leisure time, Laura enjoys practising yoga and exploring the London culinary scene.

Incidentally, for fun, we copied and pasted these descriptions as prompts into Midjourney to generate photos for each persona. They’re the images used throughout this article. If you were using the techniques outlined here to generate slides describing your personas, it might be a good idea to use a image-generating AI like Midjourney to quickly get images that you can use for yours.

We also asked ChatGPT to provide information in a different format, including demographic details such as:

• Age, location, marital status, and level of education

• Jonathan’s business department, title, and role in the buying process

• The customer’s goals, priorities, drivers, fears, challenges, and motivators

• Preferred communication channels and methods of finding information

• Any other key characteristics GPT-4 imagines might be helpful

Here is what it produced:

Marketing Director - Angela Patel

Demographic info: Angela is a 42-year-old female, living in London, UK. She is married with two children and holds a Master's degree in Marketing Management.

Position info: She is the Marketing Director, heading the marketing department.

Organizational goals and priorities: Her priority is driving business growth through strategic marketing and enhancing the company's brand visibility.

Role in the buying process: As a decision-maker, Angela is responsible for vendor selection and approval for marketing tools, platforms, and services.

Drivers and motivators: Angela is motivated by measurable marketing outcomes such as increased lead generation and customer engagement.

Fears and challenges: She fears falling behind in digital trends and not being able to quantify the impact of her marketing strategies.

Preferred communication channels: Angela prefers email and video conferencing for business communications.

Where do they find information? Angela stays updated through Linkedin, marketing newsletters, and industry-specific websites and blogs.

Key characteristics: Dynamic, innovative, data-driven, and trend-aware.

Finance Director - Jonathan Mills

Demographic info: Jonathan is a 50-year-old male, living in London, UK. He is single and holds an MBA with a focus on Finance.

Position info: He is the Finance Director, overseeing the financial operations of the company.

Organizational goals and priorities: His primary goal is to ensure the financial stability of the company and guide its strategic financial growth.

Role in the buying process: As a key decision-maker, Jonathan approves large scale budget allocations and significant investments.

Drivers and motivators: He is driven by the company's financial performance and long-term growth.

Fears and challenges: Jonathan worries about financial instability and unexpected market changes.

Preferred communication channels: Jonathan prefers direct, formal communication methods like emails and in-person meetings.

Where do they find information? Jonathan keeps up with industry news through financial publications, Linkedin, and financial forums.

Key characteristics: Detail-oriented, strategic, analytical, and data-driven.

IT Director - Emily Watson

Demographic info: Emily is a 45-year-old female, based in London, UK. She is married with one child and has a Master's degree in Information Technology Management.

Position info: Emily is the IT Director, leading the company's IT department.

Organizational goals and priorities: Emily's main goal is aligning IT strategy with business goals, while ensuring robust cybersecurity measures.

Role in the buying process: Emily is the primary decision-maker when it comes to purchasing IT equipment and software.

Drivers and motivators: She's motivated by the latest tech trends and the potential for digital transformation.

Fears and challenges: Emily's primary fear is a significant cybersecurity breach; she also grapples with keeping up with rapid tech changes.

Preferred communication channels: Emily favors email, video conferencing, and instant messaging for communication.

Where do they find information? She relies on tech websites, social media (particularly Linkedln and Twitter), and tech conferences for latest information.

Key characteristics: Forward-thinking, innovative, tech-savvy, and collaborative.

Head of Consulting Services - Adrian Turner

Demographic info: Adrian is a 55-year-old male, residing in London, UK. He is divorced, with two grown children and has a PhD in Business Management.

Position info: Adrian heads the consulting services department as the Head of Consulting Services.

Organizational goals and priorities: His goal is to ensure client satisfaction and deliver effective solutions for their business challenges.

Role in the buying process: Adrian is a key influencer in decisions around hiring external consultants or trainers.

Drivers and motivators: Adrian is driven by client success and the growth and development of his team.

Fears and challenges: Adrian fears losing key clients to competition and struggles with finding fresh innovative solutions to complex problems.

Preferred communication channels: Adrian prefers in-person meetings, phone calls, and formal email communication.

Where do they find information? Adrian stays updated through LinkedIn, industry publications, business blogs, and professional networking events.

Key characteristics: Solution-focused, strategic, client-centric, and mentor.

Director of Business Development - Laura Griffiths

Demographic info: Laura is a 40-year-old female, living in London, UK. She's in a long-term relationship and holds a Master's degree in Business Administration.

Position info: She's the Director of Business Development, managing the company's growth strategies.

Organizational goals and priorities: Laura's goal is to secure new clients and expand existing relationships for the company.

Role in the buying process: Laura influences decisions regarding partnerships and alliances that may impact business growth.

Drivers and motivators: She's motivated by meeting sales targets and establishing strong business relationships.

Fears and challenges: Laura fears missing key business opportunities and struggles with highly competitive markets.

Preferred communication channels: Laura favours in-person meetings, phone calls, and Linkedin messaging for professional communication.

Where do they find information? She gathers industry insights from Linkedin, business publications, networking events, and webinars.

Key characteristics: Ambitious, goal-oriented, strategic, and relationship-driven.

No two ways about it: AI’s efforts feel like they’re on point. It’s especially impressive when you consider ChatGPT can generate marketing personas like these in mere moments and with minimal input. Most marketing teams would need a daylong working session to accomplish the same task (not to mention a catered lunch if you don’t want a mutiny on your hands).

However, it's essential to remember that these simulations are just that – simulations. While AI can be a powerful creative tool, it’s best to approach its outputs as speculative until validated. AIs don’t always get the details right. They’re prone to “hallucinations,” which is a nice way to say they sometimes make things up.

But, for now, it seems AI can provide a solid starting point for exploring further. 

The Art of Prompting

Knowing how to frame your prompts can help shape the conversation. Luckily, OpenAI has written a comprehensive guide to better prompt engineering.

Think of working with AI like training a new, eager-to-please employee. They always put in their best effort, but given their short tenure at your company they need a lot of help understanding the context around their tasks to produce their best work.

Our prompt to generate our puppet personas offered a pretty bare-bones description of our company and industry. Still, as you saw above, that didn’t stop GPT-4 from trying to help us. The more relevant information you can provide upfront, the better your AI outputs have the potential to be. 

If you have them, provide the AI with some details on your ideal buyers’ demographics, attitudes, behaviours, and preferences to give it robust data to craft detailed personas. If you don’t, you might have some extra homework before jumping into your prompts.

Another important consideration is that most AIs don’t have up-to-date market knowledge. For GPT-4, the information cutoff date is September 2021 and a lot has changed in the world since then. You will need to provide more current details on market conditions and trends if you want more timely personas. 

Since Code Interpreter was introduced in Beta, that has become easier. The AI can work with file uploads, including PDFs and Excel files, for more indepth analysis.

However, a note on privacy here. While there are no data ethics concerns with feeding your AI information about current marketplace trends, doing so with information about individuals raises serious ethical and privacy questions. We strongly recommend sticking with what the bot already knows or only feeding it aggregated or synthetic data to help it refine your personas until these have been answered.

Putting AI Personas to Work

Equipped with an understanding of how AI can help craft buyer personas, let’s explore the practical applications of these characters. In general, you’ll either be playing the role of interviewer or interviewee, depending on your goals for the session.

In this session, we played the role of a supplier of CRM software. For brevity, we’ve limited our examples to our fictitious financier, Jonathan Mills. But when testing the AI, we asked it to answer in the persona of each member of the buying committee to get a well-rounded view of their different perspectives. One of the great advantages of this technique is that you can ‘interview’ each persona to go deeper into their requirements, which you can then use as the basis for further validation and testing.

Starting in a fresh conversation so the AI didn’t get confused, we provided the following prompt:

Please adopt the role of [insert name of your buyer persona].

You work at a London based management consultancy that has around 50 employees and works mostly with UK and US clients to improve their business performance.

Your company is in the market for a new software solution to manage your client relationships.
Here are some more details about your persona: [insert details generated in the previous conversation for your chosen persona]

Start by describing your main priorities for this purchase decision, and then continue to ask questions that will help me better understand what you are looking for and your selection criteria for selecting a supplier.

As Jonathan Mills, the Finance Director of a London-based management consultancy, my primary focus in procuring a new client relationship management (CRM) software solution is to ensure that the chosen software is cost-effective, fits within our budget, aligns with our financial strategy, and brings measurable returns in terms of business growth and client satisfaction.

Our CRM must have the following characteristics:

Cost-Effectiveness: The software must provide a high return on investment. We need a CRM that enhances our operations and contributes to our financial growth without excessively burdening our budget.

Scalability: Our chosen CRM should be adaptable and able to grow with our business needs without requiring massive additional investment.

Secure and Compliant: Given the sensitivity of the data we handle, we need a CRM that is secure, trustworthy, and compliant with financial regulations and data protection laws.

Integrations: The CRM should integrate well with our existing financial software to provide seamless workflows and cost savings.

Customizable Reporting: The software should provide comprehensive and customizable financial reporting capabilities to assist with decision-making and strategy formulation.

To ensure these requirements are met, I would like to conduct interviews with potential software vendors, posing the following questions:

1. How does your CRM solution guarantee cost-effectiveness? How can it contribute to enhancing our operations and supporting our financial growth?

2. How scalable is your solution? How would costs change if we needed to upgrade or expand the software to meet growing business needs?

3. What security measures does your software have in place? Can you provide evidence of compliance with relevant data protection regulations?

4. How well does your CRM integrate with common financial software platforms?

5. Can you describe the customizable reporting capabilities of your software? Can these reports provide deep insights into our financial and client data?

Suppliers will be evaluated based on their responses to these questions, considering cost-effectiveness, scalability, security, integration abilities, and reporting capabilities. I will also consider vendor reputation, reviews from similar companies, and their level of post-purchase support when making the final decision. Understanding these aspects is crucial to ensure the selected CRM software aligns with our financial goals and can contribute to our business performance.

With AI's help, marketers can rapidly build understanding to drive customer-focused strategies.
By roleplaying different buying committee members, we quickly uncovered their unique priorities and selection criteria. This allows for creating tailored messaging that resonates with each persona. 

Identify Important Market Trends

Your AI chatbot can be a great ally for understanding which trends your potential customers care most about - just remember that unless you supplement its data, ChatGPT’s information is only current as of September 2021.

What are the key trends that are influencing your decision-making process and considerations when evaluating potential CRM solutions?

As Jonathan Mills, I see a variety of trends that influence my disposition towards a new CRM solution:

Al and Machine Learning: There is a growing trend of Al and machine learning being incorporated into CRM systems. This enables more efficient data analysis, better customer insights, and automation of routine tasks, which could significantly improve our operations.

Data Privacy Regulations: With new data privacy regulations like GDP in the EU and CPA in California, we need a CRM that ensures we're fully compliant to avoid hefty penalties.

Remote Work: With the shift towards remote work, we need a CRM that's cloud-based and allows our teams to access data and collaborate effectively from anywhere.

Customer Experience (CX) Focus: Businesses are increasingly recognizing the importance of CX for loyalty and retention. The CRM system should allow us to understand and cater to our clients' needs effectively, providing them with personalised experiences.

Integration and Interoperability: More and more, companies need systems that work together seamlessly. Our new CRM should be able to integrate with our existing tools, such as email marketing software, project management tools, and financial software.

Scalability: As we're planning to grow our business, we need a CRM that can scale with us. The trend towards flexible, scalable solutions makes this a viable expectation.

Cybersecurity: With increasing cyber threats, a secure CRM is no longer a nice-to have but a necessity. We require a CRM that employs strong encryption, multi-factor authentication, and other advanced security measures.

Predictive Analytics: The growing trend of predictive analytics in CRM could help us anticipate customer needs and market trends, offering us a competitive edge.

All of these trends are influencing my considerations for our new CRM solution, making it a more complex, yet crucial, decision for our company's future.

Prompting our persona on industry trends provides a rapid perspective into their priorities. Letting your personas educate you on market forces your target customers might care about to help drive relevant messaging and positioning.

Content Marketing Strategy

AI can give you some ideas to create content that could resonate with your audience.

Jonathan, what kinds of content are of most interest when it comes to making a decision about acquiring a new CRM?

As Jonathan Mills, when making a decision about acquiring a new CRM, I'd be most interested in the following types of content:

Case Studies: I would appreciate case studies showcasing how businesses similar to ours have successfully implemented the CRM, highlighting tangible benefits and improvements achieved.

Data Sheets: A concise, fact-filled document that lists the features, advantages, and specifications of the CRM system would be highly useful. This can allow me to quickly ascertain whether the system meets our essential requirements.

Webinars/Demos: I'd like to see the CRM in action. Live demos or webinars that explore the functionalities of the CRM would help me better understand its capabilities and user experience.

White Papers: These can provide in-depth insights about the CRM system, its technological edge, and how it addresses challenges and trends in the industry.

Customer Reviews/Testimonials: Hearing directly from other customers about their experiences with the CRM can offer valuable insight and build confidence in the product.

ROl Calculators: Tools that can help me project the potential return on investment from implementing the CRM would be highly beneficial in making a financial case for the investment.

Security Documentation: As security is a major concern for us, detailed documentation about the CRM's security measures, compliance with regulations, and how they handle data breaches would be of significant interest.

Blogs/Articles: Regularly published content discussing the CRM system's features, updates, industry trends, and tips for maximizing the system's use would also be beneficial.

These types of content, presented in an honest, clear, and engaging manner, would definitely pique my interest and help me make an informed decision about our new CRM.

This quick perspective demonstrates how AI personas can reveal targeted content opportunities tailored to influencers on the buying committee. Crafting assets that speak to each buyer allows for more effective messaging.

Sharpen Campaign Targeting

Similar to tailoring your content marketing strategy, your AI customer is happy to suggest some channels to target.

What would be the most effective way to get our content in front of you?

As Jonathan Mills, here are some of the most effective channels to get relevant content in front of me:

Email: Sending curated, personalized content directly to my inbox is an effective method. Make sure the subject line is compelling, and the content is relevant to our ongoing CRM search. Regular newsletters can also be beneficial.

LinkedIn: I spend a good amount of time on Linkedin for networking and industry updates. Sharing content on this platform or via direct messages could easily get my attention.

Industry Publications: I often read reputable industry publications, both online and offline. Placing content in these channels can also catch my eye.

Webinars or Online Events: Invitations to informative webinars or virtual events discussing the CRM system and related topics would be appealing.

Direct Mail: While it's more traditional, a well-crafted direct mail piece with key information or inviting me to review certain content online could be effective.

Vendor Website: Make sure all the relevant content is easily accessible on your website. If I'm considering your CRM, I will definitely explore your website in detail.

Industry Forums: I sometimes participate in online industry forums and communities. Sharing content or engaging in discussions there can be a good way to reach me.

Remember, the key to successfully reaching me is to provide valuable, relevant content that addresses my needs and concerns, rather than just pushing for a sale.

By asking each persona about preferred channels, we quickly mapped tailored media plans for the whole buying committee. These collective insights allow campaigns to cut through noise and resonate with each stakeholder.

Bolster Social Media Strategies

We noticed that “Jonathan” flagged LinkedIn as his social media platform of choice, so we pressed him for more information.

Is there a reason you'd be more interested in Linkedin than other platforms such as Facebook or Instagram?

Yes, as Jonathan Mills, the Finance Director of a management consultancy, I consider Linkedin a more relevant platform for several reasons:

Professional Context: LinkedIn is a professional networking platform where I connect with colleagues, peers, and industry leaders. It's the primary social media platform I use for work-related content, discussions, and networking. Facebook and Instagram, on the other hand, are more personal in nature.

Targeted Content: LinkedIn provides industry-specific content, insights, and thought leadership that aligns with my professional interests, including content about CRM systems. Facebook and Instagram tend to have a broader, more personal content focus.

Credibility: Content shared on Linked often has more credibility in a professional context, as it's generally shared by industry professionals, thought leaders, or reputable organizations.

Privacy Concerns: Given recent data privacy issues and concerns with Facebook, I feel more comfortable engaging with business-related content on Linkedin.

Networking: Linkedln offers a more efficient way to network with other professionals, join industry groups, and participate in relevant discussions.

While Facebook and Instagram can be effective platforms for reaching certain audiences, for my role and industry, Linkedin is more appropriate and effective.

Sales and Servicing Expectations

As valuable as AI can be for informing your content marketing strategy, the power of AI personas extends well beyond the marketing department, offering invaluable insights for teams involved in product or service development, customer success, and more. Using the AI’s outputs, you can start to envision what a customer-centric purchasing experience might look like.

What kinds of interactions would you expect from our Sales or Customer Service team? What service level are you expecting, given the size of your company in our industry?

As Jonathan Mills, Finance Director of a mid-sized management consultancy, my expectations from Sales and Customer Service teams would be quite specific:

Sales Team Expectations

Consultative Selling: Given the complex nature of CRM systems, I'd expect a consultative selling approach. The sales team should understand our unique needs and provide a solution tailored to our business.

Knowledgeable Representatives: The sales representatives should be well-versed with the CRM solution, able to answer technical questions, discuss integration, and clearly articulate the benefits and ROI.

Personalized Attention: Given our firm's size, we expect personalized attention and not just a generic sales pitch. The sales team should take the time to understand our business model, client base, and unique challenges.

Transparency: I would expect total transparency when it comes to pricing, contract terms, implementation timeline, and potential challenges we might face during the transition.

Customer Service Team Expectations

Fast Response Times: Once we're a client, I would expect prompt responses to our queries or issues, ideally within a few hours.

Expert Assistance: The customer service team should have technical experts who can help resolve system issues effectively and educate us on different features as needed.

Proactive Communication: Regular updates about maintenance, new features, system updates, and any potential issues would be appreciated.

Dedicated Support: Given the size and nature of our business, having a dedicated account manager or customer success manager would be desirable. They can understand our business better and ensure we're leveraging the CRM solution effectively.

Training and Onboarding: A comprehensive onboarding and training program for our team would be essential to ensure smooth adoption and usage of the new CRM system.

Overall, as a mid-sized consultancy in a competitive industry, we'd expect a high level of service that is personalized, responsive, and consistently focused on helping us maximize the value from our CRM investment.

Prompting personas on sales and service needs uncovers ingredients for optimizing the customer journey. This approach reveals opportunities for tailoring sales and service approaches for different types of customers.

The Future of Persona Creation

Truly understanding customers requires empathy, nuance and real-world validation - areas where AI still falls short. But while there is no substitute for a comprehensive customer profile based on market research and real-world interactions, supplementing human intuition and expertise with the capabilities of AI offers the best of both worlds.

As you’ve seen, engaging in roleplay with an AI creation like Mr. Mills offers an innovative way to brainstorm using efficient, relatively inexpensive tools. This approach allows you to gather hypotheses to test, leaving you time and resources to prove or disprove your assumptions.

For those looking to explore AI-assisted personas, start by crafting a few prompts and identifying any data you can provide to shape the outputs. Then use the AI personas as a framework for real-world validation through surveys, interviews and feedback.

By combining AI's scalability with human level engagement, marketing and sales teams can collaborate to build truly customer-centric experiences. From where we stand, the future lies in using technology and humanity together.

If you’re considering leveraging AI persona creation to bolster your content marketing efforts, we’d love to chat. Get in touch to see how the 1827 Marketing team can help you bring your AI’s suggestions to life with creative talent and engaging content.