Most marketing problems are actually customer understanding problems. When you know what your customer is really thinking, the right words come naturally. This exercise uses AI as a thinking tool to help you get there. Not to write your marketing for you. Just to ask the questions you probably haven't asked yourself yet.
Two steps. Answer honestly. Be specific. It works.
How it works
01
Answer 10 questions to build a customer persona
02
Have a real conversation with that customer, played by AI
03
Type DEBRIEF and get your pain points, needs and purchase drivers
Open Claude, ChatGPT, or whichever AI tool you use. Paste the prompt below exactly as written. Answer each question honestly. If you're not sure, give your best guess and say so — the AI will help you narrow it down. The temptation is to give the "right" answer rather than the true one. Resist it.
Copy this prompt
I want you to help me build a detailed customer persona for my business.
Ask me the following questions one at a time, waiting for my answer before moving to the next. If I say I'm not sure or give a vague answer, ask me one or two follow-up questions to help me narrow it down. Don't move on until we've got something useful.
1. What does your business sell, and who is it for?
2. What age range and life stage is your typical customer? (e.g. young professional, new parent, retiree)
3. What is their job or daily routine like?
4. What problem or frustration drives them to look for what you offer?
5. What has stopped them from solving this problem before now?
6. Where do they spend time online and offline?
7. What do they value most when choosing a product or service like yours? (e.g. price, quality, speed, trust, status)
8. Who or what influences their decisions? (e.g. friends, reviews, social media, professionals)
9. What would make them hesitate or say no to buying from you?
10. If they were recommending you to a friend, what would they say?
Once I have answered all ten questions, summarise my answers into a single customer persona. Where I was unsure or vague, use logic and reasonable assumptions based on what I've told you to fill in the gaps — and flag what you've assumed so I can correct anything. Give them a first name, age, job title, and a short paragraph describing their daily life, their frustrations, what they are looking for, and what matters most to them when making a buying decision.
Save the persona. You'll need it for Part Two. Copy it somewhere before you start a fresh conversation.
Start a fresh AI conversation. Paste the prompt below and replace [PASTE YOUR PERSONA HERE] with the persona from Part One. Then just ask questions. Talk to them like a real customer. When you're done, type DEBRIEF.
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I am going to give you a customer persona. I want you to become this person. Stay in character for the entire conversation. Answer every question as this person would — using their language, their priorities, their doubts, and their emotions. Do not break character or offer marketing advice.
Here is the persona:
[PASTE YOUR PERSONA HERE]
You are now this person. I am the business owner. I am going to ask you questions to understand you better. Wait for my first question before you respond.
When I type the word DEBRIEF, step out of character and give me:
— My customer's top pain points
— Their needs and desires
— Their purchase drivers
— Any other insights that would help me market to them more effectively
Type DEBRIEF when you're done. The AI steps out of character and hands you a breakdown you can use straight away.
You won't need all of these. Just pick a few that feel relevant and let the conversation go where it goes.
What does a typical Tuesday look like for you?
When did you last feel really frustrated with this problem?
What have you already tried?
What made you not go back to the last person you tried?
What would make you recommend someone to a friend?
What would make you hesitate before buying?
What does success look like six months from now?
If money wasn't a factor, what would you do?
Pain points
Real frustrations, in their own language
Needs and desires
What they actually want, not what they say they want
Purchase drivers
What tips them from interested to committed
Useful extras
Anything else worth knowing about how to reach them
Worth remembering. This isn't about getting AI to write your marketing. It's about thinking more clearly about who you're talking to. Once you've got that, your own words come a lot more easily.