An interesting use case for these LLMs would be for a Chief Marketing Officer to develop personas of potential users of their products and platforms. We can leverage GPT to create potential users for currently existing businesses and businesses that do not yet exist.
First, let’s warm up with a glance into potential customer personas for Facebook.
Certainly! Creating customer personas is a common marketing practice that helps businesses understand and connect with their target audience. When it comes to Facebook, the platform has diverse users with varying needs and interests. Here are five different customer personas that could represent typical users of Facebook:
- The Social Connector
- Age: 18-30
- Occupation: Student or young professional
- Goals: Staying connected with friends, sharing updates and photos, engaging with social events.
- Challenges: Maintaining privacy, managing time spent on the platform.
- Interests: Socializing, pop culture, fashion, technology.
- Values: Friendship, creativity, fun.
- The Business Entrepreneur
- Age: 25-50
- Occupation: Small business owner or entrepreneur
- Goals: Building a brand, networking, promoting products or services.
- Challenges: Understanding advertising algorithms, competition, budget constraints.
- Interests: Entrepreneurship, marketing, leadership.
- Values: Innovation, hard work, community engagement.
- The Knowledge Seeker
- Age: 20-60
- Occupation: Various (students, professionals, retirees)
- Goals: Gaining information, joining interest groups, engaging in discussions.
- Challenges: Finding credible information, avoiding misinformation.
- Interests: Education, politics, history, science.
- Values: Knowledge, integrity, curiosity.
- The Family Focused User
- Age: 30-65
- Occupation: Parent, caregiver
- Goals: Staying in touch with family, sharing family updates, supporting children’s activities.
- Challenges: Managing privacy settings, monitoring children’s online activity.
- Interests: Family activities, health, education.
- Values: Family, safety, tradition.
- The Activist
- Age: 18-50
- Occupation: Various (could include activists, nonprofit workers, socially conscious individuals)
- Goals: Raising awareness for causes, mobilizing support, engaging with like-minded individuals.
- Challenges: Navigating polarized discussions, potential online harassment.
- Interests: Social justice, environmentalism, human rights.
- Values: Compassion, justice, community.
These personas are created based on generalized observations and could vary depending on specific market segmentation or regional differences. They should be validated and refined through actual research with real users, such as surveys, interviews, or ethnographic studies, to reflect the true customer base of Facebook in a specific context.
This was all pretty straightforward, each of these responses include reasonable expectations for what a Facebook user might look like. Taking a step into a more difficult task, let’s see what GPT might say for an Open AI user:
Certainly! OpenAI’s customer base would likely be quite different from that of a social media platform like Facebook, given its focus on artificial intelligence research, development, and applications. Here are five personas that could represent typical customers or users of OpenAI:
- The Academic Researcher
- Age: 25-60
- Occupation: University professor, postdoctoral researcher, Ph.D. student
- Goals: Conducting cutting-edge AI research, publishing papers, collaborating with peers.
- Challenges: Keeping up with rapid advancements, securing research funding.
- Interests: Machine learning, neural networks, data science, ethics in AI.
- Values: Innovation, intellectual rigor, collaboration.
- The Tech Startup Founder
- Age: 20-45
- Occupation: Entrepreneur, startup founder
- Goals: Developing innovative AI products, scaling a business, attracting investment.
- Challenges: Navigating competitive markets, adhering to regulations, managing costs.
- Interests: Technology trends, venture capital, business strategy.
- Values: Creativity, agility, ambition.
- The Corporate Innovator
- Age: 30-55
- Occupation: Corporate executive, manager in R&D, technology officer
- Goals: Implementing AI solutions, driving innovation, maintaining a competitive edge.
- Challenges: Integration with existing systems, managing teams, aligning with business goals.
- Interests: Organizational development, industry benchmarks, digital transformation.
- Values: Leadership, efficiency, strategic growth.
- The Independent Developer
- Age: 18-40
- Occupation: Freelance developer, hobbyist
- Goals: Building personal projects, continuous learning, contributing to open-source.
- Challenges: Accessing resources, balancing time, staying up-to-date with technologies.
- Interests: Coding, software design, AI community engagement.
- Values: Autonomy, creativity, lifelong learning.
- The Ethical Watchdog
- Age: 25-60
- Occupation: Ethicist, journalist, policy maker, activist
- Goals: Ensuring responsible AI development, advocating for regulations, informing the public.
- Challenges: Navigating complex technology, reaching a broad audience, combating misinformation.
- Interests: Ethics, law, social impact of technology.
- Values: Integrity, transparency, social responsibility.
These personas reflect a blend of stakeholders who might engage with OpenAI, from those directly involved in creating AI technologies to those interested in their ethical implications. Again, real-world research should be conducted to validate and refine these personas for a more precise understanding of OpenAI’s actual customer or user base.
Again, pretty fair use cases here. Interesting to see the final response being “The Ethical Watchdog”. Seems like if I were a bit more cynical I’d reference the previous narrative that Open AI was censoring GPT responses to certain ‘approved’ responses and they might be doing it again here…
Let’s move on to the most difficult task of the day – creating personas for a business that does not yet exist.
That’s an exciting concept! A platform dedicated to live broadcasting stand-up comedy opens up a new avenue for both comedians and comedy enthusiasts. Here are five customer personas that might be representative of the users for this innovative platform:
- The Aspiring Comedian
- Age: 18-35
- Occupation: Aspiring stand-up comedian, part-time jobs
- Goals: Building an audience, improving skills, receiving feedback.
- Challenges: Limited exposure, stage fright, finding gigs.
- Interests: Comedy, writing, performing arts.
- Values: Creativity, humor, personal growth.
- The Comedy Enthusiast
- Age: 18-60
- Occupation: Various (from students to retirees)
- Goals: Discovering new comedians, enjoying live performances, engaging with like-minded fans.
- Challenges: Finding quality content, connecting with favorite comedians.
- Interests: Comedy shows, entertainment, social media.
- Values: Entertainment, community, discovery.
- The Professional Comedian
- Age: 25-55
- Occupation: Full-time stand-up comedian
- Goals: Expanding reach, monetizing performances, connecting with fans.
- Challenges: Navigating technology, maintaining audience engagement.
- Interests: Comedy writing, live shows, industry networking.
- Values: Professionalism, creativity, connection.
- The Talent Scout
- Age: 30-65
- Occupation: Talent agent, casting director, comedy club owner
- Goals: Discovering new talent, staying ahead of comedy trends, booking acts.
- Challenges: Sifting through vast content, negotiating contracts.
- Interests: Entertainment industry, talent development, business growth.
- Values: Innovation, ambition, industry insight.
- The Casual Viewer
- Age: 15-65
- Occupation: Various (broad demographic)
- Goals: Casual entertainment, light-hearted enjoyment, occasional live viewing.
- Challenges: Finding suitable content, managing time.
- Interests: TV shows, social media, leisure activities.
- Values: Simplicity, fun, relaxation.
These personas offer insights into various user types that might engage with your platform, from those looking to build or expand their comedy careers to those simply looking for entertainment. Tailoring your platform’s features and marketing strategy to these distinct needs can help you create a more engaging and effective product. Of course, direct research with your intended audience can provide even deeper insights tailored specifically to your market.
It’s interesting to see GPT assume who the target customer might be for this type of business. I left specifics intentionally vague. Instead of the traditional comedy club business which involves charging just the consumer of comedy, GPT brought the approach of potentially charging the comedian as well. On the surface level, it makes no sense. Why would a comedian pay to present their jokes? If we remove ourselves from the situation, however, the idea does have validity. In real life, comedians are paid to bring customers in the door who then buy drinks and food from the club. Each club needs to pay their fixed costs (rent, employee salaries, tables / chairs, etc) and draw from the drink and food sales to cover this. To pay the comedians, ticket sales are split between the club and the comedian. In a virtual world, there are virtually no fixed costs. A ticket from each fan sitting in the audience could pay the platform a small fee and help compensate the most popular comedians. For younger comics, they might even be willing to pay a small fee for exposure in front of a true headliner. For instance, let’s say in this hypothetical world Bill Burr decided to test his new material in front of a virtual audience. Over 10,000 people bought tickets to this live show for $15 each netting Burr a 50/50 rev split of $75,000 for an hour’s work. Before Burr goes live at 10:00pm ET, an up and coming comic decides it would be worth it to pay $500 or $1,000 to open in front of Burr as the crowd starts to spill in. They use it as an advertisement for their tour dates or podcast and get to do a 15-20 minute spot in front of the first few thousand people spilling in to see Burr.
Did GPT think this deep when creating the personas? Likely not, but it brings up an interesting point on the answers being provided by GPT. There is no prior experience that this LLM has in setting up a comedy club. It didn’t just get back from the Comedy Cellar in NYC last week and has first-hand knowledge of how shows are set up. It simply relies on what other people have posted about the experience online. Sometimes having a viewpoint away from the action can present a fresh take. That is something we can all get behind.
mike murphy 