To craft resonating campaigns and achieve meaningful results, understanding your audience is paramount. By developing detailed customer personas, marketers can tailor their strategies accordingly, enhance engagement, and boost conversions. The traditional approach to this process, which involves extensive research and time-consuming interviews, can be resource intensive.
The emergence of Generative AI (GenAI) offers a promising approach to streamline and enrich persona development. By leveraging tools such as GPT Chat, we can simulate interviews and generate diverse marketer profiles—we can gain a broader perspective without extensive time commitment. This approach thus not only accelerates persona creation but also introduces a variety of insights that we might struggle to gather using conventional methods.
Purpose and essence
We aimed to explore the practicality and applicability of using GenAI to create detailed customer personas for email marketers. To this end, we combined real-world data from an actual interview with AI-generated simulations.
We delve into each step of our process, from defining our objectives and preparing the interview questions to conducting both real and simulated interviews. By analyzing the interview responses, we identify the common themes and differences and evaluate how closely AI-generated personas align with real-world counterparts.
Our approach
Step 1: Defining objectives and scope
Objective: Create four distinct email marketer personas to deeply understand our target audience and evaluate the effectiveness of using GenAI for this process.
Scope:
- target audience: Email marketers involved in creating emails, newsletters, and templates;
- profiles to create:
- one real marketer through an actual interview;
- three simulated marketers using GPT Chat;
- diversity factors:
- experience level (junior to senior);
- geolocation (different regions);
- company size and industry;
- specific challenges faced.
Step 2: Preparing interview questions
We developed a comprehensive list of questions to extract in-depth information from both real and simulated marketers. The questions covered the following aspects:
- demographics: Age, location, education;
- professional background: Years of experience, current role, company size, industry;
- goals and motivations: The objectives in their role, what drives them in email marketing;
- challenges and pain points: The obstacles they face in their work;
- tools and resources used: The software, platforms, and resources they rely on;
- preferences and behaviors: Their preferred content types, design styles, methods for staying updated on trends;
- success metrics: How they measure the success of their email campaigns;
- future aspirations: The skills they wish to develop, and the trends they are interested in.
Step 3: Conducting the actual interview
We interviewed a real email marketer to gather authentic insights. The below steps were followed:
- utilized the prepared questions to guide the interview;
- accurately recorded the responses for thorough analysis;
- asked follow-up questions to clarify and deepen our understanding where necessary.
Step 4: Simulating interviews using GenAI
For the simulated marketers, we leveraged GPT Chat to create realistic interview scenarios:
Defined persona attributes:
- marketer A: A junior marketer from North America with 2 years of experience;
- marketer B: A mid-level marketer from Europe with 5 years of experience;
- marketer C: A senior marketer from South America with over 10 years of experience.
Conducted simulated interviews:
- instructed GPT Chat to roleplay as each marketer;
- asked the same set of interview questions used in the actual interview;
- adjusted prompts to ensure diversity and realism in the responses.
Step 5: Data compilation and analysis
We organized and analyzed the responses from the actual and simulated interviews.
Organization:
- created separate documents for each marketer's responses;
- categorized the responses based on the thematic areas from the interview questions.
Analysis:
- identified the common themes, challenges, and goals among the marketers;
- noted the differences attributed to experience levels and geolocations;
- summarized each marketer's profile, including their background, goals, pain points, preferred tools, success metrics, and future aspirations.
Evaluating effectiveness and applicability
By comparing the AI-generated personas with the real marketer's profile, we aimed to evaluate the following:
- accuracy: Assess how closely the AI-generated responses reflect real-world experiences;
- depth of insight: Determine whether the AI-generated personas provide valuable and actionable insights;
- diversity: Examine whether AI effectively simulates diverse backgrounds and experiences;
- practicality: Evaluate whether this method saves time and resources while maintaining quality.
The following sections delve into the findings from our analysis, discussing the effectiveness of GenAI in context and its applicability to current email marketing practices.
Simulated GenAI interviews with industry professionals
To broaden our understanding of how email marketers across different regions and experience levels perceive GenAI, we conducted simulated interviews using AI-generated personas. These simulations provided diverse perspectives regarding AI integration in email marketing.
Prepared roles for GenAI simulation:
- marketer A: A junior email marketer from North America with 2 years of experience in the retail industry;
- marketer B: A mid-level email marketer from Europe with 5 years of experience in the technology sector;
- marketer C: A senior email marketer from South America with over 10 years of experience in the finance industry.
Approach to GenAI simulation:
To help the GenAI fully immerse itself in each character, we used a detailed prompt, thus ensuring that the responses were realistic and reflective of genuine experiences in the email marketing industry.
The prompt:
"You are going to simulate an in-depth interview by role-playing as a professional email marketer. Please fully immerse yourself in the character, providing detailed, realistic answers based on the persona's background and experiences in the email marketing industry. Answer all questions in the first person, and feel free to include personal anecdotes, specific examples, and industry insights to add depth to your responses."
The key areas explored in the simulated interviews:
- persona details: Education, current role, areas of expertise, previous industries, and notable achievements;
- professional challenges: The common obstacles faced in email marketing and the strategies used to overcome them;
- tools and resources: The preferred platforms and desired features to enhance efficiency;
- success metrics: The KPIs focused on and the methods for measuring campaign success;
- future aspirations: The skills they aim to develop and the trends they are most interested in.
From the simulated interviews, we gained valuable insights into the diverse challenges and opportunities that email marketers encounter globally, which helped us understand how GenAI can be tailored to meet the specific needs of marketers at different career stages and in various industries.
GenAI-simulated professionals: Using GenAI for in-depth interviews
To understand how email marketers from diverse backgrounds perceive and implement Generative AI, we utilized GenAI to simulate interviews with professional email marketers. By creating detailed personas and conducting interviews using the same questions posed to our live marketer, we gained a wider range of perspectives regarding the challenges and opportunities in AI-driven email marketing.
Leveraging GenAI's capabilities, we crafted realistic roles for three marketers, each representing different experience levels, industries, and regions. These simulated professionals provided detailed responses, offering valuable insights into the adoption and impact of GenAI in various contexts.
A brief overview of the simulated marketers:
Marketer A (Emily Johnson):
- background: A junior email marketer from North America with 2 years of experience in the retail industry;
- role: Focuses on campaign strategy and template design for a fashion apparel and accessories company;
- insights: Shared experiences on increasing newsletter open rates through A/B testing and personalization.
Marketer B (Sofia Rossi):
- background: A mid-level email marketer from Europe with 5 years of experience in the technology sector;
- role: Specializes in campaign strategy, segmentation, and automation workflows for a company developing IoT solutions;
- insights: Discussed enhancing click-through rates by 25% through audience segmentation and personalized content.
Marketer C (Camila Silva):
- background: A senior email marketer from South America with over 10 years of experience in the finance industry;
- role: Senior Email Marketing Manager at a leading financial institution focused on wealth management;
- insights: Highlighted an increase in email open rates by 45% through advanced segmentation and dynamic content personalization.
Accessing detailed interviews
For readers interested in exploring the detailed responses and gaining deeper insights from these simulated professionals, we have provided the simulated marketer's full interview:
- Marketer A (Emily Johnson)
- Marketer B (Sofia Rossi)
- Marketer C (Camila Silva)
Analysis of collected data
Identification of common themes and differences
After compiling the responses from the simulated interviews, we identified several key themes and differences. Our analysis focused on the most significant insights that are technically important and useful for understanding the target audience.
Common goals
- Increasing customer engagement and conversions:
- boosting sales and registrations.
- Personalization and segmentation.
- Staying updated with industry trends:
- continuous learning;
- emerging technologies.
Common challenges and pain points
- Standing out in crowded inboxes:
- attention capture;
- creative strategies are needed.
- Technological limitations and email client compatibility:
- lack of standardization: Challenges arising from inconsistent email rendering across different email clients and devices;
- deliverability issues.
- Resource constraints and efficiency:
- content production: Balancing the need for fresh, high quality content without overextending the available resources;
- efficiency tools: Desire for advanced tools that improve workflow efficiency through automation and enhanced features.
Success metrics
- key performance indicators (KPIs):
- engagement metrics: Focus on open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates as primary indicators of campaign success;
- customer retention: Monitoring unsubscribe rates and engagement over time to assess customer loyalty;
- campaign-specific goals: Measurement based on specific objectives, such as the revenue generated, number of sign-ups, or other targeted actions.
Future aspirations
- Skill development:
- data analytics and machine learning: Aiming to enhance capabilities in interpreting data and applying machine learning for better decision-making;
- technical proficiency: Improving skills in coding (HTML and CSS) and software integration to create more advanced and customized email experiences.
- Interest in emerging trends:
- interactive emails and AMP technology: Excitement about leveraging technologies that enable more engaging and interactive email content;
- real-time personalization: Desire to implement dynamic content that adapts to user behavior in real time;
- AI utilization: Exploring AI use for email creation, advanced segmentation, and predictive analytics to optimize campaigns.
Differences due to experience level
- Junior marketer (Emily Johnson):
- focus areas: Concentrates on foundational strategies, such as A/B testing and basic personalization techniques;
- learning curve: Actively learning to balance creativity with data-driven approaches and seeking mentorship and guidance.
- Mid-level marketer (Sofia Rossi):
- efficiency and automation: Emphasizes improving workflow efficiency through automation and refining processes;
- content strategy: Balances the need for fresh content with maintaining audience engagement and experiments with different formats and frequencies.
- Senior marketer (Camila Silva):
- strategic leadership: Involved in high-level strategy focusing on growth marketing and making significant contributions to business objectives;
- complex challenges: Deals with intricate issues such as regulatory compliance, large-scale personalization, and integrating advanced technologies into existing systems;
- advanced techniques: Implements sophisticated segmentation and dynamic content strategies to drive deeper engagement.
Key takeaways:
- importance of personalization and technology: There is a strong emphasis on personalization, with marketers seeking advanced technological solutions to enhance their capabilities;
- value of experience: Senior marketers tend to focus on strategic initiatives and advanced techniques, while junior and mid-level marketers concentrate on building foundational skills and improving efficiency.
Developing persona profiles
To deepen our understanding of the target audience, we developed detailed persona profiles based on the collected data. Below is the profile of our real marketer, which provides valuable insights into the challenges and objectives common among email marketers.
Persona: Camila Silva
Background:
- age: 38;
- location: São Paulo, Brazil;
- education: Master's degree in Marketing from the University of São Paulo;
- experience: Over 12 years in email marketing in the finance industry;
- current role: Senior Email Marketing Manager at Banco Prosperidade (a leading financial institution with over 10,000 employees).
Goals:
- develop and implement effective email marketing strategies to enhance customer engagement and drive business growth;
- personalize content and optimize campaigns through data analysis;
- foster long-term customer relationships and increase customer lifetime value.
Pain points:
- maintaining high engagement rates while facing email saturation;
- navigating strict financial regulations while creating compelling content;
- desire for tools that offer real-time personalization and predictive analytics.
Preferred tools:
- email platforms: Salesforce Marketing Cloud;
- analytics: Google Analytics, proprietary data systems;
- desired features: Advanced AI-driven personalization, real-time content adaptation, and enhanced predictive analytics.
Success metrics:
- open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and unsubscribe rates;
- customer lifetime value and engagement over time.
Future aspirations:
- enhance data analytics and machine learning skills for advanced personalization;
- learn more about coding and software integration to collaborate effectively with technical teams;
- interested in interactive emails, AMP technology, and the role of AI in predictive analytics and personalization.
We also developed comprehensive personas for the other marketers generated through our ChatGPT simulations. These personas offer a broader perspective on the diverse experiences and challenges faced by email marketers across different regions and experience levels.
Reflections from our marketer
As we concluded our exploration, we sought feedback from our real marketer, Oleksandr, to evaluate the effectiveness and applicability of using GenAI in creating persona profiles. His insights offered valuable perspectives on both the process and the content generated.
Appreciation for streamlining the process:
Oleksandr acknowledged that GenAI significantly simplified and accelerated the creation of persona profiles. He found this aspect highly beneficial, as it saved time and resources while supplying a structured framework for understanding different marketer personas.
The desire for deeper analysis:
However, he expressed mixed feelings regarding the depth of analysis in the AI-generated profiles. Oleksandr felt that the AI assistant largely used his responses verbatim and placed them into a framework without delving deeper into underlying insights that might not be immediately apparent. He highlighted the importance of interpreting responses to uncover subtle needs and preferences that require thoughtful consideration.
Emphasis on practical needs:
One key insight Oleksandr highlighted was the need for tools that minimize marketers' coding requirements. Many email marketers, he noted, prefer solutions that allow them to create engaging content without necessitating any coding skills, which is why platforms like Stripo are valuable. This perspective suggests that skill development areas should focus more on leveraging such tools rather than improving coding abilities.
Clarifications on tools and technologies:
- machine learning in email marketing: Oleksandr questioned the relevance of enhancing machine learning capabilities as a skill development area for email marketers. While AI and machine learning technologies impact the tools marketers use, they do not need to develop expertise in machine learning; rather, they can understand how to utilize AI-powered features in their platforms;
- coding skills: Contrary to the suggestion that marketers aim to improve their coding skills (in HTML and CSS, for instance), Oleksandr highlighted that many marketers prefer tools that eliminate the need for coding. They focus on tools that prioritize efficiency and ease of use and help them craft sophisticated emails without any technical or coding knowledge.
Acknowledgment of GenAI's strengths and limitations:
Oleksandr recognized that GenAI is effective as an assistant in structuring and organizing information and in differentiating between the roles and tasks of junior and senior marketers. However, he noted that marketers must still invest their time to reflect on the insights and add depth to the profiles.
Conclusion and implications:
Oleksandr’s feedback underscores the importance of human insight along with AI-generated content. While GenAI can expedite the persona development process and provide a solid starting point, human expertise is essential to interpret, refine, and enrich the profiles with nuanced understanding.
This suggests the following:
- GenAI as a collaborative tool: GenAI serves best as an assistant that supports marketers in organizing and structuring information and not as a standalone solution;
- the need for human analysis: Marketers should review and adjust AI-generated content to ensure it accurately reflects industry practices and aligns with practical needs;
- continuous improvement: Incorporating feedback from real professionals helps refine GenAI outputs, leading to more accurate and valuable personas over time.
Critical analysis of the persona card
For the last time, I have carefully analyzed the persona card created for Camila Silva. While the persona provides a solid foundation, several shortcomings exist in both the content and the creation process. These must be fixed to make the persona more accurate, practical, and aligned with the real-world needs of email marketers.
Shortcomings identified:
- Specific tool names in "Preferred tools":
- issue: The persona lists specific tools such as Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Google Analytics;
- comment: According to the guidelines and Oleksandr's feedback, we should avoid mentioning specific tool names, as we cannot assume which tools a marketer uses. It is more appropriate to refer to tool categories.
- Emphasis on coding and machine learning skills:
- issue: The future aspirations mention enhancing skills in data analytics, machine learning, and coding;
- comment: Oleksandr highlighted that email marketers prefer tools that eliminate the need for coding; they are more interested in leveraging tools that simplify email creation and do not demand any technical or coding skills. Additionally, while AI impacts the tools marketers use, they do not have to develop expertise in machine learning but should instead focus on utilizing AI-powered features.
- Lack of depth in pain points and goals:
- issue: The pain points and goals are somewhat generic and lack specificity;
- comment: The persona does not delve deep into the unique challenges faced by a senior email marketer in the finance industry, especially considering the regional factors in Brazil.
- Insufficient reflection of practical needs:
- issue: The persona does not emphasize the need for tools that minimize coding or the preference for user-friendly platforms;
- comment: According to Oleksandr's insights, email marketers value solutions that allow them to create engaging content efficiently without any technical barriers.
- The creation process lacks depth:
- issue: The persona appears to be a direct adaptation with minimal interpretation;
- comment: The process did not involve deep analysis or interpretations of a marketer’s underlying needs and preferences, thus generating a surface-level profile.
Prompt to ChatGPT: How to fix the shortcomings
- Generalize "Preferred tools":
- action: Replace specific tool names with categories;
- revised content:
- email platforms: Advanced email marketing platforms with automation capabilities;
- analytics: Robust analytics tools for performance tracking;
- desired features: AI-driven personalization, real-time content adaptation, and predictive analytics.
- Adjust future aspirations to reflect practical needs:
- action: Focus on leveraging AI tools and efficient platforms rather than coding and machine learning expertise;
- revised content:
- future aspirations:
- enhance skills in utilizing AI-powered features for advanced personalization;
- adopt tools that streamline email creation without the need for coding;
- stay updated on interactive emails, AMP technology, and AI applications in email marketing.
- future aspirations:
- Deepen the pain points and goals:
- action: Add specificity relevant to Camila's context in Brazil and the finance industry;
- revised content:
- pain points:
- ensuring compliance with Brazil's financial regulations while crafting engaging emails;
- personalizing content for a diverse customer base with varying financial needs;
- goals:
- increase customer engagement by implementing data-driven personalization strategies;
- strengthen customer trust and loyalty in a competitive financial market.
- pain points:
- Emphasize preference for user-friendly tools:
- action: Highlight the desire for platforms that simplify the creation process;
- revised content:
- preferred tools:
- platforms that offer drag-and-drop email builders and customizable templates;
- tools that integrate AI features without requiring technical expertise.
- preferred tools:
- Enhance the creation process with deeper analysis:
- action: Interpret responses to uncover the underlying motivations and needs;
- revised approach:
- consider Camila's role in fostering customer trust in a regulated industry;
- reflect on how market competition influences her strategies;
- incorporate personal anecdotes or experiences that illustrate her challenges and successes.
Revised persona card for Camila Silva:
Background:
- age: 38
- location: São Paulo, Brazil
- education: Master's degree in Marketing from the University of São Paulo
- experience: Over 12 years in email marketing within the finance industry
- current Role: Senior Email Marketing Manager at Banco Prosperidade, a leading financial institution with over 10,000 employees
Goals:
- develop and implement effective email marketing strategies to enhance customer engagement and drive business growth;
- personalize content using data-driven insights to satisfy the specific financial needs of diverse customer segments;
- foster long-term customer relationships and thus increase customer lifetime value and trust in the bank's services.
Pain points:
- maintaining high engagement rates in a saturated market where customers receive numerous financial offers daily;
- navigating the strict Brazilian financial regulations while creating compelling and compliant email content;
- the need for tools that offer real-time personalization and predictive analytics without demanding extensive technical or coding skills.
Preferred tools:
- email marketing platforms: User-friendly platforms with advanced automation and AI-powered personalization features;
- analytics tools: Comprehensive analytics solutions for in-depth performance tracking and customer behavior analysis;
- desired features: Real-time content adaptation, predictive analytics, seamless integration with CRM systems, and interfaces that minimize the need for coding.
Success metrics:
- open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and unsubscribe rates;
- customer lifetime value, engagement over time, and retention rates;
- achievement of specific campaign objectives, such as increasing sign-ups for new financial products or services.
Future aspirations:
- enhance proficiency in leveraging AI-powered tools for advanced personalization and customer segmentation;
- adopt solutions that streamline the email creation processes, focusing on efficiency and effectiveness without the need for coding;
- stay abreast of emerging trends such as interactive emails, AMP technology, and the practical applications of AI in email marketing to keep campaigns innovative and competitive.
Wrapping up
GenAI has emerged as a valuable asset for developing detailed marketer personas. While it significantly streamlines the persona creation process and introduces a wealth of diverse insights, it cannot fully replace the depth of human analysis. The AI-assisted approach excels in organizing information and identifying common themes, but human expertise remains essential for interpreting nuanced responses and uncovering underlying needs that GenAI might overlook.
GenAI serves best as a collaborative tool: it enhances efficiency and offers a solid foundation for marketers. By combining AI-generated content with human insights, marketers can create highly accurate and actionable personas. Using this synergy, they can craft personalized and effective email campaigns that truly resonate with their target audiences, ultimately driving engagement and conversions.
Embracing GenAI in persona development holds significant promise, but it should be integrated thoughtfully with an understanding of its limitations. Marketers are encouraged to leverage AI for its strengths in data processing and pattern recognition while applying their expertise to refine and enrich its results. This balanced approach ensures that the final personas are both insightful, practical, and align closely with real-world experiences and industry practices.
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