Start from your customers, not the tool

The temptation: open an assistant and ask it to "write a post for my bakery". The result will be tidy, and generic: it could be about any bakery at all. Before writing a single line, you need to know who you're talking to and what you have to tell them. That's where AI is most useful: not as a ghostwriter, but as a thinking partner.

The typical customer profile

A typical customer profile describes a real, representative customer, not an imaginary ideal one. Four questions are enough:

• Who are they? "A local mum who stops by in the morning before school."
• What are they really looking for? Not "bread", but "good bread without queuing for ten minutes".
• What makes them hesitate? Price, fear of being disappointed, lack of time, parking.
• How do they find you? Word of mouth, your shop window, a search on their phone, a neighbourhood group.

Most small businesses have two or three types of customers, no more. A hairdresser may have her Saturday regulars and young professionals who book online during their lunch break: they aren't looking for the same thing, and you don't talk to them the same way.

Putting AI to work on your customers

Give it what you know, then ask it to question you. An example to copy and paste:

"I'm a self-employed plumber and heating engineer in a medium-sized town. My customers are mostly homeowners, often for a boiler breakdown or a leak, plus a few property management companies. Ask me ten questions, one at a time, to help me describe my two main types of customers: what they're looking for, what worries them, how they choose a tradesperson. Then write a typical customer profile for each."

Being asked questions works better than asking for a profile straight away: without your answers, the AI fills the gaps with generalities. Reread the profile you get and cross out anything you've never actually seen in a real customer.

Your message in one sentence

Once your customers are described, look for the sentence that says why people come to you rather than going elsewhere. A simple formula: "For [who], I [what you do], [what sets you apart]."

• A bakery: "Sourdough bread baked twice a day, for people who want good bread without rushing."
• A homework-help association: "Local volunteers who help secondary school pupils two evenings a week, free of charge."

Ask the AI for ten versions, then critique them together: "Which one is the most concrete? Which one could any competitor say?" Keep the sentence that is true, and that your customers could repeat. You'll use it everywhere: on your shop window, your online listing, your posts.