Bob McKay is Founder and CEO at McKay Advertising + Activation, “The Franchise Whisperers.”
AI is reshaping marketing faster than ever. Blink once, and there’s a new tool, platform or trend making headlines. For franchise marketers, keeping up can feel like trying to drink from a fire hose.
Instead of chasing every shiny new technology, my team wanted to build something that truly moved the needle for franchise clients—a solution that not only kept pace with AI innovation but reimagined how brands understand their customers. The result: AI marketing personas.
From Charts To Conversations
Traditionally, building customer personas has been a staple of marketing strategy. By using first-party data, brands identify their target audiences—diving into demographics, lifestyle preferences, values and social media habits.
Those insights are valuable, but static. Charts and summaries, while informative, can only go so far.
So we asked: What if instead of just reading about a persona, you could actually talk to them? Imagine asking your target customer what they think of your menu, your service or your online ordering system—and getting immediate, data-driven answers. That’s the power of AI personas.
Bringing Personas To Life With AI
Here’s how it works:
• Data First: We gather first-party data from platforms like Toast, Meta and Google Analytics. This tells us exactly who customers are, how they behave and what they care about.
• Persona Creation: Using that data, we develop detailed audience personas. For example, “Busy Mom Margaret” became the persona for a quick-service Mediterranean franchise. She’s juggling work, kids and errands while craving convenience, speed and healthy options.
• AI Integration: Then comes the magic. We feed all that persona data into an AI-powered conversational system that brings Margaret to life. Think of it as a data-driven customer who can give you real-time feedback—not from a generic focus group, but from the perspective of your actual audience.
What This Looks Like In Action
Picture sitting down with “Busy Mom Margaret” and asking:
• “What would make your restaurant experience easier?” She might say, “A smoother online ordering system and faster pickup options would fit my lifestyle.”
• “What menu items do your kids love?” She might respond, “They always go for chicken skewers and fries, but they’d love more family-friendly shareable meals.”
• “What’s missing from the menu?” She could suggest new dishes, sides or bundles—ideas directly inspired by her needs.
This isn’t guesswork. It’s your audience speaking to you, powered by data.
Why This Matters For Franchises
Franchise owners face a unique challenge: maintaining brand consistency while catering to local audiences. AI personas help bridge that gap.
Instead of relying solely on surveys or assumptions, you can now test ideas in real time with your “customer.” You can uncover what resonates before launching new products, identify pain points faster and align national strategy with local market insights.
Essentially, you can move beyond knowing about your customers to actually talking with them.
Getting Started With AI Personas
For franchise owners ready to explore AI personas, the first step is to start with the data already in your ecosystem. Your customer relationship management platform, point-of-sale system, website analytics and social media platforms hold powerful insights into who your customers are and what drives their behavior. Use this first-party data to identify common patterns—like peak ordering times, preferred menu items or high-engagement social content—and begin shaping your first persona from there.
Once you have that foundation, bring your persona to life using conversational AI tools. These can take the form of:
• AI Chat Interfaces: These are systems that simulate natural conversation, allowing you to ask your persona questions and get realistic, data-backed answers.
• CRM Integrations: Through your CRM, you may be able to connect your customer data to AI-driven chat experiences, making insights interactive.
The key is not to overcomplicate it. Start small with one or two key personas, and refine them as your data grows. The goal isn’t to replace your team’s intuition—it’s to enhance it with a deeper, more immediate understanding of what your customers truly want.
And remember: AI personas are never static. Just like your audience, they evolve. Keep them updated with new data and insights to ensure they continue reflecting real-world behaviors and preferences.
The Future Of Customer Understanding
This is just the beginning. AI personas open the door to smarter marketing, stronger customer relationships and faster innovation across the franchise landscape. Because when your customer is literally a conversation away, you don’t have to imagine better experiences—you can build them in real time. And that’s the future of franchise marketing.
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