Prompting the Future: 7 tips for your marketing
For marketers who produce creative content on a daily basis, effective prompting can be the difference between a mediocre and outstanding campaign. We’ve put together 7 prompting tips to help you.
#1 Give the AI tool clear instructions
The first step to successful prompting is a clear brief. You should instruct the AI tool in the same detailed way you would your team or would want to be briefed yourself. Use clear, precise language to avoid misunderstandings and don’t be afraid to use longer prompts. Detailed instructions usually lead to more accurate results.
Structure the prompt logically using templates like the ABCD model:
- Advisory: What do you want to achieve?
- Blueprint: What information needs to be included?
- Context: What channel and target group is the content for?
- Demonstration: Provide examples as guidance
With a well-structured prompt, the AI tool is more likely to understand and deliver what you’re asking for.
#2 Give the AI tool honest feedback
AI tools respond to feedback as well as instructions, so it’s important to provide this, whether positive or negative, to continuously improve the results. Be as specific as possible and interact with the AI tool like you would with a team member. If a result doesn’t meet your expectations, restart the process and let the AI tool know exactly what it needs to change.
#3 Be flexible in your prompts
When writing a prompt in ChatGPT, Midjourney, or another AI tool, you need to make it flexible and adaptable. If the result from your prompt isn’t what you’d hoped, fine-tuning it can often help. Clearly redefine what you want and what you don’t. That will help the AI tool produce a text that hits the mark.
#4 Write tailored prompts
The key to relevant content is tailoring your prompt. Specify what channel and target group the content is for. You should also define the desired length and format, e.g. blog post, social media post, or email.
Being specific leads to precise results. For example, if you want a short and snappy social media post, make that clear to prevent the AI tool from producing a text that is too long.
#5 Work through complex topics gradually
ChatGPT is capable of producing a structured guide with all the key content in a matter of seconds. However, if you need to go into more detail, we recommend creating separate prompts so that the AI tool can work through each aspect in turn. You can then get it to collate the results so you can check that it has covered all the relevant content.
#6 Optimize your prompting workflow using AI tools
AI plug-ins and automation tools can really speed up your workflow. For example, you could compile a list of frequently used prompts for you and your team and save formatting options to make routine tasks more efficient and free up time for creative work.
#7 Don’t forget to fact-check
Although the content being delivered by AI tools is getting better and better, they still have a tendency to make mistakes. So, for every text, check the facts, tweak the style, and make sure the tone and wording reflect the corporate branding. Translations and highly specialized texts should also ideally be checked by the relevant professionals to ensure they’re accurate.
Example of an effective prompt
A well-structured prompt for a blog post on the topic of “Sustainability in marketing” could read as follows:
“Write a blog post on the topic of ‘Sustainability in marketing’. The text should be aimed at marketing professionals who work for large companies and should show them ways to make their marketing strategies more sustainable. Use a tone that is professional yet relatable. The text should be about 800 words long and contain specific tips and practical examples. Include a paragraph on how companies can improve their carbon footprint by using digital campaigns.”
This prompt is clear and specific and gives the AI tool enough information to produce a relevant and appealing blog post
Make your marketing campaigns more efficient using tools like ChatGPT – with the help of our prompting tips
Effective prompting is a skill that requires practice and care. The more thought you put into formulating your prompts, the better the results will be. Remember: the quality of the output is directly influenced by the quality of the input.
The future of marketing will also be explored at DMEXCO 2024. Be there when the digital industry’s thought leaders come together in Cologne to showcase and discuss the latest marketing and tech trends – all inspired by this year’s motto: “Prompting the Future”. Get your ticket now!
