How to Prompt for Killer Marketing
Want to use AI for marketing or sales? Then you have to master prompting - otherwise, AI will respond like a confused intern on their first day.
A couple of days ago, OpenAI released GPT-4.1 - OpenAI’s new model (not available in ChatGPT yet).
At the same time, the company published a blog article called “GPT-4.1 Prompting Guide”. It breaks down how to get the best results from your work with AI.
While the article looks pretty technical, I came across Greg Isenberg’s summary of it, which sums it up in an easy-to-digest way.
Most of what you’ll read here already applies to the models we’re currently working with.
But when I look at my own use cases, it still feels like a few pieces are missing, especially when it comes to using it for marketing.
So, I thought I’d share my two cents on how I prompt to create killer marketing.
How to Prompt For Marketing
I want to make one thing clear from the beginning:
If you can’t distinguish good marketing from bad marketing, and you don’t know what strong copy or a solid marketing strategy looks like, AI won’t help you. It can scale your marketing, but it can’t (at least not yet) do the heavy lifting and figure out what good marketing means for your target group.
1. Precision Prompting
When it comes to marketing, the more precise your prompts, the more on-brand, conversion-oriented, and useful your outputs will be.
Be literal, not vague: Say exactly what you want to do (e.g., “Write a high-converting Google ad headline in under 30 characters for eco-friendly shoes”).
Use delimiters for clarity: Structure prompt sections using markdown, bullet points, or tags to help AI parse complex tasks like campaign briefs or competitor analysis.
Bookend your prompts: For longer tasks like content calendars or email series, restate your goal at the end of the prompt for more consistent results.
Looking like this:
Goal:
Write a high-converting Instagram caption to promote a new vegan leather handbag collection for a sustainable fashion brand.
Requirements:
- Tone: Stylish, modern, confident
- Character limit: Max 150 characters
- Include 1 call-to-action (CTA)
- Mention sustainability or cruelty-free angle
- Target audience: Eco-conscious millennial women, 25–35 years old
- Style reference: Similar to captions from brands like Stella McCartney or Matt & Nat
Format:
1 short, punchy caption
No hashtags
CTA at the end (e.g., "Shop now", "See the collection")
Goal (Restated):
Deliver a stylish, conversion-optimized Instagram caption under 150 characters that promotes the vegan leather handbag collection and motivates eco-conscious women to take action.2. Use Step-by-Step Thinking
For marketing strategy, planning, and multi-touch campaigns, Marketers often work on tasks that require logical flows, like building a product funnel, lead nurturing, or a content plan.
To get the most out of it here:
Induce “thinking”: Add lines like “Let’s work this out step by step” or “First, create a high-level plan, then break it down.”
Agentic behavior: Prompt to act like a project manager - “Keep going until the entire campaign flow is mapped out.”
Force tool use: Ask it to “reference industry benchmarks” or “compare against existing personas” to ground it in structured thinking.
Looking like this:
Goal:
Develop a complete 5-day email drip campaign for launching a new line of biodegradable running shoes by a sustainable lifestyle brand.
Task Breakdown:
Start with a high-level plan:
Outline the goal and structure of the drip campaign
Define the audience persona (eco-conscious runners, 20–40, value design + impact)
Reference industry benchmarks (e.g., Allbirds, Veja email flows)
Then break it down step by step:
Write subject lines (max 50 characters, high open-rate focus)
Email copy (100–150 words each, benefit-first)
Include one CTA per email
Suggest optimal send times
Constraints & Style Guide:
Brand voice: Smart, sustainable, motivating
Avoid jargon, stay conversational
Emails must build momentum (awareness → consideration → conversion)
Use bullet points or short paragraphs for readability
Include comparisons to typical synthetic shoes when relevant
Action Plan:
Act like a campaign strategist and copywriter. Keep going until the entire campaign flow is complete.
Let’s work this out step by step.
Final Goal (Restated):
Create a fully mapped, high-converting 5-day email drip campaign for biodegradable running shoes using structured thinking and grounded in industry best practices.3. Your Tone, Your Content
Most AI models have this typical sounding AI style with many superlatives and fillers. But when you want to scale your content, that feels like your content, feed him with information.
Fine-tune with examples: What I always do is I give one or two examples from how my previous posts or content sounds and ask to replicate that style.
Explicitly say it should stay in tone: To make sure AI then uses it, I provide commands like “Only use the provided brand style guide/examples for tone”.
Avoid hallucinations: If AI makes things up, I repeat this in every other prompt.
4. Format Like a Marketer
What I recognized is that AI output differs when you give context on which platform it is used. So, since then, depending on what I want to create, I give additional context.
Define output expectations: “Return this as a Google Ads table with Headline 1, Headline 2, and Description.”
Guide for platform optimization: Tailor prompts based on where the content will live e.g., “This content will be used as Reel, LinkedIn carousel, Instagram post…”
Let AI do content optimization: When I feel that the content is still lacking information or formatting, I add “Use basic industry knowledge to fill gaps”, “Use typical formatting that fits [platform the content is used on] nature”.
5. Content Creation at Scale
AI always gives you crappy content when you ask it to "create a blog article about topic XYZ". There’s no personal view, no experience, and nothing unique in that.
Where I do use AI to create content is when I already have something, like a webinar, or a study/article, for example. I upload the transcript and have it turned into blog posts or social media content. When used properly, AI can generate a large amount of quality content quickly.
Distill key learnings: When uploading a transcript, I ask the AI for key insights, the personal views of person XY, and strong opinions. That way, you get the hot takes, the stuff that’s interesting to your audience.
Tailor content to your audience: I use a GPT called “User Persona Generator.” With it, I have my customer personas completely mapped out. When I create content with AI, I copy/paste parts (or the full persona) for context and give prompts like: “Adapt this content to the following customer profile.”
Refine through iteration: I ask AI to revise outputs based on feedback, like “Make this copy more benefit-driven” or “Highlight features relevant to the target audience”. AI is actually really good at doing this, I was surprised the first time I tried this.
One extra point:
As for my process, I prompt in smaller chunks. I start by outlining the task with the instructions above, and then I iterate using smaller prompts and inputs, meaning, in follow-up prompts, I give one task at a time.
I’ve found that this helps the AI keep track of everything more effectively.
Final Words
AI is a powerful assistant, but like any other tool, it performs best with clear direction, especially when the person giving that direction knows what they’re doing. For marketers, that means learning how to prompt with structure, context, clarity, and intent.
But let’s face it:
Even today, AI can already replace marketers. All you need is one experienced generalist who understands what good marketing looks like (and how to use AI), and the outcome they produce with AI is better than what most junior specialists can deliver. So, using it isn’t optional anymore—it’s unavoidable.
See you next week 👋🏼
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So true, using AI is no longer optional. Insightful article!