In our last post, we reviewed ways that Generative AI can be a source of inspiration and an effective tool for marketers. Recently, eMarketer highlighted that content creators are using AI content tools for content optimization, copywriting and even inspiration, brainstorming topics and more. To make AI work for you, we’ve found that it’s all in the prompt.
What Is a Prompt?
The prompt is the text that you put into the AI tool in order to get a response. It can be a single question (“What is a prompt?”) or it can be a paragraph. The more information that you put into your prompt, the more that will be considered in the response. And, as we discussed in our last post, you can feed additional information in with your prompt, such as links to documents you want to match the style of, and more. The better you get at crafting prompts, the higher quality the responses will be.
Clarity of Instructions
Good prompts provide clear and concise instructions to the AI model, which helps it to understand what kind of content needs to be generated. Clarity in the prompts ensures that the AI model generates content that is relevant to the topic and meets the expectations of the users. Examples include:
- “Write me a 3 day social media plan for cosmetic dentistry”
- “Write me a post in the above writing style (insert text from your posts) about cosmetic dentistry”
- Explain cosmetic dentistry to me as if I am 10 years old
- Translate the above post into Spanish
Consider How You Want To Use the Information
When you’re preparing to write your prompt, think about how you want to use the information. Then craft your prompt. For example:
- If you are researching, you can say: Facts about SEO for dentists
- If you want written content, you could say “Video script for dentist explaining the benefits of cosmetic whitening” or “blog post about cosmetic whitening for dentists written at 3rd grade level”
- If you’d like a list, ask for one. “Keywords for dentist about cosmetic whitening”
- Stuck and out of ideas? Ask “content ideas for dentist about cosmetic whitening”
- If you’re trying to summarize information, you could ask it to summarize a book for you
Relevance to the Topic
Good prompts ensure that the generated content is relevant to the given topic. If the prompts are vague or unclear, the AI model may generate content that is irrelevant or off-topic. This can lead to confusion among readers and can negatively impact the reputation of the content creator.
You also raise the risk of getting incorrect information. As we discussed in our last post, you always want to use Generative AI as your inspiration point and then add in your own insights — this is critical to help your readers know, like and trust you. It’s also critical to be able to reinforce relevance to the topic.
Consistency of Output
Good prompts help in generating consistent output. If the prompts are consistent, the AI model generates content that is consistent in terms of style, tone and voice. This helps in maintaining the consistency of the brand and creates a sense of familiarity among the readers.
Do Your Research
Be sure to verify facts or recommendations that you get from Generative AI tools before you publish, using their work as your starting point. There are many tools that incorporate Generative AI into them for content creation, writing emails or messages, and also to help you with your prompts, including the sites AwesomeGPTPrompts.com and Great AI Prompts.
Time Well Spent
Good prompts are essential for AI to generate high-quality content. Taking the time to create good prompts ensures clarity of instructions, relevance to the topic and consistency of output — all of which will save time by ensuring the AI-generated content meets your expectations. Then, verify accuracy and add in your own insights.
Keep practicing what works best for you, and feed the system content that you like. For example, “Write a blog post on topic X in the tone of this post (insert your post).”
