A ChatGPT prompt cheat sheet for marketers

OpenAI's best practices for prompting were written for developers, but they translate directly to marketing work. Put the instructions at the beginning and separate them from your material with a marker such as ###. Be specific about the context, outcome, length, format and style. Show an example of the format you want. Replace fuzzy descriptions with precise ones, so "fairly short" becomes "a 3 to 5 sentence paragraph." Say what to do instead of only what not to do.

In practice, that gives all your marketing prompts the same four parts.

1. Audience. Who will read this, and what do they already know?
2. Task and outcome. What should the reader think or do afterward?
3. Constraints. Length, format, tone, reading level and words to avoid.
4. Material. Your facts, notes or customer quotes, pasted below a separator.

Swap in your own details where you see brackets.

1. Turn reviews into insight. Below are customer reviews separated by ###. List the five problems customers mention most, with one short quote for each. Only use what is in the reviews.

2. Find the questions people ask. Here are notes from 20 sales calls. List every question a prospect asked, grouped by topic, and mark the ones that came up three or more times.

3. Draft a blog outline. Write an outline for a post that answers [question] for [audience]. Use headings phrased the way a customer would ask. Do not add facts I have not given you.

4. Rewrite for clarity. Rewrite the paragraph below for a busy small business owner. Keep every fact. Use shorter sentences and no jargon.

5. Write ad variations. Write ten headlines for [service] in [city] for people who need it this week. Each must fit the character limit of [platform]. Do not use prices or guarantees.

6. Draft email subject lines. Write eight subject lines for the email below. Make four curious and four direct. No all caps and no exclamation marks.

7. Build an FAQ. Using only the call notes below, write an FAQ with eight questions and answers of two to three sentences each.

8. Compare positioning. Below is homepage copy from three competitors. Summarize what each one promises, who it seems to target and what none of them say.

9. Draft social posts. Turn the blog post below into three short LinkedIn posts. Each should make one point from the post and end with a question for readers.

10. Pressure test your copy. Read the landing page below as a skeptical buyer. List the five questions you would need answered before booking a call.

OpenAI's ChatGPT guidance describes the loop. Start with an initial prompt, review the response, then refine the prompt by adjusting the wording, adding context or simplifying the request. In practice, that means fixing the brief instead of fixing the output by hand.

• Too generic? Add a real customer quote, a detail about your offer or an example you like.
• Wrong tone? Paste two sentences that sound right and ask it to match them.
• Too long? Give an exact limit, such as a word count or a number of bullet points, instead of asking for something shorter.
• Invented details? Tell it to use only the material below the separator and to say when something is missing.

When a prompt works, save it. A shared document of tested prompts, each with a note on the material it needs, saves your team from starting over every time.

A lot of weak AI marketing copy comes from thin input. A prompt that says write a post about our services gives the model nothing specific to work with, so it fills the gap with the most common phrasing it knows. A prompt that includes three real customer questions, one example you like and the reader you have in mind gives it something worth writing about.

That is also why OpenAI's guidance leans on examples. It says the models "respond better when shown specific format requirements," so one example of a finished answer often does more than a paragraph describing it.

Check every fact before it goes out. Treat every number, name and claim in an AI draft as unverified until you have read it at a real source. If you cannot find a source, cut the claim.

Never use it to create reviews or testimonials. The FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials went into effect on October 21, 2024, and lets courts impose civil penalties for knowing violations. The FTC's guidance also answers yes when asked whether advertising agencies, PR firms and reputation management companies can be liable under the rule.

Keep private data out. Do not paste customer records, contracts or anything covered by an agreement into a tool your company has not approved for that use.

Edit for your voice. A draft is a starting point. Read it aloud, cut what you would never say and add the details only you know.

If you want more on the writing side, our SEO writing guide covers how to turn a draft into a page that ranks, and what makes a great ad covers the copy that sells.