What is prompting?

Prompting is an increasingly important concept in the world of artificial intelligence (AI). Simply put, it means giving targeted instructions to an AI model such as ChatGPT or Claude, which you use to direct the AI's behavior and output. Prompting plays an important role in how effective and relevant AI models can function, especially in marketing. But why is it so important to get this right, and how do you ensure better outcomes?

How exactly does prompting work?

Prompting is all about giving clear and specific commands to an AI. Consider the difference between a general query such as "Write an article on marketing" and a more specific prompt such as "Write a 500-word article on how small businesses can use AI to improve their marketing." The more specific you ask the question, the better the AI is able to provide useful and relevant output.

The precision in your wording is what will make the difference. This is because it allows the AI to better understand what you want, not only saving you time (by not having to ask multiple times), but also getting better outcomes. This applies to both individuals and companies that use prompts to drive AI.

The role of prompting in AI-driven marketing

As we've seen lately, AI is becoming an increasingly important part of marketing. We write about this weekly in our AI Friday email. In the context of marketing, knowing how to prompt is becoming an important part of marketing.

The core of AI in marketing is how well you are able to get output that you can use and that is useful, but this can only be successful if the AI is properly driven. With the right prompts, you can ask the AI to suggest specific campaign strategies, perform in-depth customer segmentations, or create personalized content for your target audience.

For example, suppose you want to use an AI to generate ideas for a new social media campaign. A vague prompt such as "Give me ideas for a campaign" is unlikely to produce the most useful results. However, using a specific prompt such as: "Give me three ideas for an Instagram campaign targeting young entrepreneurs in the tech sector in 2024," you'll get relevant, tailored suggestions that you can apply immediately.

However, what makes for even better outcomes is using your own data set to get input from AI. We have made this applicable and actionable for our clients with AI colleagues.

Whether it's creating content or analyzing customer behavior, using effective prompts allows you to make the best use of AI and get results that contribute directly to growth.

Why is it important to prompt well?

The real benefit of good prompting comes in how quickly and effectively you get valuable output. By targeting an AI model, you can get the answers and insights you need faster and more accurately. For businesses, this means they can get better results with less effort, whether in content creation, data-driven decisions or customer service.

A good example is using AI for customer segmentation. By using the right prompts, an AI can perform in-depth analysis of customer data, allowing you to quickly understand customer behavior and develop targeted marketing strategies. This helps you communicate more relevantly with your customers and create more value for your target audience.

Practical examples of prompting in marketing

Prompting can be used in many ways within the marketing world. Here are some applications that show how the process works. What we want to give you is that it's important to be specific and state what you want. Possibly also provide examples, of how you envision the outcome. Or ask the AI if it can indicate what information it needs from you to arrive at the right outcome.

Some examples:

Content creation: Use a prompt such as "Write a 700-word blog post on how AI helps small businesses improve their marketing strategies" to get targeted and valuable content.
Customer service: ask an AI "Please provide me with a summary of the most common customer questions in the past three months based on this document" to quickly understand your customers' needs.
Campaign planning: With a prompt like "Analyze the best times to send an email campaign to retail customers," the AI can help optimize campaigns based on data if it has the right input.

The future of prompting and AI in marketing

Although AI is getting better at understanding what you mean (because it is getting smarter), it is still important that you are able to prompt properly. Companies that master the art of good prompting will have a competitive advantage by being able to respond faster to market changes and customer needs.

At NXTLI, we see prompting as an important part of our AI-driven strategies. By using smart prompts, we can make AI tools not only work more efficiently, but also increase the quality and relevance of the output. This helps us make better decisions and grow faster in a competitive market.

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Every Friday, we bring you the latest insights, news and real-world examples on the impact of AI in the marketing world. Whether you want to improve your marketing efficiency, increase customer engagement, sharpen your marketing strategy or digitally transform your business. 'Marketing AI Friday' is your weekly guide.