AI is here to stay, so we writers and marketers might as well make friends with it.
We’ve all been in this familiar situation: A deadline is looming. You’re staring at a Google Doc that’s white as the driven snow, trying to conjure the words to say something, anything, about a product.
Here’s one idea: Let AI spark your creativity. We’re not talking about telling ChatGPT or Google Bard or Canva MagicWrite to draft a blog about X or 10 social media posts about Y. We’re talking about prompting a generative AI system to refresh your perspective.
Let's look at three real-world examples.
1. Think like a marketer at [organization]. Write three personas for [target audience].
First, prepare your AI with guidance on how you want them to “think.” In our case, we primed Chat GPT to think like a Chief Marketing Officer at a large corporate law firm. If you want, you can also copy-paste publicly available information about your firm to provide context. For this exercise, we chose to enter a handful of specific practice areas. (Note: Be sure to review the AI tool’s terms of service and consult your company’s policies before pasting any proprietary information or intellectual property.) Then, prompt the AI to write user or buyer consumer personas. We asked ChatGPT to create three user personas for potential buyers. Its output was surprisingly thoughtful:
The General Counsel of a Large Corporation Facing Complex Litigation
This persona represents a lawyer or legal team responsible for managing the legal affairs of a large corporation that is facing complex litigation. They are looking for a law firm that can provide them with specialized legal expertise in areas such as complex commercial litigation, securities litigation, class actions, and government investigations. They need a law firm that can provide them with timely and efficient legal advice and support, as they operate in a fast-paced and constantly changing business environment.
The Startup Founder Looking to Protect Their Intellectual Property
This persona represents individuals who have started a new business or are planning to start one and are looking to protect their intellectual property. They are passionate about their business idea and want to ensure that their intellectual property is protected. They are looking for a law firm that can provide them with specialized legal expertise in areas such as patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. They are willing to pay a premium for high-quality legal advice that can help them protect their intellectual property and avoid costly disputes.
The In-House Counsel at a Large Corporation Seeking Legal Operations Support
This persona represents a lawyer or legal team responsible for managing the legal operations of a large corporation. They are looking for a law firm that can provide them with specialized legal operations expertise in areas such as legal project management, contract management, legal technology, and process improvement. They need a law firm that can help them optimize their legal operations, reduce costs, and improve efficiency. They are willing to pay a premium for high-quality legal operations advice and support that can help them achieve their legal operations goals.”
From there, you can begin ideating or producing content with these personas fresh in your mind, or you can take things a step further. You can bounce ideas off the AI, or ask it to get you started on a brainstorm. After ChatGPT created the above personas, we asked it to brainstorm ways to reach each persona. In seconds, it generated five ideas, and the rationale for each.
2. What are the top pain points faced by [target audience]?
Think about the folks your product or program serves, and fill in the blank with a role or identity. Maybe that’s “single parents,” “first-generation college students,” or “returning veterans.” We plugged this prompt into ChatGPT, filling in the blank with “teachers.” Here’s what it generated:
“Teachers face a number of challenges and pain points in their daily work. Here are some of the top pain points faced by teachers:
- Workload: Teachers often have a heavy workload, with many tasks to complete outside of teaching hours, such as grading papers, preparing lesson plans, and communicating with parents. This can lead to stress and burnout.
- Student behavior: Managing student behavior can be a major challenge for teachers. They must find ways to keep students engaged and motivated, while also dealing with disruptive behavior.
- Lack of resources: Teachers may not have access to the resources they need to effectively teach their students, such as technology, textbooks, and supplies. This can make it difficult to provide a high-quality education.
- Large class sizes: Large class sizes can make it difficult for teachers to provide individual attention to each student. This can lead to a lack of engagement and participation, and can make it harder to assess student progress.
- Professional development: Teachers need ongoing professional development to stay up-to-date with the latest teaching methods and technologies. However, they may not have access to the training and resources they need to continue their professional growth.
- Limited time for collaboration: Collaboration with other teachers can be beneficial, but teachers may not have the time or opportunity to work together due to their busy schedules.
These are just a few of the pain points faced by teachers. Addressing these challenges requires support from administrators, policymakers, and the community at large.”
You won’t be using this content as-is. Rather, you’ll take a look at the list, pick a pain point (or two or three), demonstrate your brand’s understanding of the problem, and write about how your product or service alleviates it.
3. What search terms do [target audience] use to find [product/service]?
Fill in the first blank with a type of person (parents, teenagers, nurses) and the second blank with a product or service (summer camps, vintage clothes, non-slip shoes). In our example, we chose “social workers” and “continuing education programs.” Chat GPT generated a list of search terms and explanations for each—a sweet bonus to help you contextualize each term when you set out to write.
Social workers may use a variety of search terms when looking for continuing education programs. Here are some common search terms:
- Social work CEUs: CEU stands for Continuing Education Unit, and this term is often used by social workers when searching for continuing education opportunities.
- Continuing education for social workers: This is a more general term that social workers may use when searching for continuing education programs.
- Social work conferences: Many social workers attend conferences as a way to earn continuing education credits and stay up-to-date on the latest trends and research in their field.
- Social work workshops: Workshops can provide hands-on learning opportunities and may be a preferred method of earning continuing education credits for some social workers.
- Online CEUs for social workers: Online courses and webinars can be a convenient way for social workers to earn continuing education credits, especially for those who cannot attend in-person events.
- Social work licensure requirements: Social workers may search for information on the specific continuing education requirements for maintaining their social work license in their state.
- Trauma-informed care CEUs: This is a specific area of interest for many social workers, and they may search for continuing education programs that focus on trauma-informed care.
- Ethics CEUs for social workers: Social workers are often required to take courses on ethics as part of their continuing education requirements, and may search for programs specifically focused on ethical issues in social work practice.
These are just a few examples of the search terms social workers may use when looking for continuing education programs.
Take your search terms and find places to use them, verbatim if possible, in your content. Now, you’ve got keyword-rich copy that can help support search engine optimization.
There are endless ways to use AI writing tools to support your creative process, without over-relying on a robot to write your content. Have you used AI tools to help you overcome the tyranny of the empty page? What are your go-to prompts?
Looking for a human thought partner to spark your creativity and help you design smart, sustainable marketing workflows? Let’s talk.
Three Furies is a business, brand, and content strategy agency with deep experience in the legal marketing sector, including digital marketing analysis, brand and digital design, communications strategy, and advertising campaigns. We also produce bespoke wine tasting experiences for client development and employee resource groups through our sister company, Tipsy.