10 AI Prompts for Digital Marketing That Actually Work
10 AI Prompts for Digital Marketing That Actually Work
Every "AI prompts for marketing" article gives you the same thing. "Write a social media post about X." "Create a blog post about Y." That's not a prompt. That's a wish. And wishes produce garbage output you'd never actually publish or use.
I've spent the last year building AI marketing tools and running campaigns for startups. The gap between how most people prompt AI and how it actually needs to be prompted is massive. The difference comes down to structure — specific prompts with clear context, a defined role, and an output format produce dramatically stronger results than vague requests.
So here are 10 prompts I actually use in my day-to-day work. Each one is a mini-framework with context, role, constraints, and output formatting built in. Copy them. Modify them for your business. They work with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini — whatever you're using.
1. The Competitor Positioning Gap Finder
You are a senior marketing strategist analyzing competitive positioning.
CONTEXT: I run [YOUR COMPANY], a [your product/service] targeting [your ICP].
My main competitors are [Competitor 1], [Competitor 2], and [Competitor 3].
TASK: Visit each competitor's homepage and analyze their positioning.
For each competitor, identify:
- Their primary value proposition (exact words)
- Who they're targeting
- What they're NOT saying (gaps in messaging)
Then identify 3 positioning angles that NONE of them are claiming, but that
would resonate with [your ICP]. For each angle, write a one-line value prop
I could test on my homepage.
OUTPUT: A table with competitors down the left, then a section with the 3
gaps and suggested value props.
I use this one constantly. I ran it recently when analyzing the marketing tools space and it caught messaging gaps that three people on a team had missed. Hours of manual competitor research, done in minutes.
2. The Landing Page Conversion Audit
You are a conversion rate optimization specialist with 15 years of experience.
I'm going to paste the full text content of my landing page below. Analyze it
for conversion issues using this framework:
1. CLARITY (first 5 seconds): Can a visitor immediately understand what this
is, who it's for, and why they should care?
2. SPECIFICITY: Are claims backed by numbers, names, or proof? Flag any
vague claims.
3. FRICTION: Identify every point where a visitor might hesitate, get
confused, or leave.
4. CTA STRENGTH: Is the call-to-action compelling, clear, and appropriately
placed?
5. OBJECTION HANDLING: What are the top 3 objections this page fails to
address?
For each issue, give me: the problem, why it matters, a specific rewrite
suggestion, and a priority score (1-5).
PAGE CONTENT:
[paste your landing page text here]
I run this on every landing page before it goes live. It catches things I've gone blind to because I've been staring at the page too long. The specificity and objection-handling sections alone are worth it.
3. The ICP Deep Dive Interview Simulator
You are a [YOUR ICP job title, e.g., "Series A SaaS founder who just raised
$3M"]. You've been running your company for 2 years. You have 15 employees.
You're spending $20K/month on marketing but can't figure out what's working.
I'm going to ask you questions about your marketing challenges. Respond AS
this person, not as an AI. Be specific. Be frustrated. Be honest about what
you've tried and what hasn't worked. Don't give me marketing textbook answers,
give me the messy reality.
First question: What's your biggest marketing headache right now?
This one is way more useful than it sounds. I use it to pressure-test messaging before I put it in front of real prospects. If the simulated founder doesn't react to my pitch, the real one won't either. I usually run 3-4 different personas through it to see where my messaging breaks down.
4. The Email Sequence Architect
You are a direct response copywriter who specializes in B2B email sequences.
CONTEXT: My company sells [product/service] to [ICP]. Our average deal size
is [amount]. The sales cycle is typically [timeframe]. Our main differentiator
is [differentiator].
TASK: Write a 5-email nurture sequence for leads who downloaded our
[lead magnet type]. Each email should:
- Be under 150 words (these people are busy)
- Have ONE clear purpose (not three messages crammed together)
- Include a specific subject line (under 40 characters)
- End with a soft CTA until email 5
The sequence arc should be: value → credibility → problem agitation →
social proof → direct ask.
For each email, also tell me: send timing (days after signup), what objection
it addresses, and what success looks like (open rate/click benchmarks).
The "one purpose per email" constraint is what makes this work. Most AI-generated email sequences try to cram three messages into one. This forces it to be disciplined — and the output is something I can actually drop into my email tool with minimal editing.
5. The Ad Copy Variation Machine
You are a performance marketing specialist who's managed $10M+ in ad spend.
PRODUCT: [your product/service]
TARGET AUDIENCE: [specific ICP]
PLATFORM: [Google/Meta/LinkedIn]
OBJECTIVE: [conversions/leads/traffic]
Generate 5 ad copy variations using these proven frameworks:
1. Problem-Agitate-Solve (lead with the pain)
2. Before-After (transformation focused)
3. Social proof lead (start with a result or testimonial hook)
4. Contrarian (challenge a common belief in the space)
5. Direct benefit (no story, just the value prop, hard)
For each variation, write: headline (under 30 chars for Google, under 40 for
Meta), primary text (under 125 words), and CTA text.
Flag which variation you'd A/B test first and why.
I don't use AI output as final ad copy — nobody should. But I use this to generate starting variations fast, then I edit from there. It's a first draft machine, not a replacement for knowing your audience.
6. The Content Calendar Strategist
You are a content strategist for a B2B startup. No fluff, no filler content.
CONTEXT: My company is [company] in the [industry] space. We target [ICP].
Our top 3 business goals this quarter are: [goal 1], [goal 2], [goal 3].
Our best-performing content so far has been about [topics].
TASK: Create a 4-week content calendar with 3 pieces per week.
For each piece, provide:
- Title (optimized for search, not cleverness)
- Target keyword and estimated search volume category (high/med/low)
- Content type (blog, LinkedIn post, email, video script)
- Distribution channel
- Funnel stage (awareness/consideration/decision)
- One sentence on the angle that makes this NOT generic
CONSTRAINT: At least 40% of pieces should target bottom-of-funnel keywords.
No awareness-only content unless it directly supports a conversion piece.
Most content calendars are filled with awareness fluff that never converts. That 40% bottom-of-funnel constraint is what makes this prompt different. It forces a revenue-focused approach instead of the usual "let's just publish something" thinking.
7. The Customer Acquisition Channel Scorer
You are a growth advisor for early-stage startups (seed to Series A).
CONTEXT: My startup is [company]. We sell [product] at [price point] to [ICP].
Current MRR: [amount]. Current CAC: [amount or "unknown"]. Team size:
[number]. Monthly marketing budget: [amount].
TASK: Score these acquisition channels for my specific situation on a 1-10
scale: SEO/Content, Paid Search, Paid Social, Cold Outbound, Partnerships,
Community/Events, Product-Led Growth, Referral Program.
For each channel, give me:
- Score and one-line justification
- Estimated time to first results
- Minimum viable budget to test
- The one metric I should track during a 90-day test
Then rank the top 3 I should prioritize and tell me specifically what my
first week of execution looks like for each.
This is probably the highest-value prompt I use with founders. They waste months and thousands of dollars on the wrong channels. Getting a structured analysis before you commit budget is worth its weight in gold. I've used variations of this with every startup client I've worked with.
8. The SEO Content Brief Generator
You are an SEO content strategist. I want to rank for the keyword "[TARGET
KEYWORD]."
Research this topic and create a comprehensive content brief:
1. SEARCH INTENT: What is the searcher actually trying to accomplish?
2. CONTENT FORMAT: What format do top-ranking pages use? (listicle, guide,
comparison, etc.)
3. OUTLINE: H2 and H3 structure that covers the topic better than what's
currently ranking
4. MUST-INCLUDE: Specific subtopics, questions, or angles that top results
cover (and I should too)
5. DIFFERENTIATION: 2 angles or sections that competing articles DON'T cover
but should
6. INTERNAL LINK OPPORTUNITIES: Suggest 3 related topics I should also
create content for (cluster strategy)
TARGET: [word count], [audience], [desired tone]
I use this before writing any long-form content. The differentiation section is the real gold — it tells me where I can actually add something new instead of just rewriting what's already ranking.
9. The Metrics Storyteller for Investor Updates
You are a data-driven marketing leader presenting to investors and a
non-marketing CEO.
Here are my marketing metrics for this month:
- Website traffic: [number] (vs [last month])
- Leads generated: [number] (vs [last month])
- CAC: $[amount] (vs [last month])
- Conversion rate: [%] (vs [last month])
- Top channel: [channel] ([number] leads)
- Ad spend: $[amount]
- MRR influenced by marketing: $[amount]
TASK: Write a 200-word marketing update that:
- Leads with the single most important insight (not a data dump)
- Explains what changed and why, in plain English
- Flags exactly one risk or concern (with what you're doing about it)
- Ends with next month's top priority and expected impact
- Uses no jargon. A non-marketer should understand every sentence.
Every startup founder I work with struggles to communicate marketing results to their board. This prompt turns a spreadsheet into a story. I've started recommending it to every founder who tells me their investors "don't get" what marketing is doing.
10. The Post-Mortem for Failed Campaigns
You are a marketing consultant conducting a post-mortem analysis. Be brutally
honest, not kind.
CAMPAIGN DETAILS:
- Objective: [what we were trying to achieve]
- Channel: [where we ran it]
- Budget: [amount spent]
- Duration: [timeframe]
- Target audience: [who]
- Expected result: [what we hoped for]
- Actual result: [what happened]
TASK: Analyze this campaign failure across 5 dimensions:
1. TARGETING: Was the audience right? What signals suggest it wasn't?
2. MESSAGING: Did the value prop match the audience's actual pain?
3. TIMING/CHANNEL FIT: Was this the right channel for this objective?
4. EXECUTION: What operational issues may have hurt performance?
5. MEASUREMENT: Were we even tracking the right things?
For each dimension, give me: your assessment (green/yellow/red), specific
evidence from the data, and what to change for the next attempt.
End with: "If I could only change ONE thing for the next campaign, it would
be..." and tell me why.
This is the prompt nobody wants to use but everybody should. I've used it to analyze campaigns where I'd burned through serious budget with nothing to show for it. The structured framework forces you to look at what actually went wrong instead of just moving on to the next thing and making the same mistakes.
The Pattern You Should Steal
Every one of these prompts has four things in common: a clear role for the AI, specific context about your business, exact instructions on what you want, and a defined output format. That's the whole trick.
Stop asking AI to "write me a marketing plan." Start giving it a role, context, task, and format. That's when it goes from a toy to a tool.
Claude Opus 4.6 Made Me Forget Every Other AI Model Exists
A real comparison of Claude Opus 4.6, GPT 5.2, and Gemini 3 Pro for reasoning, strategy, and nuance from someone who uses all three daily.
How to Find Your Startup's Positioning in 14 Days (Not 14 Weeks)
A 14-day positioning sprint for startup founders. Stop talking to everyone, start converting someone. Framework, process, and AI tools included.