AI Assistant prompt best practices ai-assistant-prompting-guide
This guide helps you structure your requests, communicate intent with clarity, and ensure the AI produces messaging that aligns with your brand guidelines, audience needs, and campaigns goals.
Learn how to write effective prompts that enable AI Assistant to generate high-quality, on-brand marketing content tailored to your objectives.
Use the CO-STAR framework costar-framework
For best results with AI Assistant, organize your prompts using the CO-STAR framework. This structured approach ensures AI understands exactly what you need.
AI prompts essentials key-takeaways
Do’s and don’ts
Use the CO-STAR framework for structure
Be explicit about fresh vs. existing content
Focus document usage with specific extraction guidance
Use dropdown selections for tone, strategy, and locale
Match marketing objectives to content type capabilities
Generate multiple variants for A/B testing
Ask for structural changes, styling, or image editing in prompts
Mention tone/strategy in prompts if available in dropdowns
Use vague objectives like "promote our product"
Request conditional element selections
Expect layout modifications through prompts
Content not supported in prompts
These requests are not supported and should be handled through other tools:
- Selecting specific sections to change
- Deleting or cloning elements
- Conditional selections
- Adding or removing layout sections
- Text formatting (bold, italic, font size)
- Color modifications
- Layout styling (borders, padding, margins)
- Visual effects (shadows)
- Background changes
- Adding text overlays or logos
- Images cropping or resizing
- Color adjustments
- Image replacement
Quality checklist quality-checklist
Before generating content, ensure the following:
✓ Clear objective: Clearly states the action, product/service, value, and context.
✓ Defined target audience: Specifies the demographic, role, or segment.
✓ Content type alignment: Objective matches the selected channel or format.
✓ Dropdown selections configured: Tone, strategy, and locale are chosen, do not include them in the prompt.
✓ Document focus specified: Highlights which content or sections to reference.
✓ Brand applied: Appropriate brand guidelines are selected.
✓ Realistic scope: Avoid requests for layout changes, styling, or structural edits.
Write effective marketing objectives marketing-objectives
Be specific and action-oriented
When crafting marketing objectives, make sure they are clear, actionable, and measurable. Avoid vague or generic statements.
Examples of good objectives:
✓ “Drive sign-ups for our free 30-day trial of the new AI-powered analytics dashboard”
✓ “Generate leads for our B2B webinar on ‘Reducing Cloud Costs by 40%’ happening March 15th”
✓ “Promote our limited-time 25% holiday discount on premium subscriptions, ending December 25th”
Examples to avoid:
✕ “Promote our product” (too vague)
✕ “Make people buy stuff” (unclear value)
✕ “Email about new features” (lacks purpose)
Structure your objective
Always provide context and the value proposition so AI can generate relevant content.
Use this formula to help you write effective objectives: Action + Product/Service + Value/Benefit + Urgency/Context
Examples of good objectives:
✓ “Encourage downloads of our new mobile app that helps users track sustainable living habits with personalized eco-friendly recommendations”
✓ “Promote registration for our exclusive workshop on advanced data visualization techniques for marketing professionals”
✓ “Drive attendance to our product launch event showcasing the revolutionary AI writing assistant that saves 5+ hours per week”
Examples to avoid:
✕ “Announce new app” (missing value proposition and context)
✕ “Get people to sign up for workshop” (lacks specificity about audience and benefit)
✕ “Promote event” (no clear action, value, or urgency)
Create new content vs. modify existing content new-vs-modify
Clearly indicate if your request involves generating new content or updating existing material. This distinction is important because it guides the AI in selecting the appropriate approach and ensures a more accurate and useful outcome.
Creating new content
Apply this strategy when you are launching marketing campaigns, unveiling new products, or initiating any kind of updated or refreshed communication. It ensures your message starts strong and aligns with your goals.
How to prompt ➤ When creating new content, focus on your marketing objective without referencing existing content.
Examples:
- SaaS trial: “Launch our new CRM software to small business owners, highlighting 50% time savings, 90% faster lead qualification, and offering a 30-day free trial with personalized onboarding”
- Feature announcement: “Announce new API integration capabilities that reduce development time by 60% for enterprise customers, targeting technical decision-makers”
- Event promotion: “Drive registrations for our webinar on ‘Digital Marketing Trends 2024’ featuring experts from Google, Meta, and Adobe, emphasizing actionable insights and limited seats (500 max)”
Modifying existing content
Apply this when you need to update, refresh, or adapt your current marketing campaigns. This method supports incremental improvements, ensuring your messaging stays relevant without starting from scratch.
How to prompt ➤ When modifying existing content, clearly specify what you want changed and how to change it.
Examples:
- Campaign refresh: “Modify the product launch email to focus on enterprise security features instead of general productivity benefits, targeting IT decision-makers with compliance certifications”
- Audience pivot: “Adapt our software demo invitation to target healthcare specifically, replacing generic examples with healthcare use cases and HIPAA compliance benefits”
- Seasonal update: “Update our Q3 promotional campaign for Q4 holiday shopping, changing focus from back-to-school to holiday gift giving with fast shipping emphasis”
Enhance your prompt with advanced settings personalize-prompt
Communication strategy types
Your communication strategy determines how you present your message to maximize impact. Different strategies work better for different goals, whether you are building urgency, establishing trust, or driving immediate action. Choose the strategy that best aligns with your campaign objectives and audience mindset.
“Register today before spots fill up”
“48-hour flash sale starts now”
“Last chance: Early bird pricing ends tomorrow”
“Only 100 beta spots remaining”
“Rated 4.9/5 stars by industry professionals”
“Trusted by Fortune 500 companies”
“Limited edition: 100 units available”
“Exclusive release: First come, first served”
“Earn double points this weekend”
“Free shipping on orders over $50”
“Elite membership unlocks advanced analytics”
“Join select Fortune 500 companies already using us”
“Complete challenges to earn badges”
“Climb the leaderboard for exclusive prizes”
“New research reveals 3 breakthrough approaches”
“Complete guide to implementing AI in marketing”
“Discover 7 strategies top marketers use”
“Learn how to optimize your workflow in 5 steps”
Set the right tone tone
Tone shapes how your audience perceives and responds to your message. Always select a tone that aligns with your brand voice and the stage of the profile journey.
Use the table below to explore each tone in detail, including when it works best and examples of content that fit each style.
Optimize your brand assets brand-assets
Brand assets provide factual information that enriches your generated content with specific, accurate details.
When you upload broad documents such as product brochures, add to your prompt which parts to focus on:
-
Instead of “Use the product brochure” you should use “Focus on the advanced security features and compliance certifications, specifically SOC 2 compliance and data encryption”
-
Instead of “Reference the case studies” you should use “Highlight ROI results from healthcare clients, specifically the 40% cost reduction at Regional Medical Center”
-
Instead of “Include technical details” you should use “Emphasize API integration capabilities and developer benefits, focusing on REST API endpoints and 99.9% uptime SLA”
Content Refinement
Once content is generated, use the Refine feature to iterate and enhance it with the following options: