How to Create the Best AI Prompts to Get the Best Output

What Is an AI Prompt?

An AI prompt is an input into a generative AI platform that asks a question or tells the AI tool what it needs to produce as an output. It’s the way that a person communicates with AI.

Why Are AI Prompts Important?

To many, AI is still a nebulous term and idea. It can make people hesitant due to its ever-evolving nature and their fear of job security. But it’s important to remember that it is here to improve humans’ lives, personally and in the workplace. And the best AI prompts can help by:

• Producing fresh ideas
• Providing new ways to think about a topic or task
• Responding to queries quickly
• Drafting outlines, templates, and content

While you probably don’t want to rely solely on generative AI in your day-to-day life, you can use it to enhance your productivity. Look at how to use generative AI for SMS marketing and customer engagement.

What Are the Best Practices for Writing AI Prompts?

The best practices for writing AI prompts include identifying your goal, being specific, using clear and concise language, incorporating relevant keywords and phrases, and being creative.

The best outputs require the best AI generator prompts. So before you start typing random prompts into an AI platform, take a moment to consider these best practices that can help guide you to your intended content.

Identify Your Goal

First thing’s first: Identify the goal. This might sound too simplistic, but your prompt depends on your desired output.

For example, do you want AI art to supplement a visual ad campaign? You may need to create a lesson plan for social studies or geology for fourth graders. These two completely different goals will require other verbiage in your prompt.

Here are some more examples of outputs that you might need from your AI prompt:

• Website content, like product descriptions, calls to action, and so on
• Lesson plans for students
• Text templates for SMS marketing
• Social media content
• Music clips for a video, podcast, or video MMS message

Be as Specific as Possible

The best AI prompts are specific. Just think: Do you prefer vague or specific, step-by-step instructions when someone gives you directions for a new task? We guess that you chose the latter. AI generators also like precise instructions to produce the output closest to what you want.

For content, the specifics in your prompt might include preferred tone of voice (friendly, professional, casual, etc.), style, word or character count, context, layout (bulleted list, paragraph form, an outline, etc.), and audience.

Let’s explore an example: You need to develop three retail text promotion templates to send to your contacts list for an upcoming online promotion, each with different intended audiences to match your customer segments. Your prompt for each one could look something like this:

“Write one 160-character SMS marketing text message for upcoming online sale, friendly, casual tone of voice”

Each prompt could vary the tone of voice, the character count, and so on (learn about the differences between SMS vs. MMS). If there is an action that you want the audience to take, make sure to ask for a strong text marketing call to action in the prompt. (Don’t understand SMS text lingo? Just reference our SMS glossary.)

Another example is AI prompts for AI art or music. In these cases, imagine yourself commissioning a piece of artwork or a song from an artist. How would you describe what you want, how you want the audience to feel, what needs to be included, and so on? Use this as the foundation for your text-to-image or text-to-music prompt.

Use Clear and Concise Language

While the best AI generator prompts are descriptive, they must be clear and concise. You shouldn’t have to write a paragraph to get your idea across. Generative AI platforms are designed to allow prompts to be changed, allowing users to regenerate the prompts or tweak them to create slightly different outputs.

Here are some writing tips for your prompt:

• Use simple words and phrases that are not overly complex
• Only use technical language and terms if the content/audience requires it
• Use correct grammar and spelling
• Keep it short and sweet

This practice can also be applied to your SMS messages. Read more about the techniques for optimizing your texts for success.

Incorporate Relevant Keywords and Phrases

To write the AI best prompts, you should include keywords and phrases relevant to the output you want to generate. Any keyword related to the topic, goal, or industry should be used.

For example, instead of “Write a LinkedIn blog article about texting and customer service,” you could input “Write a 700-word LinkedIn blog article about the benefits of SMS marketing for customer service for businesses and customers. Organize by industry: e-commerce, retail, hospitality, healthcare, and real estate.” The second example is more specific and clear and includes relevant keywords.

Learn more about using text marketing keywords to boost your SMS contact list.

Be Creative!

Generative AI tools don’t have to be frustrating. If you’re not getting good outputs, keep experimenting with different keywords, instructions, or questions. Instead of writing off AI forever after one bad output, remember that your creativity matters here, too. Try coming at the AI prompt from a different perspective or take what it gave you and expand on it, revise it, and see what you can come up with.

Using AI Prompts for SMS Marketing

Now it’s time to apply the best AI prompts to your business marketing strategies. For example, you can learn how to use ChatGPT for SMS marketing and AI for customer service. AI is enhancing marketing and upping productivity for businesses everywhere, so it’s time to hop on board.

EZ Texting is a pro at helping companies streamline their SMS marketing efforts, with easy-to-use tools and features, from contact management to analytics and reporting. Learn more about how our text marketing solution can boost your biz.