AI Marketing Prompts: What Should You Include?

Before asking AI to create marketing content, give it the audience, objective, approved facts, channel, constraints, and desired format. Tell it what to do when information is missing, and define what an acceptable response should contain. Use the briefing template below to make those instructions repeatable.

What is an AI marketing prompt?

An AI marketing prompt is the instruction and context you give an AI tool to complete a marketing task.

Treat your prompt as a work brief, not just a topic. Instead of “Write an email about our cleaning service,” explain who will receive it, what action you want, and which service details the draft may use.

OpenAI’s prompt engineering guide and Google’s prompting guidance recommend clear instructions, relevant context, and a specified response format. For your marketing workflow, organize that information into the fields below.

What information should your brief include?

Audience: Who is this for?

Describe the intended reader’s situation and relationship with your business. Include only details relevant to this assignment.

For a hypothetical cleaning business, specify “past customers considering another appointment” rather than “busy people.” Add the question the reader needs answered, such as whether to request a new quote.

Avoid supplying private customer records when a general audience description will do.

Objective: What should the reader do?

Choose the action you want the content to support: reply, request a quote, visit a service page, or book a consultation.

Separate that action from your broader business goal. “Increase revenue” describes an ambition; “invite past customers to reply for a cleaning quote” describes the assignment. Ask the AI to make that action explicit without adding competing requests.

Approved facts: What may the AI claim?

List the information you have checked and authorized for this task. Include relevant service details, offer terms, dates, exclusions, and destination links when available.

Label background notes separately from publishable facts. If you provide an old advertisement as reference material, say whether its claims remain approved.

Add a boundary: “Use only the approved facts below for claims about this business. Do not invent prices, availability, guarantees, testimonials, or results.”

Channel: Where will this appear?

Specify whether you need an email, website section, social caption, or another deliverable. Then describe the placement and reading context.

For an email, request a subject line and message body. For a social post, clarify whether the text accompanies an image or must stand alone. For a caption assignment, consult our guide to writing captions that invite comments and shares as a separate planning resource.

Constraints: What must it avoid or preserve?

State your nonnegotiable boundaries. These might include prohibited claims, required wording, an approved call to action, or a length limit.

Make constraints testable. Replace “Don’t be too salesy” with “Do not imply urgency, mention discounts, or promise an outcome.” Keep this part focused on task requirements rather than a long list of personality adjectives.

Desired format: What should the response look like?

Specify the components, order, and labels you want returned. State whether you want a finished draft, an outline, or alternatives for review.

Keep editorial notes separate from customer-facing copy. For example: “Return the email first, followed by a section labeled ‘Items to verify.’ Do not include your explanation inside the email.”

What reusable AI marketing prompt can you copy?

Replace the bracketed text before submitting this brief:

TASK
Create [deliverable] for [business or service].

AUDIENCE
Reader: [relevant situation and relationship to us].
Reader’s main question: [what they need to understand].

OBJECTIVE
Desired action: [specific next step].
Approved call to action: [wording and destination, if applicable].

APPROVED FACTS
Use these facts for business-specific claims:
[paste checked facts, terms, and approved links]

CHANNEL
Placement: [email, webpage, social post, etc.].
Context: [what the reader has already seen or knows].

CONSTRAINTS
Must include: [required details].
Must avoid: [unsupported claims and prohibited content].
Length: [target or limit].
Do not invent missing business information.

OUTPUT FORMAT
Return [components] in [order], labeled [labels].
Keep review notes outside the customer-facing copy.

MISSING INFORMATION
Before drafting, ask about missing information that would
change the message, factual accuracy, or requested action.
Do not assume business facts. If a detail is optional,
omit it and note the omission separately.

Save the blank template separately from completed assignments. Refresh the approved facts for each use rather than treating an earlier prompt as a permanent source of truth. For additional task ideas, browse our saved social media prompt collection, then apply the same briefing fields.

What does a fictional service-business email request look like?

Hypothetical example only: The following service details are invented to demonstrate a brief. They are not claims about an actual business or a customer case study.

Task: Draft a re-engagement email for a fictional home-cleaning business.

Audience: Past customers who may be considering another cleaning.
Do not assume why they have not booked again.

Objective: Invite recipients to reply to request a quote.

Approved fictional facts:
- The business offers recurring home-cleaning services.
- Customers can request a quote by replying to the email.
- Appointment availability is confirmed after an inquiry.

Channel: Email to past customers approved for this campaign.

Constraints:
- Keep the body under 120 words.
- Do not invent prices, discounts, deadlines, or guarantees.
- Do not imply that an appointment is already reserved.
- Do not ask recipients to visit a website or call.

Format: Subject line, preview text, and email body.
Put any review notes after the draft.

Missing information: Ask before drafting if a missing fact
would change the message. Omit optional details rather
than inventing them.

Notice the distinction between requesting a quote and confirming a booking. Review the draft specifically for that distinction. Reject wording such as “Your next appointment is waiting” because the brief does not authorize reserved availability.

How should you check and revise the response?

Use this review sequence before approving the content:

1. Check the claims. Compare every business-specific statement with the approved facts. Delete or verify anything without support.
2. Check the action. Confirm that the draft asks for the intended next step without adding another destination or commitment.
3. Check the deliverable. Confirm the required components, length, exclusions, and separation of review notes.

If the response disappoints, identify the mismatch instead of asking only to “make it better.” For the fictional email, try:

Revise the draft so the opening addresses requesting another cleaning quote. Remove wording that implies guaranteed availability. Keep replying for a quote as the only requested action. Preserve the approved facts and original output format.

For missing information, ask: “Which unanswered questions prevent a factually grounded draft, and which details can simply be omitted?” Supply verified answers, then request the revision.

Keep the final brief alongside the approved content for reuse. If you are considering formal education, explore Web Media University’s Professional AI Marketing Certification, a professional AI marketing certification program.

Get certified with Web Media University’s Professional AI Marketing Certification. — Join the membership

Sources

• OpenAI: Prompt engineering
• Google AI for Developers: Prompt design strategies