Learn how to use ChatGPT to boost your paid search efforts while maintaining strategy, authenticity, and creativity. Artificial intelligence is nothing new to paid search marketers. We use AI-powered platforms every day, such as ad engines, third-party management tools, and copywriting software.
But there’s a new bot in town (you may have heard of it), and it’s not trading control for automation like we’re used to.Continue reading to learn how to use ChatGPT to up your marketing game without sacrificing strategy, authenticity, or creativity.
A quick primer on how to get ChatGPT up and running.Don’t worry if you haven’t yet logged into ChatGPT!You’re a busy person, and much of what you’ve read so far has most likely been hype.But first, sign up for an account to follow along and play in the sandbox.
Create an account at chat.openai.com to get started. As of this writing, it is completely free, so you don’t have to worry about starting the clock on a limited-time trial or using up tokens on a learning curve.
After you log in, you’ll see a search-style box where you can enter some text, which is what you’ll do next.
How ChatGPT prompts work
You probably know that ChatGPT can generate full movie scripts, thousands of headlines, or a year’s worth of social media posts.
You also know that AI tends to produce some pretty dumb results.
But you can control the quality of your responses (outputs) just by changing the quality of your prompts (inputs).
- Poor prompt: “Write a Google ad for my business.”
- Better prompt: “Write a Google ad for my business that sells organic skincare products to women looking for natural alternatives.”
- Great prompt: “Write a Google ad for my business that sells organic skincare products to women looking for natural alternatives, emphasizing the benefits of our all-natural ingredients and the satisfaction guarantee for first-time customers.”
The first prompt is generic and lacks any substance for ChatGPT to use. This is the embodiment of “garbage in, garbage out.”
The last example provides information like:
- Product details.
- Value proposition and key benefits.
- Risk-reversal element.
- Target market.
The prompt is clear, explicit and specific and will create a far better ad.
Here are 15 strategic prompts to inspire you, lighten your workload, and improve your results.
Create strategic ads and assets with ChatGPT
Writing ads at scale is table stakes for AI. Let’s ask ChatGPT to apply the same type of strategic thinking to your ads that you would use on your own.
Produce a viable A/B test for responsive search ads (RSAs) (RSAs)
What happens when we don’t just request ad variants but ask for the underlying methodology?
Prompt 1: “Create two Google Ads in an RSA format (using multiple headlines and descriptions) for an A/B test for “Ms. Hvac’s HVACs.” Explain why the ads would make a good test.”
Here, ChatGPT did a great job explaining the merits of the test:
- Ad 1 is focused on providing reliable and efficient services.
- Ad 2 is focused on cost savings and energy efficiency.
It didn’t hit the target with the character count (it often doesn’t) or the number of description lines, but those are easy edits now that the bulk of the work has been done for you.
Get creative concepts for responsive display ads (RDAs)
In this prompt, I’m asking for a lot of creative consideration for some image-heavy ads.
Prompt 2: “I need to create some responsive display ads for a Google Ads campaign. Please suggest images, headlines and descriptions for a meatless shepherd’s pie with spokesperson Paul McCartney. Lyric puns are acceptable.”Not only did ChatGPT recommend compelling ideas for product shots and ad copy, but it also came up with this line: “The Vegetarian Way to Live and Let Pie.”
Now that’s really incredible chatgpt!
Landing Page Optimization
Are you a paid search marketer who doesn’t build landing pages? If so, you probably feel out of your depth giving feedback on them – even if the pages are hurting your ad performance.
Use these prompts to identify smart LP recommendations and share them with confidence.
- Prompt 3: “What can a person do from this page, and why would they want to do it? [LP URL]”
This is a quick-and-dirty way to evaluate whether the page content and call to action are appropriate for your prospects.
- Prompt 4: “I’m currently driving paid search traffic to this landing page [LP URL]. How would you suggest improving it so that we get a better conversion rate?”
This prompt may give you general LP advice rather than reviewing your actual URL, but the general advice is worth heeding.
- Prompt 5: “Rewrite a headline for [LP URL] that explains [unique value proposition] and includes the phrase [keyword phrase].”
Many landing page headlines are still catchy instead of clear. Use this prompt to create a better message-match sequence and stronger above-the-fold content.
We’ve looked at prompts for RSAs, RDAs and landing pages. Expand your ChatGPT skills further by enlisting its help for ad extensions, YouTube ad scripts and hooks, product feeds and other assets.
Create a SWOT Analysis
Get an objective overview of your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats with this simple prompt.
- Prompt 6: “Please write a SWOT analysis for EGO power products.”
ChatGPT responded with a correctly formatted SWOT analysis. I took the list and pasted it into a template I found on Canva, and in less than five minutes I had this polished deliverable:
Build a Display Media Plan
- Prompt 7: “If I were going to run ads for Impossible Foods on the Google Display Network, what types of sites and channels should I target?”
Competitor Research
- Prompt 8: “Create a list of competitors for [my company] and their estimated monthly paid search spend.”
This prompt is courtesy of Albert Somlith at PPC Ad Editor. I’ve never been able to get this prompt to return a value, but Somlith shares his results here.
Even without specific financial data, you can use ChatGPT to flesh out the details of your competition.
- Prompt 9: “Please create a list of competitors to clickup.com. List the name of the company, the location of their headquarters, the size of the company (small, medium or large) and whether they are a direct or indirect competitor. Please compile the results in a table format.”
Get the most from ChatGPT
It’s been the subject of many debates, but ChatGPT clearly isn’t just hyped. It also isn’t 100% ready for prime time.
Treat ChatGPT as a precocious intern – prepare to spend some time reviewing the work and expect mistakes, but don’t underestimate its potential. This is only the beginning.
