Best IA prompts for ecommerce (I)

Discover how tailored AI prompts can revolutionize your e-commerce content strategy and drive better results.

Coinciding with Thanksgiving, I spent a few days in Chicago. It’s a city straight out of a movie. Literally.

Every building inevitably reminds me of the iconic film The Dark Knight. Every corner makes you think the Batmobile will show up at any moment, speeding around chased by the police. Every alley gives you chills, especially if it’s nighttime, cold, and you’ve just stepped out of the theater.

The thing is, it was a trip where we couldn’t stop saying out loud, “These Americans are incredible,” “They’ve thought of everything,” “They’re the gods of marketing.”

That was the daily reflection: Americans have perfected the art of selling; they’ve taken marketing messages to excellence. Everywhere. In everything.

Just when we thought they couldn’t take more of our money, there they went again 😅. But in a good way. Everything there was better, shinier, more tempting, more convenient, more “necessary.” It made us want to spend lots of $$$.

Also, everything was a spectacle. Because spectacle sells.

Especially the NFL. That’s on another level. Watching an American football game live was such an amazing experience. Checked that off the list 😉

Their devotion to holidays, like Thanksgiving, also feels straight out of a movie. The entire country transforms, and the best marketing takes the stage, all to make the average American spend more than $500 on that night alone, between food, drinks, and decorations.

That is, unless the “average American” makes the wild decision to walk into an Apple Store and request a demo of the Apple Vision. That’s the ultimate expression of aspirational marketing. And in that case... the spending skyrockets 🤣

And the day after Thanksgiving... Black Friday. Time to keep spending, big time. We’re already very familiar with that since we’ve imported it into our market with full intensity 😆

In short, it was a trip full of learning (as always). I’ll be sharing anecdotes and reflections applied to e-commerce soon.

Now, on to the contents of today’s edition

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Improve for your marketing

For next year’s Black Friday, or your next promotional campaign for your online store, I recommend being more ambitious with your content, messaging, and production quality and quantity. Think bigger.

We’re in the age of AI, and we need to find real, everyday use cases where this magic technology helps us stay competitive.

▶︎ A few days ago, I came across a guide from Practical Ecommerce where Ann Smarty shared a series of tips (and prompts) for using ChatGPT to improve content for e-commerce.

I’ve selected some of those tips that I found relevant and added my personal touch and experience.

Here they are ⤵️

How to use ChatGPT to create better content

Generate content ideas with a goal.

Add the phrase “Generate content ideas for...” to a ChatGPT prompt. Then, specify your need.

For example: Generate content ideas for... boosting social media actions.

Other examples: Capturing the attention of bloggers and journalists. Increasing organic traffic. Attracting buyers at the top of the sales funnel. Engaging site visitors. Re-engaging inactive customers. Educating customers. Differentiating a product from competitors’ versions.

Real example of a prompt: “We are building a national network of doctors to offer personalized healthcare services. Generate content ideas to attract doctors who might join our network. Highlight the benefits of joining a network versus independent practice.”

Exclude specific keywords.

I get good results when I force ChatGPT to exclude my target organic search keyword. The responses attract consumers who might not be aware of my client’s product and are searching for something else.

For example, if a client offered peer-to-peer loans, I’d use a request for content ideas for people looking for loans but not necessarily “peer-to-peer” ones, like: “Propose content ideas to attract consumers looking to borrow money. Exclude the phrase ‘peer-to-peer loans,’ as many potential customers aren’t familiar with this concept.”

Request a specific format for the output.

Include the desired format in your request, such as: List, FAQs, Comprehensive Guide, Step-by-Step Article, Interview, Q&A, etc.

You can also ask ChatGPT for format ideas. Here’s an example: “For my online store marketing (which sells this type of product), I write articles, post interviews, and create videos. What other content formats should I consider?”

Generate creative ideas.

ChatGPT follows instructions. It will provide unconventional ideas if you ask it to. Try adding these instructions to your prompt: “Avoid generic ideas,” “think creatively,” “focus on our specific benefits and avoid mentioning others.”

You can also ask it to analyze a text and suggest more novel content ideas. Here’s an example prompt: “Suggest new content ideas based on this text [TEXT].” If you paste your own text, request complementary ideas.

Generate ideas to improve your content.

Ask questions, reflect on the answers, and generate follow-up queries. For instance, if I have an online store selling pet supplies, I could ask ChatGPT for linkable content ideas to improve SEO. Here’s an initial request: “I have an online store that sells pet supplies. Generate a list of digital assets I could create to attract backlinks.”

Adjust your requests, such as: “Think of unique ideas that no one has implemented.” “Focus on a specific audience for link acquisition, like journalists, bloggers, or forum users.” “Generate ideas for a single type of asset, such as eBooks, infographics, or whitepapers.”

Find bloggers, podcasters, and media for visibility.

Start with a broad request: “I’m the owner of an e-commerce store that sells pet supplies. Make me a list of bloggers and podcasters who interview merchants like me.”

Follow up with other requests, such as: “Where else can I appear online? List all opportunities, not just bloggers or podcasters.”

Generate a contact email to reach out to these people. During the idea generation process, ask ChatGPT to create a relevant outreach email. After listing potential bloggers, ChatGPT could compose a pitch email starting with this request: “Write an email I can use to contact these bloggers.”

Remember to refine the results: “This email isn’t convincing. Try to make it better.” “Use a more casual tone.” “Propose a shorter, more original subject line.” “Make it shorter.”

Write customer service emails for your e-commerce.

ChatGPT can easily write emails and templates for your messages. Start with a generic request, such as: “You are an online store that sells car parts. Create an email template thanking your customers for their purchases. Address it to potential buyers.”

Keep refining as needed: “Change the tone to be more casual or friendly.” “Add a call to action for ‘Subscribe to our newsletter’ that blends with the content.”

Reconnect with inactive customers.

There’s no perfect way to convince lost customers to buy again. But ChatGPT can generate email ideas to re-engage inactive customers.

Here’s an example request: “You’re an e-commerce store that sells car parts. Generate ideas to re-engage customers who haven’t purchased in six months. For each idea, write an email and a social media post.”

Improve review management.

Respond to positive reviews. Saying “thank you” repeatedly on Google Local or Yelp with the same message can come across as insincere. Try this request: “Generate 20 messages to thank customers for positive reviews on Google, Yelp, and Facebook. Make them short but varied.”

Respond to negative reviews. Replies to negative reviews can risk upsetting customers further. ChatGPT can generate empathetic words and thoughts: “Generate 15 phrases to show empathy to customers who had a negative experience with our business.”

You could also ask ChatGPT to critique a response: “This is my response to a customer’s negative comment [TEXT]. Critique my response and suggest improvements.”

There’s more, but I think it’s good to start testing these and see if they improve your production capacity, variety, quality... and results 😊

Are you going to try these prompts? Are you already doing something similar?

Let me know!