Emotional Intelligence

Level Up Your Copywriting Game with Some Advanced AI Techniques

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[NOTE: In my last post I worked with GPT4o to help me convert some presentation materials into a post. In this post I worked with Gemini 1.5 Pro with Deep Research to research opportunities for copywriters working with AI. It took a bit of back and forth, but I’m happy with what we finally came up with.]

This post is specifically for copywriters and content creators who are already familiar with the basics of LLMs (Large Language Models) and are ready to take their AI skills to the next level.

We’ll look at some more advanced techniques and strategies that will help you unlock the full potential of AI and stay ahead of the curve.

Ride the wave or be drowned by the wave!

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Empathy Mapping is An Essential Tool for Futureproof Copywriting

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[NOTE: This post was written in part by GPT 4o, working from the slides and transcripts of a presentation I gave on Empathy Mapping.]

While AI tools like ChatGPT have revolutionized content creation, the human touch remains irreplaceable.

At the heart of this human element lies Empathy Mapping—a structured approach that helps writers better understand their audience. Rooted in emotional intelligence (EI), empathy mapping is a pathway to creating authentic, impactful copy.

As I often say… If you don’t know who you’re talking to, how can you know what to say?

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Don’t use AI as an Easy Button. Use it to get better at what you find hard.

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AI writing easy button

People get excited by how AI models like ChatGPT make it easy to create copy and content at scale.

As a writer you can create way more content when using AI. And yes, it’s a lot easier. No more writer’s block. AI can help you come up with new ideas for content, suggest headlines, and even write a finished draft for you.

And instead of a new post or article taking you two or three hours, or more, you can get it done in 5 to 10 minutes. How awesome is that?

Well, it IS awesome.

But…

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When writing AI prompts, act less like an engineer and more like a musician.

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Writing prompts shouldn’t feel like you’re acting as a “prompt engineer”.

Honestly, I don’t much like that term.

First, I think it’s disrespectful to true engineers. Writing prompts is not engineering.

But more to the point, I think the title steers us in the wrong direction. Engineering implies a fixed process and a certain formality. A process with a guaranteed and constant outcome. “Use these top 20 prompts for optimum results.”

That approach sounds attractive, but I don’t think it’s the way to get the best outputs from an AI model like ChatGPT.

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In a world of AI-generated marketing, where’s the Creative Director?

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creative director and team

As a budding young copywriter in the early 1980s, I worked with an art director as my partner, and our work was overseen by the agency’s creative director.

Creative directors were at the top of the pile in Creative Departments. They were the best of the best, and inspired the work of everyone. They shaped the overall creative output of the agency. They also used their experience and judgement to decide whether any particular piece of work was good enough.

In my early days, the creative director would look over my shoulder and sometimes say something like, “Interesting idea, but I don’t think it’s working”. Or, “Bit of a second rate headline, Usborne. Try again.”

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How to be more collaborative when working with AI.

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collaborating with AI

Much of the time, we use tools like ChatGPT to answer questions.

Search engines like Google have trained us for decades to interact with the internet in this question-and-answer format.

“Where can I find the best price for an all-inclusive vacation in Cancun?”

“How do I make coffee with a percolator?”

We bring those same habits to models like ChatGPT, or hybrid tools like Perplexity.ai.

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