As marketers working mainly with financial advisors, there is this “cracked open window” to start taking advantage of the language creating capability of AI, that feels like it is being widely ignored in the industry.
Maybe “ignored” isn’t the right word – more like “avoided”.
Why is that? There’s certainly a learning curve involved, and it’s crucial to recognize that the quality of input directly impacts the quality of output (garbage in, garbage out). Not to mention the concerns with compliance and industry regulations.
But what we’ve found is the largest deterrent for most, is simply not understanding how to prompt it.
So, what exactly is an AI prompt?
Essentially, it’s any form of text, data, or question that guides the AI in generating the desired content that you’re looking for.
For financial advisors and marketing professionals, AI prompts offer limitless opportunities to ideate content tailored to specific goals, whether it’s educating your audience, driving traffic, or just creating better flow and consistency with your content.
With that being said, what are some things you should focus on when creating prompts?
Craft Thought-Provoking Questions
AI prompts that pose intriguing questions relevant to your niche can often return the most engaging content ideas. For instance, consider prompting AI with queries like “How will advancements in technology reshape retirement planning strategies?” This will provide you with a baseline of ideas on this specific topic.
Generating Unique Perspective
AI prompts allow financial advisors to explore “different” angles and viewpoints on the same topics. Experiment with different settings and requests of the AI model – for example – ask it to provide a contrarian, humorous, or emotional style of response. This variation can often resonate better with your audience. A popular strategy is to request a “content matrix” as part of your prompt, which will provide you with the opportunity to table along an x or y axis a few different writing styles to be returned in the response.
Refining Content
It is really important to recognize that AI-generated responses may require iteration and refinement to align with what you are looking for. I will often adjust prompts “five to ten” times before even being satisfied with a content draft. Don’t be afraid to engage in dialogue with AI, asking follow-up questions and providing additional context to hone the content to what you want. And most importantly, save your best prompts away for use again when you need it.
Compliance-Friendly Content Creation
Compliance is a concern we constantly deal with in financial services marketing. This is an area where AI can be extremely useful, as one of the key benefits of leveraging AI prompts is the ability to steer clear of compliance issues. By instructing AI to avoid promissory language or adhere to regulatory guidelines, financial advisors can confidently generate content that is more likely to meet industry standards.
The bottom line? Don’t hesitate to experiment and iterate with AI prompts – take the time to try it out and understand how it works. It is poised to change our industry and having a strong understanding of the capability and value now will be extremely valuable down the road.
