The 5 Minute Hack to Getting What I Want Out of GenAI, Every Time

A Copywriting Guide to Working With GenAI

It's very easy as part of the marketing team to get caught up in the cycle of creating, delivering, revising, delivering, finalising, revising, ad infinitum, that we forget this most crucial step. As a digital copywriter who’s been in the industry for over a decade now, I’m certainly guilty of this many times over. 

But implementing this and taking a step back before starting any asset creation tasks has helped minimise a lot of pain and heartache, especially when dealing with clients who don’t know what they want.  

So, what’s this hack? I call it: 

5 Min Hack Thinking for Asset Delivery 

Understand the asset to be delivered

It's elementary, but start with the end in mind. What are you creating? WHY are you creating it? Always keep the objective of the campaign or end goal in mind. 

Use the 5W1H method if you're unsure where to begin.

• What kind of asset is it? (is it a EDM? A landing page? A social ad?)
  
• Who is it for? (aka the persona of your client’s customer) 
• Why does it need to exist? 
• When does it need to reach the target audience? (especially important for time sensitive events)
• HOW is it going to reach the target audience? (same priority as the When q)

You don't have to answer ALL of these, but answering as many of them would hopefully give you clarity over what needs to be included in the final message. Also, pay attention to any references or samples that the client gives you. This is where your human brain comes in - how would the samples/references apply to getting the message across for your client’s brand and purpose? 

Remember, as copywriters, our role is to ensure the message is communicated clearly, even if the final output is not in our hands. 

Outline the asset

If you need to, get a pen and paper for this. Break down the format of the sample or reference you've been given. If you have no samples of prior work or reference from the client, then look up samples of similar work (your client's competitors are a great resource).

How is the information conveyed against your client’s objectives? Again, this is where your intellect comes to play. Review the most important pieces of information that *must* be conveyed at all costs. What is the one thing your reader/viewer needs to take away if they only glanced at your asset? Centre your format breakdown around that piece of information. 

Example:

If you're writing event copy for a landing page to get leads, then start with the most important details - when, where, and how to sign up. Once you’ve nailed this, then only you should start planning the copy for the entire page.

How GenAI accelerates the copywriting workflow

Now that you’ve already outlined the asset, why not go ahead and write it yourself first? By now, you should have an idea on what the final piece should look like. It's fine if it sounds horrible and terribad - this is a first draft, NOT the final work. Its main purpose is to give you an idea of how the copy flows. 

But get it down, so you can see whether the format and content flow makes sense in the first place. Once you do, then you can switch to GenAI to generate additional drafts or insert keywords, or do more research for material you think you’d need for your asset.

Does it really take five minutes?

Honestly, not in the beginning. It can take as long as half an hour or more (depending on how you feel about outlines) to complete, but this is a skill you can learn, and I really recommend it for all copywriters, no matter what stage of their career they’re in. 

There’s a few things to keep in mind - if while doing this exercise, you find you have a lot more questions than you do answers, then it’s best to compile them all into one document or field before proceeding. Reach out after to your account manager or whoever is on the client side and check with them to see if your understanding and theirs align. 

Doing this 5 min hack has actually given me the courage to go back to the client when they haven’t provided enough information for me to get started, and spot any potential issues for the rest of the campaign. This has allowed me to deliver more on-spec work with fewer revisions (if any) and ensured that we can keep track of any potential changes to the campaign messaging as it evolves. 

Final thoughts

For marketing copywriters, GenAI can only speed up our workflows if we’re really clear about what we want and how we want it. Even then, we can’t fully rely on it - while there are some GenAI copywriting tools to speed up the progress, when it comes to adhering to brand guidelines, evolving the tone of voice, and recognising the flow of information, GenAI is no replacement for the human brain. 

And that’s how it should be.  

Also image by John K Thorne on Flickr.