Rebecca Ward
I was making my favorite chocolate brownies this week, and it got me thinking about how recipes are a great analogy for AI.
People see it as one ingredient and don’t realize all the other ingredients and steps needed to make a cake, in this case, a social media post. You can’t make a cake with just flour, throw it in the oven and hope for the best.
We need an idea of what we want to create, prepare the specific ingredients, maybe adjust the flavor, garnish and then serve!
Follow my 6-step process to create and serve your most delicious social media post with the help of AI. By the end of this recipe, we are going to have the following;
- Heading/Hook
- Image (optional)
- Post Caption
- Structure & Bullet Points/Summary
- Call To Action
- Hashtags/Keywords
So we will need some ingredients; the more details and context we can feed in, the better the output.
What’s your GOAL?
What are you trying to achieve with this post?
Be specific, for example:
- I want to improve my conversion rate,
- I want to sell my new product
- I want people to download my lead magnet
- I want to grow my email list, etc.
Step 1 - Sprinkle in some text
Either start with some content you have already written, like a blog or start from scratch and ask AI to write you a caption, as simply as;
Prompt ‘Write a social media caption to (insert your goal)’
Now this will give you a paragraph of text you can use, BUT remember the output will reflect the quality of the input.
TIP: Do these things to get a better result:
- Say who you want AI to write in the style of. Are you a VA, social media manager, coach, photographer, etc
- Tone of voice. Should it be formal, witty, friendly, authoritative
- Do you want a specific amount of words or specific to a platform, like Twitter or Instagram
- Would you like it to evoke curiosity, appeal to their emotional nature, be packed with your niche’s keywords, lead them to buy, etc
- You can give it examples of your style or what you expect the format to be like
Next, adjust the flavor…
Consider when you’re cooking, it’s rare that you put everything in and the dish is perfect. You often make some adjustments and put it back in the oven, microwave, etc
So when you have your text, read it through and decide what would make it better.
You can simply type:
- ‘Make it shorter’
- ‘Make it less repetitive’
- ‘Make it more friendly’
- ‘Don’t use the word lead magnet’
Then keep making adjustments until you’re happy. So it may look like this…
Prompt: Pretend you are a (business coach, VA, copywriter), I will give you (my target customer, product details, goal), You will write an (Instagram caption, Tweet) in a (witty, informative) style. The product is a (lead magnet, discovery call) and my target audience is (young, entrepreneur, stressed).
Now you should have your text…This is just an example. You’ll find you finesse this overtime.
TIP: Have a prompt you can save to reuse each time using all the details above.
I also recommend saving the text generated to a spreadsheet or document so you can refer back to it. ChatGPT does save chat history, but it’s not always reliable or available to access.
Step 2 - Add in a Hook
What will stop the scroll and make your target customer read your post?
Ask AI to create a heading or hook from the text you’ve just generated.
Prompt: Create a selection of headings I can use
TIP: Ask for a selection of options, and then you can choose the one most like your style.
Step 3 - A dash of CTA
Make it easy & simple, what do you want the reader to do and how do they do it?
- Is there a link they need to click on?
- Do you want them to engage with the post by writing an answer in the comments?
Prompt: Create a call to action to the (product, lead magnet, blog)
Again this can be refined to your style and CTA
Step 4 - Don’t make a hash of your tags!
Everyone is split on hashtags. Should you use them or not? Should you use 5 or 30? I’ve found that people do what works for them.
In your platform Insights, you can see how many people saw your posts through hashtags, so have a play around and test what’s working for you.
I’m not a fan of hashtags for lots of reasons, and I think it is more important to make sure your using KEYWORDS through your Profile, Bio, Caption, etc.
However, you can ask AI to create a list of hashtags for you or keywords to use. Consider what people would be searching for to find your content.
Again, make sure you adjust the hashtags generated and use them more as a brainstorming aid.
Step 5 - Presentation
When I am reading something, I find it easier to read short sentences, and bullet points are even better. Our brains will scan text and pick out anything interesting, so breaks in the text, headings, and bullet points can all help with this.
You have probably found yourself that when you’ve gone to someone’s caption and it’s a great long paragraph with no spaces, you don’t even bother reading it.
If you do need to fit in a large amount of text, make sure you break it up or summarise it at the beginning and/or end so people can decide if they then want to read the whole thing.
It also helps to recap what they may have just learnt and highlight your CTA.
Prompt 'Can you summarise with bullet points
Imagined by Rebecca, Created by Dall.e
Step 6 - Image
I’ve left this one till last because it’s optional. Ideally, you’d use a branded image (I use Canva) or a picture of you/products, video, etc.
If you’d like to see what you can create with AI then try using OpenAI’s Dall.e.
Try giving prompts that describe what you want it to create. Remember, the more specific you are, the better the result.
Prompt: Create a digital print of a woman with shoulder-length blonde hair using a computer by a window.
Note: The images aren’t perfect. They’re not great with people. But all of AI is improving every single day.
Step 7 - Garnish & Serve
Now you should have all your ingredients. They should be mixed together and flavored to give you your complete Post. They include:
- Image
- Caption with Hook
- Summary
- Call to Action
- Hashtags
Now “garnish” with any additional details you need such as:
- links
- mentions
- product tags
- interaction stickers
- music
- captions
- location
- alt text
Finally, serve your post to your chosen platform ready for your target audience to enjoy and want seconds!
Rebecca Ward
Social media manager and consultant from the UK who is passionate about showing the person behind the business, building relationships, supporting & collaborating with others.
