ChatGPT and other large language models are overhauling the way marketers approach PPC. From campaign planning to reporting and analysis, there are tons of ways AI can help you streamline your processes.

But to use ChatGPT for PPC effectively, you need the right prompts. Specific prompts with plenty of contextual information are essential for generating useful output. Which is why getting your prompts right is key to actually saving time with generative AI. 

Learn what the best prompts look like, how to create your own, and make use of 10 tried-and-tested example prompts for PPC planning.

How to create effective prompts for PPC planning

ChatGPT only generates useful output when you give it good instructions. These should include concise, clear requirements, as well as any relevant contextual information.

To illustrate, here’s the difference in output between a basic low quality prompt and a strong prompt:

Basic prompt: Write an ad headline for my car hire business.

‍Strong prompt: Write a Google Search ad headline for my London-based car hire business. I want to target holidaygoers at Heathrow Airport, and emphasize that we have cars for all budgets and party sizes. The headline should be no more than 30 characters.

These headlines still need some human refinement, but it’s clear that providing a few additional details gives you much better output. Unlike the first suggestions, these options work because:

• They have a clear target audience in mind.
• They’re under the maximum character limit.
• They’re generated for a specific ad context (i.e. Google Search ads).

Watch our video with Optymzr founder Frederick Vallaeys to learn how to build effective PPC prompts in ChatGPT:

10 prompts to improve your PPC planning

Campaign planning is one of the best places to use LLMs. Use ChatGPT to perform market research, brainstorm ideas, and create test variants, so you have a great starting point for launching a new campaign.

Let’s take a look at some of the top prompts to organize and simplify your PPC planning.

Market research

Learn about the current ad landscape in your industry to discover where and how to position your brand.

1. Find your competitors

Prompt: “Please create a list of competitors to clickup.com. List the name of the company, the location of their headquarters, the size of the company (small, medium or large) and whether they are a direct or indirect competitor. Please compile the results in a table format.”

(Source: Search Engine Land)

Output:

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If you’re unsure who your competitors are, ChatGPT can find them for you with the right prompt. This prompt works well if you want to know where they’re located and how closely they compete with your business. But you can also request other information, such as annual turnover, when the business started, and their estimated number of employees.

2. Research competitor ad spend

Prompt: “Create a list of competitors for Salesforce and their estimated monthly paid search ad spend.”

(Source: PPC Ad Editor)

Output: 

‍

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Current iterations of ChatGPT can find and aggregate search spend data for several companies, so it may be the quickest way to estimate the ad spend of your competitors. As ChatGPT states, this information may not be completely accurate or verifiable, but it can give you a rough budgeting guide for competitive ad spend in your marketplace.

3. Discover pain points

Prompt: “Why would someone choose not to do business with a car detailer?”

(Source: Michelle Kop)

Output:

Addressing pain points is essential for driving conversions, so it’s important to know what they are. Some of the pain points ChatGPT generates may be pretty basic (e.g. cost concerns), but others are less obvious. Plan campaigns around these lesser known pain points to set your business apart from the competition and build trust with your customers.

Generate ideas & creative

Spark your creativity by asking ChatGPT to generate some initial ideas for specific campaigns you want to run.You may need to further refine your prompt and/or the output for the best possible creative.

1. Brainstorm display ad ideas

Prompt: “I need to create some responsive display ads for a Google Ads campaign. Please suggest images, headlines and descriptions for a meatless shepherd’s pie with spokesperson Paul McCartney. Lyric puns are acceptable.”

(Source: Search Engine Land)

Output:

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While not all of these are super original ideas for imagery, they give you a great starting point. Your team can debate the pros and cons of each idea, and you’ll probably find that they kickstart your campaign creativity.

2. Write Facebook carousel ad headlines

Prompt: “Create a series of 5 attention-grabbing headlines for a Facebook Carousel ad promoting a home meal delivery service, with each headline highlighting a different feature or benefit that appeals to working professionals. Limit the length of each headline to 40 characters.”

(Source: Digital First)

Output:

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Facebook Carousel ads are ideal for showcasing multiple benefits of a single product, telling a story that engages viewers, or promoting several products within one ad. With ChatGPT, you can request headlines to suit your purpose, then refine them so they tie to your brand positioning.

3. Draft LinkedIn InMail ads

Prompt: “Write a persuasive InMail ad script for LinkedIn that highlights the value of an online language learning platform, personalizes the message, and encourages the recipient to take action.”

(Source: Digital First)

Output:

LinkedIn is a great platform for targeting business owners, CEOs, and industry leaders. That makes it hugely popular with B2B marketers. This prompt lets you create an email template that you can personalize further, scaling up your connections with LinkedIn users.

Test and refine

ChatGPT can support your PPC optimization efforts. Use these prompts to test and improve your campaigns on an ongoing basis. 

1. Create A/B test variants

Prompt:“Create two Google Ads in an RSA format (using multiple headlines and descriptions) for an A/B test for “Ms. Hvac’s HVACs.” Explain why the ads would make a good test.”

(Source: Search Engine Land)

Output:

ChatGPT creates several ad variants based on two clear value propositions, which can easily be tested against one another: trust and reliability vs speed and convenience. You can then test which proposition drives more conversions among your target audience.

2. Locate optimal display ad placements

Prompt: “If I were going to run ads for Impossible Foods on the Google Display Network, what types of sites and channels should I target?”

(Source: Search Engine Land)

Output:

Display ads have the potential to show up in ineffective and low-quality placements, so this prompt can help you find the right spots to advertise (and filter out junk placements from Performance Max and other visual ad campaign types).

That said, it’s important not to hit and hope based on ChatGPT’s suggestions. If certain placements aren’t generating the results you want, make sure to refine or remove them based on your real data.

3. Request increased ad budget

Prompt: “Write a brief email to a client asking for a $15,000 additional budget because there’s an opportunity to increase lead volume below the target CPA.”

(Source: Search Engine Land)

Output: 

If you spot an opportunity to maximize ad revenue, get ChatGPT to draft a quick email to a client or manager. This helps you get signoff and increase your budget sooner, making the most of the opportunity.

In this prompt, switch out “there’s an opportunity to increase lead volume below the target CPA” with the specific reason for your budget increase request to ensure accuracy. This will help the client/business make the right decision based on their priorities.

4. Generate a negative keyword list

Prompt: “Create a list of negative keywords for Google Ads. Generate as a CSV file.”

(Source: PPC Ad Editor)

Output:

ChatGPT can put information into popular file formats (e.g. .doc, .csv, etc). This makes it easy to download, review, and upload negative keyword lists.

This prompt won’t generate brand-specific negative keywords, but you can tweak this prompt to request these based on your site URL and other information.

Best practices for creating ChatGPT prompts

These tried-and-tested prompts are great for generating effective, usable outputs from ChatGPT, Perplexity and other LLMs. But you’ll get even better results by creating prompts that focus specifically on your business and its goals. To this end, here are five best practice tips for creating your own ChatGPT PPC planning prompts:

• Provide context - Help the AI understand your business by giving it relevant information, including your ideal customer, the type of ads you’re running, and any required specs (e.g. character or word limits).
• Amend the output - Generative AI output can be great, or it can be garbage. Cast a critical eye over all outputs and refine them to your standards. If you’re consistently not getting the results you want, you may need to adapt the prompt.
• Look out for strategy tips - Newer GPT models often provide extra information that’s relevant to your query, such as strategy tips and further suggestions. These can give you the edge and help to refine your prompt/output.
• Build a custom GPT - Custom GPTs for marketing allow you to build contextual information into the chatbot, so you don’t have to input it every time. It takes time to build a custom GPT, and you’ll need a paid subscription to do so in ChatGPT, but it can be worth it if you plan to use your GPT regularly.
• Don’t overrely on AI - ChatGPT can save tons of time on monotonous tasks, but it’s very easy to overrely on it. Overreliance can lead to dull or overlapping campaigns, so be vigilant about campaign quality when using LLMs.

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