7 tips for using ChatGPT in 2024

Every industry is looking at the opportunities that ChatGPT could provide this year.

But few realise that there is an art to using this technology that goes beyond simply typing in random prompts.

In fact, becoming fluent in ChatGPT is likely to be the biggest factor in employability in the next few years.

With over 100 million users per week – and this number is growing – learning how to use ChatGPT properly could significantly improve your chances of getting your dream job.

Whether you’re a seasoned marketing pro or just dipping your toes into AI, here’s the lowdown on squeezing the juice out of this technology this year.

(No doubt, at the current rate of innovation, I’ll be writing another one of these articles for 2025).

1. Use precise prompts

ChatGPT appreciates precision – so be specific, concise, and avoid meandering through your prompts.

The more specific and detailed your prompt, the better the response you’ll get.

I always set a word count as well as explain the style I am looking for in its response.

Remember, it’s a text generator, not a mind reader!

2. Set the tone

If you are a marketing professional, don’t forget the brand you are selling has a personality that needs to come out in your copy.

Discuss the tone you are aiming for with ChatGPT to make sure it resonates with your audience.

Whether it’s a quirky charm or a serious tone, guide the algorithm with prompts that align with your brand voice.

3. Don’t be afraid to experiment

ChatGPT will be celebrating its second birthday in 2024 – yes, you read that right.

It has only been around for a year and a couple of months at the time of writing.

As such, the technology is still growing, changing, and people are finding new avenues for its usage every single day.

You are at the forefront of its expansion, so feel free to experiment with different prompts, tweak your inputs, and shuffle the variables to find out what works.

Try different combinations until you find a formula that produces brilliant copy.

4. Be the captain of the ship

Steer the conversation. Don’t let ChatGPT take the wheel and drive you into uncharted waters.

Guide it, correct it, and keep it on course, because if you aren’t careful it can run away with itself.

At the end of the day, it’s a tool, not a guru and it certainly gets things wrong on a regular basis – especially facts and figures.

Sometimes you’ll need to wrestle it back to reality after it’s gone on a wild tangent and sometimes, you’ll simply have to start from scratch.

Know when to accept its output and when to hit the delete button, especially when it comes to important information.

5. Exercise your own creative muscles

Don’t believe the hype – it isn’t smarter than you.

Yes, it might have more information than you do, but you are the creative one. Yours is the brain that can develop thoughts into emotion and emotion into artistic and creative endeavours.

ChatGPT should be like a creative training partner at the gym.

Brainstorm ideas with it, throw around concepts, and let it be the sounding board for your creativity but, remember, it’s not a replacement, it’s an accomplice.

6. Learn to iterate

Iteration is the process of repeating and refining your text to achieve small improvements each time.

I often iterate with ChatGPT to slowly whittle down plans and outlines from bloated lists of bullet points to more realistic frameworks for my writing.

Don’t be afraid to iterate with ChatGPT rather than taking its first answer.

The first draft is usually quite poor anyway so revise, refine, and repeat.

The best copy usually comes out of long iterations.

7. Respect the technology for what it is

I feel like this has been said thousands of times but I’m going to say it anyway – ChatGPT will NOT replace copywriters.

All the technology has done in the year or so that it has been around is change the way we work – not the fact we are in work at all.

It isn’t creative in the same way that you and I are.

It cannot develop marketing strategies tailored to a specific audience in the same way that a human being with eyes, ears, a nose, and their own nuances can.

Use ChatGPT as a tool but never rely on it to do what you can do.

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