We’ve all been there – staring at a blank screen, a cursor blinking back at us as if to say, “Well? What now?”
On a good day, creative ideas can flow freely. On a ‘not-so-good’ day, even coming up with a decent headline feels like climbing Everest in flip-flops.
Whether you’re a marketer, blogger, content creator or copywriter, creativity can be as elusive as it is essential.
The challenge of creativity on demand
One of the hardest parts of working in content creation is the expectation to always be “on.” Audiences, clients and algorithms don’t care if your brain’s feeling foggy or if inspiration has taken a personal day. Deadlines don’t shift just because your creativity has.
This pressure can lead to frustration, burnout, and, ironically, even less creativity.
Whilst I hate to add fuel to the artificial intelligence (AI) fire, I have learned to appreciate that it really can help out if you are struggling. No, it is not here to replace us creative types – it is a tool that can support us.
AI as a creative companion
My view on all things AI is very simple – it is a tool.
Like all tools, the quality of the output is ultimately dependent on its user, but tools can be a huge help and you would be daft to blankly refuse to use them. For example, I can see no benefit to manually screwing in a thousand decking screws if you have the option to use a power driver? I am not lazy, but my vote goes with speed and the lack of ruined wrists…
AI can do many things, but I think that brainstorming is an under-used aspect for most people. It is your friend that never runs out of steam, nor will it judge your half-baked ideas. Rather than stare blankly at your apparent lunacy, it can offer a steady stream of suggestions and prompts that can help unlock your own thinking.
AI prompt ideas
AI success is all about the prompts. The good old ‘shit in, shit out’ adage holds true when trying to get the best out of AI platforms and it is important to ask the right questions.
Whether you’re writing a blog, crafting social media content, developing email campaigns or just brainstorming in general, here are some example prompts that you can try out to see if it helps overcome your writer’s block:
- General content ideation prompts:
- “Give me 10 blog post ideas about [your topic].”
- “What are some untapped angles for discussing [topic]?”
- “What questions do people commonly ask about [topic]?”
- “What’s a unique or controversial opinion I could write about in [industry]?”
- “Suggest content ideas based on the latest trends in [topic].”
- Blog post prompts:
- “What are some how-to guides I could create about [topic]?”
- “Give me 5 storytelling angles for a blog post on [topic].”
- “What are common mistakes people make when [doing something in your niche]?”
- “What would a beginner’s guide to [topic] look like?”
- “Create an outline for a blog post titled ‘[your title idea]’.”
- Social media prompts:
- “Suggest 10 Instagram carousel ideas for [audience] interested in [topic].”
- “What’s a funny or relatable tweet about [niche/situation]?”
- “Give me short, catchy LinkedIn post ideas that show thought leadership in [industry].”
- “What kind of Instagram Reels or TikToks could I make about [topic]?”
- “Write a poll question for Twitter/LinkedIn about [topic].”
- Email prompts:
- “What could be the hook or subject line for an email about [content topic]?”
- “What story could I tell in a newsletter to connect with readers around [theme]?”
- “Give me 3 ideas for a lead magnet related to [product/service].”
- “Suggest a content series I could send out weekly around [topic].”
- Out-of-the-Box prompts:
- “Give me metaphors or analogies I could use to explain [topic].”
- “What would [famous figure/fictional character] say about [topic]?”
- “What if [popular trend] met [your industry]—how would that look as content?”
- “Write a fake news headline that would make people laugh and still relate to [topic].”
- “Turn this idea into a short poem or haiku: [your theme]”
AI should not replace your voice
There has been a lot of existential soul searching in recent years amongst agencies such as the mighty Browser Media over the threat that AI poses to our livelihoods.
In my humble opinion, AI tools should not replace human creativity – they should be used to enhance it. Personally, I do use AI to break through the fog, when you are just not feeling it but have deadlines. It does make ideation feel less lonely on those days.
We all have days where ideas feel miles away. I use AI as a stimulus and it usually works. Not always – I am certainly not suggesting that you can use prompts such as those above to solve all creative challenges, but nine times out of ten, it will help.
Give it a go next time you are struggling.
