GenAI: Prompting A Better Marketing Strategy

By David Dubois and Joerg Niessing

Amid the rise of GenAI, executives must master prompt crafting to optimize their marketing and sales strategies.

In the ever-evolving world of digital marketing, the ability to craft impactful, audience-centric campaigns has become both an art and a science. By the end of 2025, AI is expected to drive 95 percent of customer interactions in some capacity.

Central to this evolution is the growing importance of prompts—carefully unstructured inputs that guide AI tools and systems to generate creative, targeted, and data-driven outputs. By mastering the “art of prompting,” brand and sales executives can augment and transform their strategies, foster deeper engagement, and drive tangible results. For chief marketing officers (CMOs) and marketing leaders, mastering prompts is no longer a technical skill but a leadership imperative.

Why prompts matter in marketing strategy

Prompts are unstructured, often textual inputs that direct GenAI-powered tools to produce specific responses or outputs. Acting as a bridge between prescriptive inputs by humans and AI capabilities, they translate strategic goals into actionable content. These inputs range from straightforward instructions (e.g., “generate an Instagram caption for a new luxury watch”) to more specific requests (e.g., “create a five-part email sequence promoting a new sustainable fashion collection, emphasizing ethical sourcing and exclusivity).

Prompts have a wide range of applications, including (but not limited to) competitive analysis, online presence and SEO (search engine optimization) audits, marketing and brand positioning, and channel strategy and execution. In short, prompts inform, augment, and/or transpose strategic marketing goals into actionable outputs by AI systems.

Here are four ways effective prompting can ensure big wins for brands.

1. Personalization at scale

One of the most significant challenges in digital marketing is balancing scale with personalization. With the right prompts, brands can create hyper-personalized campaigns tailored to different audience segments.

A prompt such as “generate a personalized itinerary for a couple visiting Paris, emphasizing hidden gems and romantic spots” ensures that content resonates with travelers’ unique preferences.

For instance, L’Oréal’s GenAI Beauty Content Lab, CREAITECH, has started training GenAI to recognize the unique visual codes of the brands in their portfolio by leveraging logos, imagery, styles, packaging, typography, and colors. This enables the company to launch innovative campaigns faster and generate customized product recommendations for millions of users based on their individual preferences and skin types.

Then there’s the hospitality industry, which has the most potential to create significant value from AI, according to a study by McKinsey. Many operators, including Airbnb, increasingly utilize prompt engineering to power tailored travel suggestions for users. A prompt such as “generate a personalized itinerary for a couple visiting Paris, emphasizing hidden gems and romantic spots” ensures that content resonates with travelers’ unique preferences. This approach has helped Airbnb achieve a 30 percent increase in click-through rates on email campaigns.

2. Speed and efficiency

Prompts significantly reduce the time and resources spent on content creation, enabling marketers to move from ideation to execution more quickly. For example, in March 2023, Coca-Cola used AI-driven tools during its “Real Magic” campaign to encourage the creation of hundreds of variations of advertising copy and visuals to suit different markets. Within minutes, more than 120,000 AI-powered pieces of content (prompted by real humans) were posted.

Similarly, Nike uses prompts to fuel dynamic campaigns tailored to local markets, particularly in out-of-home advertisements. During the Paris 2024 Olympics, Nike integrated AI into their marketing strategy through AI-led billboards in cities across the United States, Europe, South America, and Asia that updated promotional messages in real-time based on the latest results. Whenever an athlete featured in the campaign won an event, the billboards immediately displayed the winning athlete, mirroring the thrill and uncertainty of the Games. Thanks to this strategy, Nike saw a peak in website visits on 31 July 2024, reaching two million visitors. Of these visits, 86,900 resulted in a sale. This increase in site traffic contrasted sharply with declines observed by competitors such as Adidas, Hoka, and On during the same period.

3. Consistency across channels

In today’s omnichannel environment, maintaining brand voice and consistency is crucial. Prompts ensure that messaging aligns with brand values, regardless of the platform. A prompt such as “Write a LinkedIn post and a corresponding Instagram caption about our new electric vehicle” ensures greater consistency while optimizing content for platform-specific formats and audiences.

4. Enhanced creativity

AI tools powered by prompts can act as creative collaborators, pushing the boundaries of what marketers can imagine. Marketing and sales leaders can use prompts to explore bold, unexpected ideas that go beyond traditional campaigns. For instance, Sephora launched the Sephora Skin IQ tool, which provides personalized beauty recommendations and tutorials. Prompts such as “suggest a lipstick shade to match an olive-toned complexion” allow for expert advice to be disseminated through digital channels, delivering value instantly. The tool boosted user satisfaction, and Sephora’s skincare sales grew by 35 percent following its introduction.

How CMOS can craft (more) effective prompts

To unlock the full potential of AI, marketing and sales leaders must learn how to craft effective prompts. Here are four key best practices:

1. Be specific: Clearly articulate the desired outcome, objective, or message. Instead of stating “write an email,” opt for “write an email to first-time customers offering a 10 percent discount on their next purchase, emphasizing fast delivery and eco-friendly packaging.”.
2. Incorporate context: Provide relevant details about the culture, market, audience, channel, or platform, as well as the objective. For example, “generate Instagram captions for a Gen Z audience in India, promoting a new line of sustainable and affordable sneakers.”.
3. Iterate and refine: Test different prompt variations to identify which deliver the best For instance, a fashion brand could test prompts like “write a product description for a high-end handbag” vs. “write a product description for a high-end handbag targeting millennials who value sustainability.”.
4. Align with data: Use prompts informed by customer insights and analytics. A luxury brand analyzing purchasing patterns might use a prompt like “suggest upselling strategies for customers who purchased premium leather jackets last winter.”.

The future of prompts

As AI continues to advance, the role of prompts in marketing and sales will only grow, with future opportunities including:

• Real-time prompting: AI systems capable of generating and refining prompts based on live data, such as trending topics or breaking news.
• Multimodal prompts: Expanding beyond text to include visual or auditory inputs. For instance, a prompt such as “Create a video ad for TikTok promoting a new sportswear line, using upbeat music and vibrant colors” could guide tools to produce complete video assets.
• Automated campaign optimization: AI systems that autonomously test and tweak prompts to maximize campaign performance.

Beyond crafting individual prompts, organizations must start adopting comprehensive, automated tools that manage and execute these processes simultaneously. Platforms like VSTRAT.ai enable companies to orchestrate the entire workflow, addressing strategic challenges such as designing customer journeys tailored to specific objectives, markets, and target audiences. Similarly, the Anthropic Console allows users to generate, test, and evaluate the effect of prompts through a built-in prompt generator.

These tools go beyond manual interventions by integrating advanced analytics, prompt generation, and content deployment into a seamless, easy-to-use system. By ensuring consistent and optimized messaging at scale, they empower marketing and sales teams to shift their focus from operational execution to strategic planning and creative innovation, while the platform manages the execution and continuous refinement autonomously.

In a digital era defined by rapid change and fierce competition, prompts have emerged as a critical tool for marketing and sales leaders to unlock creativity, enhance personalization, drive efficiency, and optimize their messaging. Brands that master the art of crafting and deploying prompts will stay ahead of the curve, empowering them to achieve measurable success and build long-term, personalized relationships with their audiences at scale.

About the Authors

David Dubois is a tenured Associate Professor at INSEAD, specializing in data-driven innovation and customer-centric transformation. His research and teaching help professionals leverage digital insights for competitive advantage, particularly in areas like GenAI and social media. An expert in luxury brand management, his work has been featured in publications like The Financial Times and The Economist. He directs INSEAD’s digital marketing strategy programs and develops award-winning case studies.

Joerg Niessing is a Senior Affiliate Professor of Marketing at INSEAD and is passionate about bridging the academic and the business world on topics related to digital transformation, customer centricity, and data analytics. At INSEAD Joerg teaches executives and MBA students and he is the co-director of INSEAD’s programmes Leading Digital Marketing Strategy and B2B Marketing Strategies and Driving Digital Marketing Strategy (OOPS).