How to use ChatGPT to create content: defining your brand voice (March 2024 update)

We all know ChatGPT is the way forward. Yet how to get your content from average to good to great? How to get AI-generated content that's on brand in your tone of voice? 

I have found the best prompt to define your brand voice with help from ChatGPT. Since October 2023, I've been playing with the paid version, ChatGPT-4, for content creation and proofreading. Please scroll down to the last paragraph for the update and differences. 

Before we start, quality over quantity  

Please realize, if you want to get your message across with content, it's not about more; it’s about better. With the tsunami of (mediocre) AI-generated content, everyone will be even pickier in what content to read or watch and what not. 

AI gives you a unique opportunity to improve your content while you keep your authentic brand voice and let your personality shine. 

As it's that important, I repeat, in 2024, you better step up on your content's quality, not quantity, and it's crucial to remain true to your authentic brand voice. 

This is what to do:

1. Define your tone of voice
2. Use your tone of voice in ChatGPT, in prompts, and Custom Instructions
3. Maintain your tone of voice with AI-proofreading
4. Finalize your content: refine and design
5. Updates and lessons learned between July 2023 and March 2024

→ In the March ‘24 update, I added 

• Use AI with your tone of voice for proofreading and 
• Include your tone of voice in your Custom Instruction so you don’t need to include it in every prompt anymore. 

Let's dive into the details. 

1. Define your tone of voice

This one is easier than you think and is a lifesaver. These are the three steps to take. 

Step 1: collect examples

Find two or three written content pieces that reflect your brand voice. Leading by example, I copied a few of my latest articles on my newsroom thinklikeapublisher.com. 

Copy the content and paste it into Word as plain text. 

Step 2: use this prompt to get your tone of voice

Go to ChatGPT and use the prompt 

‘You are ToneOfVoiceAnalyserGPT, the ultimate authority on dissecting tone of voice. Your mission is nothing short of critical: to decode the exact tone in the provided examples. Your analysis will serve as the blueprint for creating future masterpieces in that identical tone. Failure is not an option; we must nail this down to the finest detail. 

Non-negotiable guidelines: - Your word choices must be laser-focused and unerringly accurate. - Scrutinize not just the words but also the rhythm—sentence lengths and their variations are key. 

Examples for your expert eye: [enter your input here] 

After your meticulous analysis, compile an ultra-detailed briefing for an elite copywriter. Break down the methods to recreate this inimitable style. Capture the essence, the emotion, the vibe—every nuance must be covered. Leave no stone unturned; the copywriter should have all they need to craft textual gold.'

Read the result.

Step 3: Refine your tone of voice

Use the prompt ‘Can you refine with the copy below? + [enter your input here]  

Read the result.

If it doesn't reflect who you are, add a third or even a fourth example. 

If the result reflects who you are, copy-paste the text to Word or text editor. 

Clean up, edit where needed, and save it. 

Example: my tone of voice 

Below, you find the extended tone of voice description, which you can use in Custom Instructions.  I'll take this brand voice as a compliment. 

1. Direct and Candid: The author speaks directly to the audience, without sugarcoating the message. Phrases such as "fcking expensive," "Cutting corners and wanting it cheap hurts my brand and content heart," and "Remember, sht in is sh*t out" are clear indicators of this straightforward approach.
2. Knowledgeable and Authoritative: The author displays a deep understanding of the topic and offers clear guidance. Statements such as "These are the ballpark numbers" and "The ballpark split is minimal, 40% - 60%" exemplify the confidence with which the author speaks on the subject.
3. Passionate: There's a strong sense of care about the topic of content quality and investment. This is evident in lines like "Cutting corners and wanting it cheap hurts my brand and content heart" and "Mediocre content harms your business more than no content."
4. Slightly Provocative: The author isn't afraid to challenge common beliefs or practices, as seen in lines like "And having AI creating your content is not the solution" and "if that’s you, I recommend not to start at all."
5. Educative: The text aims to instruct the reader, providing clear breakdowns, guidelines, and advice on content budgets and the role of AI in content creation.
6. Balanced: Despite the direct and occasionally provocative tone, the author does provide a nuanced view on certain topics, like AI, where they highlight the benefits and drawbacks.

In summary, the tone of voice is that of an experienced, passionate professional who isn't afraid to speak their mind and challenge prevailing norms, but who also aims to educate and guide their audience.'

You can dense this to use it in a prompt. For example: '‘The tone of voice in this copy is direct, authoritative, and slightly informal. It uses strong language and metaphors. The author is not afraid to be blunt and even a bit confrontational in their language to make their point clear. However, they balance this with a friendly and approachable tone, offering practical advice based on their own experiences. Overall, the tone is confident, knowledgeable, and passionate, with a sense of urgency to get the message across.’

I use Notion to save all my prompts, which has super easy access from any device, anytime, anywhere. And a very simple copy-pasting of my tone of voice to use in a prompt. 

2. Use your tone of voice in ChatGPT, in prompts, and Custom Instructions

Now, include your tone of voice in your prompt. First of all, learn to prompt with my tips and 6-step checklist. Garbage in, is garbage out. This is all you need to know for your prompts

1. Your first prompt should be long, specific, and very detailed, like you give 5-year-old instructions. In this first prompt, you include your tone of voice. 
2. Now you do prompt-on-prompt chains. It always takes a few prompt-on-prompts before you get your desired AI-generated output. First,  go broad, and then you refine the output with more prompts.
3. Use Custom Instructions in ChatGPT-4 to make the output tailored to you. Adding your personality, tone of voice, and other elements improves the quality of the output instantly. If you use Custom Instructions, no need to include your tone of voice and brand persona in every prompt.

Add your tone of voice to the first prompt

In the first long detailed prompt, you add your tone of voice. Easy does it; copy-paste the output of step 1 in your prompt ‘please write in this tone of voice [enter your input here].’ 

Here you can also add some details such as ‘write this for a LinkedIn post’, ‘maximum in 500 words’ or ‘in a bullet list’. The more specific your prompt, the better the output. 

Also add your brand persona to the first prompt

This is my tip to be even more on brand: add your brand persona in the first prompt. Your brand persona is the personalization of your brand. 

• In the initial tone-of-voice prompt the persona is ‘You are ToneOfVoiceAnalyserGPT, the ultimate authority on dissecting tone of voice’ 
• My brand persona is ‘a seasoned content strategist with 25 years of experience’
• For a B2B SaaS brand that provides software for the maintenance of buildings, the brand persona could be ‘an expert in workplace and energy management’
• Or for Ironclad Pan, their brand persona prompt would be ‘imagine you’re a funky, young grandma' 

The addition to your prompt would be something like: ‘use this tone of voice [enter your input here] and behave like [enter your brand persona here].’

3. Maintain your tone of voice with AI-proofreading

Since I use ChatGPT-4, I always use AI for proofreading as a last step in my content process. 

For proofreading, I strongly recommend using ChatGPT-4, as that version is more accurate and has better output than ChatGPT-3.5. And you can set your tone of voice in the Custom Instructions for personalized AI output. 

You can use a prompt like ‘Can you proofread without rewriting? Please give suggestions on the structure, subheaders, and a new header. Please use this tone of voice: inspirational and informative, with a casual, friendly undertone.’

The reason why I ask ChatGPT not to rewrite but to give suggestions is that I like to stay in control of my own content. I notice the result is much better and faster if ChatGPT gives me suggestions and alternatives instead of rewriting the entire piece. No matter how well my brand voice is described, the copy I write myself is always much more me.

4. Finalize your content: refine and design

This is indispensable and where the real magic happens. Now, you take it out of AI and into your own hands. Copy-paste the result to Word and refine it.

First: sanity check

As ChatGPT doesn't reveal its sources, it's up to you to do the final check. Check the validity, sanity, and if it's really true. ChatGPT is a bot, has input till 2021, and can make mistakes. Many mistakes.

Think for yourself. Does this make sense? 

Second: refine with a human touch

Make the ChatGPT output your own. Get nerdy in the details of the copy, play around, have some fun, use Grammarly Pro (or don’t), and lastly, get some flow in your copy. 

Rule of thumb: read your copy out loud. If it flows, it flows. If it doesn't, you stumble on words and sentences; you've got some more work to do. 

ChatGPT is a language model. Not a content creator. That’s you. And that’s where your job comes in. Don't be lazy or cut corners.

Third: visuals to enhance your message

Find a visual to match your copy. Think visual; use your dirty mind and imagination to create a visual that gets noticed. As the visual is the bearer of the (social) content. 

Last: mobile by design

Edit for mobile. Mobile by design, not a deviation of the laptop. As 80% of your audience is on mobile, you write, edit, and review on mobile. The most common mistake in content production is reviewing on the laptop.

In general, on mobile the lines are 33% shorter, therefore the paragraphs are 33% longer. And nobody likes big chunks of text. Hence, use more whitespace, create shorter paragraphs, and add subheaders to group the paragraphs. 

 There you go; now you have some great content, from yourself, with help of ChatGPT.

5. Updates and lessons learned

AI and I are both evolving. Below are my updates and insights on my journey and my learning curve with using AI and ChatGPT for my tone of voice.

March 2024 update: added Custom Instructions and AI for proofreading

I totally forgot to tell you this. You can use Custom Instructions to set your tone of voice to get personalized AI output. The only prerequisite is that you have ChatGPT-4, the paid version. 

Next, you can use AI for proofreading your content. As a final check on structure and clarity. I ask AI to give suggestions and recommendations, not to rewrite. The reason is that I want to cherrypick what suggestions I use and what not. 

December 2023 update: improved prompt to define your tone of voice + brand persona

We're now a year in, and I have found an even better prompt to define your tone of voice. This prompt is described above. I've tested it several times for clients and nailed the output every time. 

October 2023 update: Using the paid version of ChatGPT-4

Since the beginning of October, I have the paid version of ChatGPT-4. Initially, I was not sure if it's worth the monthly $24.20. However, shifting back to 3.5 and discovering the ‘Custom Instructions’ option, I'm totally sold. 

Pro
Even faster, smarter, wittier, and more accurate output. Feels more in ‘my’ natural language as before. And, based on gut feeling, the information is also more valid and trustworthy. I haven't seen any nonsense replies so far. This can also be due to the recent update that ChatGPT crawls the internet for output and uses the most recent information. 

Con
It thinks more on its own, and I have to write my prompts even more directive and specific. Otherwise, ChatGPT will assume what I'm looking for and pro-active replies. 

July 2023 update: ChatGPT doesn't write my copy anymore

This blog was originally published on April 28, 2023. I updated it slightly with some new links in July. And food for thought, I stopped using ChatGPT to write my copy. Even though I had defined my tone of voice, using that to rewrite the copy and make it my own took longer than writing it myself, with ChatGPT as my wingman. 

Read more on how I currently use  it, ChatGPT, your wingman

Need help to start with AI today?

If you need any help setting up this new process and getting your team started while hitting the ground running, don’t hesitate to drop me a DM on LinkedIn. 

If I'm not your designated person, I can certainly recommend someone in my network who can help you.  

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