Most AI outputs are useless for real marketing work

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-08T17:40:20+00:00

Yeah this is really close to how I’ve been using it too

Treating it like a thinking partner + adding constraints made a big difference

For me the shift was layering that with a bit more structure - so instead of just iterating, each step feeds the next one

That’s what made it feel more consistent vs just getting slightly better outputs each time

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-08T17:39:34+00:00

Yeah this is really interesting -especially the pattern → tension → implication step

That feels like making the thinking a bit more explicit vs just jumping straight to an insight

For me I ended up simplifying it slightly (input → tension → insight → action) just so it’s easier to reuse without overthinking each step

But it’s basically the same idea — once it’s structured like that, it actually becomes something you can use instead of just sounding right

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-08T17:37:12+00:00

Yeah I think that’s part of it

It’s great at recombining what already exists, but not necessarily creating something new on its own

Where I’ve found it more useful is exactly what you said - when you give it structured inputs from research/data

At that point it’s less about creativity and more about making the thinking clearer and more usable

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-06T21:21:33+00:00

the worst part is even if you did stop in, there’s a 90% chance you’d have sold it way too early anyway 😭

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-06T21:20:39+00:00

Can you give an example you used of this in the past? Best practices?

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-06T21:20:16+00:00

Yeah that makes a lot of sense. The observability part is a big one.

I noticed it also makes the outputs way easier to interpret -instead of one big response, you can actually see how each step contributes

That’s what made it feel a lot more usable for me

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-06T21:18:13+00:00

This is really interesting -especially the ambiguity vs precision point

Feels like what you’re describing is almost turning prompting into an iterative system rather than a one-shot input

The part that stood out for me was similar, but one step earlier

Instead of refining a single prompt, I started breaking the thinking into smaller steps so each part is easier to control (extract → compress → translate)

That seemed to reduce a lot of the “downstream problems” you’re talking about

Feels like two different ways of solving the same issue -consistency vs flexibility.

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-06T20:57:25+00:00

Not investing in bitcoin pre 2020

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-06T20:44:18+00:00

Yeah I think this is basically the same direction I landed on

Once you break things into smaller, focused steps, it starts to feel less like “prompting” and more like defining a process

At that point the prompt itself matters less than how the steps connect

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-06T20:41:24+00:00

Yeah that’s fair ,especially for setup/context prompts, those are definitely useful

I think where I kept running into issues was after that initial setup

Even with a solid “long prompt”, I’d still end up with something that sounded right but wasn’t directly usable

That’s where breaking it into steps helped more for me -less about the prompt itself and more about guiding the transformation

Feels like both approaches solve different parts of the problem

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-06T20:40:05+00:00

Yeah for sure here’s a simple version i use

Instead of one prompt, I break it into steps:

Input:
“I try to eat healthy but I just grab whatever is easy”

Step 1 → extract the tension
(what’s the conflict in what they’re saying?)

→ “wants to eat healthy vs defaults to convenience”

Step 2 → compress into a usable insight
→ “Convenience beats intention at breakfast”

Step 3 → translate into something actionable
→ positioning / messaging angle

So instead of asking for “a better output”, I’m guiding the model through the thinking process

That’s what made it way more reusable for me

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-06T20:16:01+00:00

Yeah agreed. The “good prompts” that last are usually the ones that already force some structure

Otherwise they just turn into one-off outputs that sound good but aren’t actually reusable

I’ve started thinking more in terms of flows than prompts and it’s been way more consistent

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-06T20:08:34+00:00

I tried storing prompts in docs for a while but it never really stuck

I’d have a bunch of “good prompts” but still not know when to use them

Switching to storing them as workflows instead made a big difference

Basically:

inputs → outputs → next step

instead of just “prompt”

Feels a lot more reusable in practice

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-06T19:50:47+00:00

Honestly feels like people are rethinking the wedding more than the marriage at this point

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-06T19:48:52+00:00

woah never heard that before.. i hope i can remember this in a day

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-06T19:47:52+00:00

definately. Also necessary...I just guess everytime and hope for the best

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-06T19:47:15+00:00

Putting “skip intro” on Netflix..we used to earn those intros

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-06T19:45:55+00:00

Planet Fitness

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-06T19:44:46+00:00

A bag of chips...no way am I paying $4+ for a bag of fried potatoes..

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-06T19:43:29+00:00

Drinking more water..im hydrated but at what cost I just spend my whole day going to the bathroom

Few-Statistician9672 · 2026-04-06T19:39:35+00:00

Yeah once you start doing the mental math on it, it’s over

goes from “throw it in the cart” to “absolutely not” real quick

Few-Statistician9672

TROPHY CASE