Are you spending way too much time in search of the “perfect” prompt? News flash — you’re using AI writing tools the wrong way.
The real power isn’t in the prompt — it’s in the context you provide.
Think of AI as a collaborator who just walked into your office for the first time. They’re talented, but know nothing about your business, your customers or your industry nuances.
You could spend all day explaining exactly how you want them to write a blog post, for example, or you could simply give them the background information they need to write intelligently.
Why context beats prompting
When you focus solely on prompt engineering, you’re essentially trying to control the AI’s output through instructions alone. The result? Generic, templated content that sounds like it was written by… well, AI. Because even the most well-crafted prompts have limitations. The writing might be grammatically correct and check all the boxes on your specifications, but it’s guaranteed to lack the depth and authenticity that comes from true understanding.
Context, on the other hand, gives AI the raw materials to create genuinely useful marketing content. Instead of telling AI how to write, you’re giving it the knowledge to write well. This fundamental shift changes everything about the quality of your output.
What context actually looks like
Effective context includes your brand voice samples, customer frustrations that you help solve, industry-specific challenges, competitor insights and real customer feedback. It means sharing your product details, company values, target audience demographics and the specific problems your content needs to solve.
For example, instead of prompting “write a blog post about email marketing in a professional but friendly tone,” provide context: your current email open rates, the specific challenges your customers face with deliverability, examples of your best-performing subject lines and the outcomes you’re trying to achieve.
The compound effect of better context
When you consistently provide rich context, something interesting happens. The AI begins to understand your business ecosystem more deeply. It can make connections between different pieces of information, suggest relevant examples (reminder: fact check!!) and create content that feels true to your brand.
This approach also saves significant time. Rather than iterating through multiple prompt variations, you get higher-quality first drafts that require less editing. The content naturally aligns with your brand voice and addresses real customer needs because AI understands both.
Making the context shift
Start by creating a context library for your business. Document your brand guidelines, customer personas, common objections, success stories and industry insights. When briefing AI for content creation, lead with this background information rather than detailed writing instructions.
Remember that context isn’t just about information — it’s about relevance. The most successful AI-generated content comes from understanding not just what to say, but why it matters to your specific audience. Before jumping into AI content creation, make sure you’re avoiding the content creation killers that can derail even the most well-intentioned efforts.
It’s like my mom always said: “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.” 😄
Marketers seeing the best results from AI writing tools aren’t prompt engineers — they’re context curators. They understand that great content comes from great understanding, not great instructions.
When you provide full-on context upfront, you’ll find yourself spending less time revising drafts and more time on strategic content planning. The first outputs become usable foundations rather than starting points that need complete rewrites. Because ain’t nobody got time for that.