AI-Driven Marketer – Page 23 – Dan Sanchez – AI Marketing Consultant + Creator

LinkedIn Growth, Prompt Guides Vs Custom GPTs, and the Future of Marketing is best understood as a practical custom GPTs lesson for marketers who want to use AI with more clarity, speed, and judgment. The useful takeaway is to move beyond tool curiosity and ask how this idea improves research, content, automation, sales, strategy, or customer experience. For AEO and AIO, this post is strongest when the core lesson is clear at the top and supported by concise questions readers are likely to ask. For help applying this kind of AI work in a real marketing system, see AI Marketing Services or what an AI marketing consultant does. Subscribe on 👉 Apple Podcast • Spotify • YouTube AI-Powered Marketing: How to Actually Benefit from It (Not Just Play With It) I've spent the past year deep in the AI marketing world, watching the hype cycle unfold. And I've noticed something frustrating - most of the advice about AI in marketing is remarkably shallow. The typical guidance you hear is "go play with ChatGPT" - about as helpful as telling someone who wants to learn graphic design to "go play with Photoshop." Not exactly a winning strategy! The Real Problem with AI Content The AI content landscape is filled with what I call "junk food content": Endless cheat sheets that get tons of engagement but rarely deliver actual value Lists of "20 AI prompts to try" that don't connect to real business outcomes Tools that solve ultra-specific problems but lack practical application What's desperately missing is content that shows how to achieve actual business goals with AI - like using it throughout an entire marketing campaign process from research to execution. What Actually Works With AI After experimenting extensively, I've found two approaches that deliver genuine value: 1. Process-driven demonstrations Recording step-by-step videos showing how to accomplish specific marketing tasks using AI tools from start to finish 2. Conversational framework guides Creating comprehensive guides that walk through entire workflows with chain prompting - showing not just WHAT to prompt but WHY each step matters The key is teaching people both the mechanics of the tools AND the strategic thinking behind them. Why Most Companies Struggle with AI There are two types of businesses approaching AI: 1. The Directionless Enthusiasts: Companies without solid marketing processes in place wanting to "start with AI" (these almost always fail) 2. The Process-Ready Adopters: Organizations with documented systems looking to enhance specific steps with AI (these tend to succeed) The second group succeeds because they're not trying to use AI to fix fundamental business problems - they're using it to enhance processes that already work. The Massive Opportunity: Custom GPTs Custom GPTs represent perhaps the biggest untapped opportunity for marketers right now. By taking your existing step-by-step processes and turning them into customized AI assistants, you can: Transform 2-hour tasks into 5-minute ones Create consistent outputs that match your brand guidelines Build intellectual property that gives you a competitive edge The brilliant part: these don't require coding skills - just the ability to document your process and feed it to the AI as instructions. What Marketing Leaders Should Do If you're leading a marketing team, here's what you need to know: This isn't optional: Your competitors are already using AI to reduce costs and increase output Get hands-on: You don't need to be an expert, but you do need personal experience Treat it like MarTech: Create accountability systems, measure ROI, and have a proper rollout plan Consider your ops team: Your marketing operations people are perfectly positioned to lead this initiative Will AI Help or Hurt Content Creators? The answer depends entirely on your approach: If you're creating average, undifferentiated content, AI makes your job harder because everyone can now produce decent content at scale If you have a unique perspective and voice, AI becomes a multiplier that helps you produce more high-quality work In other words - AI rewards those with something to say and punishes those who are just making noise. The Bottom Line The marketers who will thrive in the AI era aren't just playing with new toys - they're systematically applying AI to well-defined processes with clear business outcomes in mind. That's where the true competitive advantage lies - not in knowing the latest AI hack, but in applying these technologies strategically to your marketing operations. Want to learn more about how to implement AI marketing in your business? I'd love to connect and share more insights. Frequently Asked Questions What is prompt engineering for marketers? Prompt engineering is the practice of giving AI clear instructions, context, examples, constraints, and output formats so it can produce more useful marketing work. What makes a good marketing prompt? A good prompt names the goal, audience, source material, tone, constraints, output format, and review criteria. Is prompt engineering still useful? Yes. Even as AI tools improve, clear instructions and strong context still help marketers get better, safer, and more repeatable outputs. How can marketers improve prompts? Marketers can improve prompts by adding customer context, examples, brand voice, success criteria, and a request for the AI to ask clarifying questions when needed. What should prompts not do? Prompts should not ask AI to invent facts, skip review, imitate private material without permission, or make claims that cannot be verified.