How to Use ChatGPT TO Edit Like a Pro ???

"To write is human, to edit is divine." — Stephen King

Today we’re going to edge closer to the divine, and use AI to be an instant editor…

Clarity is king. But reworking content entirely isn't always the best—or most efficient—solution.

Today we're focusing on improving the clarity of your existing content while retaining its original meaning and tone. Because sometimes, you don't need a full makeover—just a little touch-up.

?? Strategy: How To Edit, and not Rewrite, Your Copy

The strategy offers a structured approach to make your text clearer through a series of drafts and reflections. It's like having a roadmap for your editing journey:

1. Clear Instructions: A well-defined goal and specific steps guide you through the process.
2. Iterative Drafts: Multiple rounds of writing and reflection help refine your text.
3. Structured Format: Sections for drafts, reflections, and the final output make sure nothing falls through the cracks.
4. Prompted Reflection: After each draft, you're prompted to reflect on possible improvements, acting like a built-in quality check.

Teach the AI (and Yourself!)

We’re going to use an example. In fact, maybe we can play a bit of a game…

Can you tell me what this company, Full Story, does?

An uninspired and generic homepage, if we’re being honest (however, they also do generate $57M/year, so who am I to judge ??). But there isn’t a lot of clarity to their product offering, I wouldn’t know what the software does at first glance.

But let’s see if we can use a simple ChatGT prompt to fix this up in just a few minutes.

And the bonus of this prompt is that it’s not just for humans; it's a way to teach AI how to critically evaluate and improve its own writing.?

?? Use Case: Elevate Your Marketing with Smart Editing

Clarity amplifies impact. Here are a few areas that you can use the prompt to improve your marketing:

• Marketing Copy - Fine-tune landing pages and ads. Get to the point, match your brand voice, and ditch endless revisions.
• Campaign Concepts - Pre-launch editing sharpens your campaign's focus and impact, making it easier to pitch and execute.
• Email Newsletters - Stand out in crowded inboxes. Edit for punchy subject lines and clear calls-to-action.
• Social Media Posts - Use iterative edits to maximize engagement. Make every word count.

And more, including website copy, ad copy, presentations, titles and headlines, etc. This editing approach sharpens your content and your skills, making you a more effective marketer.

(Can also run this through the prompt to see if it can be brought to life more)

?

?? Prompt: A Step-by-Step Guide to Making Your Text Clearer

The prompt is designed to clarify your message without altering its essence, all while guiding you through iterative drafts and self-reflection.

Here's the prompt, as created and shared by Matt Shumer :

The prompt:

Given some text, make it clearer.

Do not rewrite it entirely. Just make it clearer and more readable.

Take care to emulate the original text's tone, style, and meaning.

Approach it like an editor — not a rewriter.

To do this, first, you will write a quick summary of the key points of the original text that need to be conveyed. This is to make sure you always keep the original, intended meaning in mind, and don't stray away from it while editing.

Then, you will write a new draft. Next, you will evaluate the draft, and reflect on how it can be improved.

Then, write another draft, and do the same reflection process.

Then, do this one more time.

After writing the three drafts, with all of the revisions so far in mind, write your final, best draft.

Do so in this format:

===

# Meaning

$meaning_bulleted_summary

# Round 1

## Draft

``$draft_1``

## Reflection

``$reflection_1``

# Round 2

## Draft

``$draft_2``

## Reflection

``$reflection_2``

# Round 3

## Draft

``$draft_3``

## Reflection

``$reflection_3``

# Final Draft

``$final_draft``

===

To improve your text, you'll need to go through three rounds of writing and reflection. For each round, write a draft, evaluate it, and then reflect on how it could be improved. Once you've done this three times, you'll have your final, best draft.

I ran the prompt (using the OpenAI Playground—allows for more tinkering with the different models and creativity of output, aka the temperature):

The final ChatGPT revision for Full Story’s homepage:

“Satisfying customers. Boosting profits.

Your bottom line's success is tied to the digital experience you provide.

Uncover valuable insights into what's hitting the mark and what's missing, with all the necessary data at your disposal, enabling faster and wiser decision-making."

Honestly it is still a bit generic, but better I think….

?

??Experiment: A/B Testing Edited vs. Original Content

How do you actually quantify whether you have improved your copy? You have to take it out into the real world, and run A/B tests on it!

With A/B testing, you can directly compare the performance of your original content with its edited counterpart. This isn't theoretical; it's actionable data that can inform your future marketing decisions.

Here are some key metrics you could focus on:

• Click-Through Rates (CTR): Does the edited copy compel users to click more often?
• Engagement: Are people spending more time on your content or interacting with it more?
• Conversions: Ultimately, are more people taking the action you want them to take?

Here’s how you can test it quickly:

• Select a Piece of Content: Choose a piece of marketing material that’s representative but has room for improvement. Like the Full Story homepage.
• Apply the Editing Prompt: Use the structured editing prompt to refine this content.
• Set Up the Test: Use your marketing platform (Google Analytics 4 can do the job) to serve both the original and edited versions to similar audiences.
• Collect Data: Track the performance metrics mentioned above.
• Analyze & Apply: Use the results to not just improve the selected content but also to inform your overall editing strategy.

?

?? Resources: Master the Art of Editing

?? The 5 ChatGPT Hacks Every Marketer Needs to Know

Get more marketing magic from ChatGPT! In this video, I'm sharing some tips to take your ChatGPT content to the next level.

Learn how to:

• Give clear, detailed prompts to get tailored results
• Have ChatGPT score its own ideas so you can refine them
• Use frameworks to spark fresh creative approaches, and more…

And along the theme of editing, here are a few AI tools to help with editing and clarity:

??? Grammarly: Advanced grammar and style checking, perfect for initial rounds of editing.

??? Hemingway App: Evaluates readability and identifies complex sentences.

??? QuillBot - Offers in-depth writing reports and style suggestions.

That’s all for this week, thanks for reading!

What’s been your AI learning of the week? I’d love to hear! Stay Super, Marketers!

Gen

PS:

Another quiz: who gets more Google searches, Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg?

Elon apparently, by an order of magnitude?! (I’d still bet on Zuck to win in an MMA match though)

Semrush and Flippa.com held a great event in Austin this week, this was a fun way show that data should drive your decisions ???