What should you ask Claude to write first?

Choose one piece of copy for an offer you already understand. A product description, an email invitation or a short advertisement is a sensible starting assignment. Decide what the reader should do before asking for any wording.

Claude is Anthropic's AI assistant. Anthropic describes using it to brainstorm and refine advertising copy, with people reviewing the output. Its published example involves a custom Claude Code workflow, so do not assume every step is a standard chat feature. Anthropic's marketing workflow.

In this guide, copy means words intended to help someone understand an offer and take an action. Pick one action: view the collection, request a quote or book a visit. Keep that instruction consistent throughout your first draft.

For this week's experiment, avoid asking for an entire marketing strategy. Write a single sentence describing the assignment, such as “Introduce our repair service to people who want to keep their existing furniture.” Use the practical Claude prompt templates when you are ready to extend the work.

What belongs in a useful copywriting brief?

Prepare the information you would give a freelance writer. A brief is simply a short explanation of the task, audience and requirements. Fill in the following fields before opening a new conversation.

Hypothetical example: a furniture repair business

Imagine a local workshop that repairs dining chairs and provides estimates after reviewing photographs. The owner wants enquiries from nearby households. Those details are invented for this example, not a report about an actual business.

The brief could read: “Write a short advertisement for households with a damaged dining chair. Explain that we assess photographs before providing an estimate. Ask readers to send a clear photo of the damage. Do not promise a fixed price or completion date.”

Notice what is missing: dramatic claims about craftsmanship, guaranteed savings and invented customer praise. Leave those out unless you can substantiate them. Add “Ask about missing information before drafting” to the end of your brief.

If you write on behalf of clients, agree on who approves the facts before drafting. The freelancer prompt guide offers related assignments you can adapt to that working arrangement.

How do you keep your brand voice consistent?

Show the writing you want, then explain your choices. Brand voice means the recognizable way your business speaks to customers. Choose two approved examples and annotate the features you want to preserve.

Copy.ai's published customer story describes using Claude to adapt content to a brand's voice. It is a vendor case study about a particular implementation, rather than an independent comparison of writing tools. Copy.ai's use of Claude.

Make a small voice card

• Relationship: helpful specialist speaking to a customer.
• Sentence style: direct openings and short explanations.
• Vocabulary: everyday words, with necessary terms explained.
• Boundaries: no invented urgency or unsupported superlatives.
• Examples: two approved passages and one rejected passage.

These are suggested settings, not universal rules. A playful gift shop might choose a different style from an accounting practice. Write down the choices that fit your customers, then ask Claude to summarize them before drafting.

Read these examples: [texts]. Identify the writing choices they share. Separate tone from product facts. Draft a short voice card for my approval, and do not carry old prices or promotions into future copy.

Save the approved card with your brief. When a teammate starts another writing task, include the same card. If a draft feels wrong, point to the exact sentence and explain the change you want instead of asking vaguely for more personality.

Which prompts are worth trying this week?

Use these as working templates. Replace every bracketed field with your information and keep a copy of the version you used. The examples below are editorial suggestions, not measured performance results.

1. Generate genuinely different advertising approaches

Using this approved brief [brief] and voice card [card], write three short advertisements. One should explain the service, one should answer the customer's main concern, and one should describe the next step. Keep the offer and requested action identical. Use only supplied facts. Label the approach above each draft.

Anthropic's cookbook includes a technical example that produces different marketing approaches. It also advises against using the complex workflow for simple tasks. For this exercise, ask for the variations directly rather than starting an automation project. Anthropic's marketing variation example.

Reject variants that merely swap adjectives. Ask for a different opening idea while keeping the facts intact. For more assignments of this kind, adapt the ad copy prompt examples to your brief.

2. Turn product notes into buying information

Write a product description from these notes: [notes]. Start by identifying the item, then explain its intended use and supplied specifications. Separate confirmed details from questions I need to answer. Do not infer dimensions, compatibility, materials or delivery terms. End with one suitable next step.

Hypothetically, a stationery shop might use this for a notebook listing. If the notes contain a cover colour but no paper specification, the description should not promise suitability for fountain pens. Ask the shop owner to fill that gap before publishing.

3. Build an email around one reason to act

Draft an email for [audience] about [approved offer]. Provide a subject line, a concise message and one call to action, meaning the step readers should take next. Explain why the offer is relevant using only the supplied information. Do not invent purchase history, scarcity or an expiry date.

Read the email as a recipient. Could you explain the offer without rereading it? If not, ask Claude to simplify the opening and remove secondary requests. Plan follow-up topics separately with the content planning prompt guide.

How do you edit the draft before publishing?

Review facts first, then usefulness, then style. Do not approve a claim simply because the sentence sounds polished. Put your approved brief beside the draft and check each promise against it.

1. Circle claims. Mark prices, dates, specifications, comparisons and guarantees.
2. Locate support. Find the approved information behind each claim.
3. Remove uncertainty. Delete or clarify anything you cannot confirm.
4. Read aloud. Replace phrases you would never say to a customer.
5. Check the action. Test the destination or contact route before publishing.

Replace vague revision requests with specific ones

Instead of “Make it more human,” try: “Remove the ceremonial introduction, repeated adjectives and exaggerated enthusiasm. Keep every confirmed detail. Do not add a personal story or testimonial. Show me the revised version and identify the main changes.”

For a hypothetical repair advertisement, replace “Experience an unparalleled furniture transformation” with “Send us a photo of your damaged chair to request an assessment.” Use that replacement only if photo assessments are genuinely part of the service.

Ask a colleague one practical question: “What would you still need to know before contacting us?” Use the answer to revise the information, not just the wording. Keep private customer details out of examples when those details are unnecessary for the writing task.

How should you judge the first campaign?

Measure the writing process separately from the customer's response. Record time spent preparing, correcting and approving the draft. Then record the action you actually wanted, such as a relevant enquiry or completed order.

For your first week, select one offer and prepare two approved messages. Keep the audience, visual and offer as consistent as possible when comparing them. If only a handful of people respond, record the result as an early observation rather than declaring a reliable winner.

For Claude vs ChatGPT for marketing, these sources do not establish a winner. If you already have access to both, compare the same brief and score factual accuracy, voice fit and editing effort. The small business comparison guide can help structure that decision.