Try this new short-form copywriting checklist w/ ChatGPT

Checklists are shortcuts to writing stronger and more consistent copy.

So you can avoid making silly mistakes…

Forgetting any crucial conversion elements…

Or publishing something that’s boring and hard to read.

In other words, a perfect task for ChatGPT.

As I’ve continued to invest more time and energy in becoming AI-literate…

I’ve been working to “outsource” different tasks to my AI intern.

So today, I’m revealing my brand new short-form copy checklist to help you analyze and improve your writing with ChatGPT.

Plus how to customize it for yourself.

Let’s dive in.

Read time: 4 minutes and 54 seconds

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GPT 3.5 vs GPT-4

GPT 3.5 is the free version of ChatGPT.

GPT-4 costs $20 per month.

I’ve experimented with both in using this checklist, and unfortunately, GPT 3.5 just isn’t capable of executing on it very well.

It fails to grasp the instructions or quickly forgets the context.

So I’d only recommend trying it if you’ve got access to GPT-4.

Assign your role and task

You’re going to show ChatGPT the entire checklist in the first prompt.

But ChatGPT always produces better outputs when you assign it a clear role and task at the very beginning.

Here’s how I do this:

Today you are a world-class direct response copywriter with an expertise in editing short-form marketing copy. I am going to show you a checklist for creating high-quality ads, emails, and social media posts. Just read it. Don’t summarize it back to me. Then I’ll show you a piece of short-form copy I want you to analyze and improve using the checklist.

Step 1: Hook

Now you’re ready to move onto the checklist itself.

The most important aspect of any short-form copy is the hook. So you’re going to give ChatGPT some context on what a great hook looks like.

Then share some actual examples to give it inspiration.

This is where you can begin to customize the checklist for yourself, by picking hooks you like from your favorite writers and publishers.

Here’s the first part of the prompt:

Step 1: Captivating Hook

Every high-quality piece of short-form marketing copy starts with a captivating hook. The success or failure of the piece hinges on this one aspect. For emails, the hook is the subject line. For ads and social media posts, the hook is the first 1-2 sentences. High-performing hooks are no longer than 20 words. But the shorter it is, the better. It MUST be highly attention-grabbing and create as much intrigue and curiosity as possible to get the reader to click through and read the rest.

Here are some examples:

Step 2: Reading Level

The second step is to assess the reading level of the piece.

You want it to be at a 5th-grade reading level or below.

Here’s next part of the prompt:

Step 2: Reading Level

The lower the reading level, the faster and easier it is to read. I want anyone who reads the ad, email, or social media post to feel like they can slide down from the start all the way to the finish without expending much energy or focus. Since the average person reads at a 7th-grade reading level, the reading level of this marketing copy must be a 5th-grade level or below.

Step 3: Make it Punchy

Aside from a low reading level, you also want the copy to be strong and punchy.

In my experience, ChatGPT already knows what most of these instructions mean…

But it’s always best to give concrete examples.

Here’s the next part of the prompt:

Step 3: Make It Punchy

Short-form copy that converts is strong and punchy. This means:

- Using mostly short and medium-length sentences
- Avoiding repetition
- Removing all unnecessary filler words (like ‘that’, ‘very’, and ‘really’)
- Writing in the active voice
- Using conversational inflections to flow smoothly from one section to the next (like You see, Because, However, Look, In other words, See what I mean?, etc)
- Using bulleted lists to optimize for readability

Step 4: Strong CTA

Lastly, you want your ad, email, or social media post to finish with a strong CTA.

This is another opportunity for you to customize the checklist with your own call-to-action examples.

Here’s the last part of the first prompt:

Step 4: Strong Call-to-Action

Finally, the piece must finish with a strong call-to-action that explicitly states what the reader should do next.

Here are some examples:

Conducting the Analysis

Once it’s processed the entire checklist and instructions, it’s time to get ChatGPT to analyze the post.

We aren’t going to ask it to make any changes yet though.

There’s value in seeing the raw analysis first…

Plus I’ve found it’s helpful to see which changes ChatGPT recommends in advance…

So you can accept or reject any of them before you move on.

Here’s the prompt:

Great! Now here’s the [ad/email/post] I’d like you to analyze using the checklist above. Do NOT rewrite the post yet. Just give me your findings for each category and give me a list of suggested changes. Then I can approve or reject them before we move forward.

The audience is [DESCRIBE AUDIENCE].

Here is the [ad/email/post]:

Getting it Rewritten

This final step is optional.

You may simply want to take ChatGPT’s findings and do the editing yourself.

But if not, this is where you ask it to move forward with some or all of the changes it suggests based on its analysis.

Remember: any rewrites will probably still need some polishing from you.

I also recommend getting a list of hook variations, based on the examples you’ve included in the Hook section.

The more examples you include, the better ChatGPT’s hooks will be.

Mine has 14 different types of hooks, so that’s what I ask for.

Here’s my version of the prompt:

Perfect! Thank you. Now go ahead and rewrite the [ad/email/post] based on your findings from using the checklist. Please include 14 different hook variations at the beginning, based on the 14 examples I showed you in Step 1. And remember to keep the hooks as short and curiosity-inducing as possible. Each one MUST be irresistible and make the reader want to click so they can read the rest of the ad, email, or post.

Putting It All Together

4-step checklist to improve your short-form copy with ChatGPT:

Step 1: Hook
Step 2: Reading Level
Step 3: Make it Punchy
Step 4: Strong CTA

My plan is to make this series of prompts a new referral reward for the newsletter.

But in the meantime, I’ve put the entire thing together in a Google doc for you, with all the hook examples I’ve chosen…

Plus a bonus section I didn’t cover here.

So if you want to save it for later, click or tap below:

ChatGPT Short-Form Copywriting Checklist

Hit File > Make a copy to add it to your own Google Drive.

That’s it.

Thanks for reading!

See you next week.

Jim Hamilton

P.S:

If you found this edition useful, leave me a comment after filling out the poll below :)