Prompt

Create a content plan for a monthly email newsletter series for [Company/Brand] that will span the next 4 weeks (one newsletter per week). The newsletter is targeted at [target audience] and should cover a variety of engaging topics relevant to [brief description of industry or themes].

Outline the plan as follows: for Week 1 through Week 4, provide a proposed newsletter theme or title, a short summary of the main content for that week’s email, and any key elements or sections (such as featured articles, tips, promotions, etc.) that will be included. Ensure the topics are diverse yet cohesive with our brand, and offer value to the readers (for instance: educational info, useful tips, company news/updates, customer stories, or special offers – spread out logically over the weeks).

Present the plan as a list (Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4) with each week’s content described in 2-3 sentences. Use an informative and friendly tone that fits [Company/Brand]’s voice, as this will inform how we actually write the newsletters. The outcome should be a clear month-long newsletter content calendar.

How to Use

1. Define Your Inputs: Start by clarifying the context for your newsletters. What is your company or brand’s industry and typical newsletter content? Identify your target audience (e.g., “subscribers who are small business owners interested in marketing tips” or “customers of our SaaS platform who want product updates and best practices”). List out any key themes or goals for the month – for instance, are you promoting a new product launch in one of the weeks? Do you want to increase engagement with blog content? Also consider variety: maybe one newsletter should be educational, another promotional, etc. If there are seasonal considerations or specific dates (e.g., a holiday or event during that month) note those as well to possibly include. Essentially, know the four broad topics or ideas you want to cover across the month (you can decide these yourself first or let the AI suggest them and then adjust).

2. Customize the Prompt: Fill in the placeholders in the prompt with your information. Replace [Company/Brand] with your company name or the brand of the newsletter. Insert a description of your audience in [target audience] (like “tech enthusiasts” or “health-conscious consumers” depending on who your readers are). In place of [brief description of industry or themes], give a clue about your content focus – for example, “the fitness industry and healthy lifestyle tips” or “ecommerce marketing and our product updates”. This helps the AI generate relevant content ideas. You can also hint at any specific content types you want to appear (for example, if you always include a blog article and a tip of the week, you can ensure the prompt implies that by mentioning “featured blog post, tip of the week” as examples of sections). The prompt as written suggests a structure (educational info, tips, news, stories, offers) – feel free to tweak that to match what you have in mind or to align with past newsletters. Once those details are in, remove the brackets and any example text that doesn’t apply.

3. Optional Add-ons: If you have a particular structure or number of items per newsletter, you can instruct the AI accordingly. For example, you might add: “Each week’s summary should include 3 bullet points of sub-content.” Or if you want subject line ideas for each newsletter, you could extend the prompt: “For each week, also suggest a tentative subject line.” Another optional tweak: adjust the number of weeks if needed – the prompt is set for 4 weeks (assuming one month of weekly newsletters), but if your schedule is different (say, 1 newsletter a month, or 5 weekly issues in a particular month), modify the prompt to that number of weeks. You can also mention any special events or dates (e.g., “Week 3 falls on Halloween, incorporate a seasonal theme”). Essentially, add any guidance that will influence the planning (the AI can only include what it knows from the prompt plus general knowledge).

4. Run the Prompt: Input the customized prompt into the AI tool and run it. The model will generate a list outlining Week 1 to Week 4 with themes and summaries. This should work well on GPT-4 or other models since it’s a planning/creative task – they’ll come up with content ideas based on the info provided. Make sure the output format is indeed a list by week (if not, you might need to clarify “list format” in the prompt, but we did say “present as a list with Week 1… etc.”).

5. Review & Select: Examine the AI’s proposed content plan. Check each week’s theme and summary to see if it makes sense for your brand and audience. Do the topics align with what you envisioned and cover a good range? For example, maybe Week 1 is an educational topic, Week 2 highlights a case study, Week 3 shares news, Week 4 gives a special offer – is the balance right? Ensure the suggestions are actually relevant to your industry (sometimes AI might throw in a generic idea that doesn’t fit; you can replace that). This is a creative plan, so feel free to tweak the ideas: you can combine two ideas, reorder weeks, or ask the AI to regenerate if something isn’t on point. The tone note (“informative and friendly”) is just for planning context, but you might check that the described content matches the tone (e.g., not too stiff or too jokey for your audience). If the AI gave subject lines (because you asked optionally), see if they’re catchy and on-topic; you can adjust them as needed.

6. Expected Outcome: You will have a month-long newsletter content calendar with four distinct newsletter outlines. Each “Week” entry will typically include a title or theme (e.g., “Week 2: Expert Interview on ___”), and a brief description of what that newsletter will contain (e.g., “Featuring an interview with [Expert Name] about [Topic], plus 3 tips on … and a short update on our upcoming webinar”). This provides you a clear roadmap for the month’s emails, ensuring you have a mix of content and a strategic flow. It’s broadly applicable: any industry can use this structure by filling in relevant topics. With this plan in hand (generated in seconds by the AI), you can proceed to actually create each newsletter with confidence that you’re covering a good variety of engaging content for your subscribers.