How to Use Variables in Prompts with AIPRM

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Why do we build Prompt Templates for ChatGPT? To save time when we’re producing multiple emails, developing website content, or even creating social media posts.

There’s a vast Prompt Library on AIPRM with thousands of prompts, but sometimes you need a template that’s more flexible for your specific needs.

Enter Variables.

AIPRM Variables lets you modify your pre-built prompts with flexible inputs.

For instance, say you wanted to create a prompt to use for all of your email marketing campaigns. Each campaign would have different requirements. Those might include:

Number of emails
Email length
Target Audience Segment
Industry
Email Copy Framework
Campaign Topic

To rewrite the prompt each time would waste minutes in your day-to-day and that adds up.

With AIPRM Variables, you can build in placeholders throughout your prompt so you, your colleagues, and/or the AIPRM prompt community can customize your prompt for their own specific use case.

When you customize your prompt with Variables, the person using the prompt will be presented with fields and dropdowns to speed up the customization and reusability of your prompts.

So let’s see what the output would look like if I were to use the following inputs:

Number of emails: 3
Email length: Short
Target Audience Segment: Small Business Owners in the Home Services Industry
Industry: Financial Consultants
Email Copy Framework: PAS
Campaign Topic: How a financial consultant can help you increase your revenue

If I were to use different inputs, I’d see a vastly different email campaign. Now, I can generate an endless variety of email campaigns in minutes. You can begin to see how variables would be useful for various marketing tasks.

Try out the prompt yourself:

AIPRM Prompt: Write an Email Marketing Campaign

In AIPRM, you can create up to 6 variables per prompt on the Pro Plan.

Every time you create a new prompt, you will see the template and format for AIPRM Variables:

Before adding your first variable, consider mapping out your prompt. Take the time to plan what you want your prompt to accomplish and where customization variables make the most sense.

If you’ve never created a prompt in AIPRM, read this tutorial first:

How to Create a Prompt

Every prompt requires the [PROMPT] Variable. That’s your starting point for variables. The Prompt Hint is the ‘Title’ for your primary prompt.

Once the [PROMPT] is set, you can begin to put in new variables.

Important note: If you want to publish public prompts, you need to include two variables, [PROMPT] and [TARGETLANGUAGE]. The Target Language Variable ensures that any public prompt can be translated into any of AIPRM’s supported languages.

Read more: Prompt Author Guidelines

Create a Variable

To create a variable use the following format:

[VARIABLE1]

You can insert this format anywhere in your prompt and it will be replaced by the user’s input automagically when using your prompt.

At the end of the prompt, each variable requires a title formatted like this:

[VARIABLE1:Title]

See how the prompt would still make sense regardless of what industry you choose to submit?

Pro-Tip: As you get more sophisticated with your variables, test out various examples to see if the prompt still makes sense. Sometimes an edge case can have unintended consequences.

To make your variables more helpful and point users in the right direction, you can include an optional default value with the following format:

[VARIABLE1:Title:Default Value]

Here’s what that looks like as a published AIPRM Prompt:

You also have the option to offer multiple available dropdown values with the following format:

[VARIABLE1:Title:Default Value:Available Value 1|Available Value 2|Available Value 3]

Note that the Default Value and Available Value 1 are the same.

Here’s what that looks like as a published AIPRM Prompt:

Example Use Cases

Creating AIPRM prompts with multiple variables is like having a versatile recipe at your fingertips, where you can easily swap ingredients based on what you have available, without compromising the essence of the dish.

In the context of content creation, strategy, or planning, this means setting up a basic structure for your content, strategies, and SOPs and being able to change parts of it as needed.

This feature not only speeds up the writing process but also maintains a consistent feel across different pieces of content.

Essentially, it’s a simple way to keep your content fresh yet familiar, saving you time while giving you the freedom to experiment with different content flavors at ease. It’s about working smarter, not harder, in your content creation journey.

Let’s take a look at a few examples.

Write an Email Marketing Campaign

First, let’s revisit our initial example. We want an email marketing campaign prompt that can be reused over and over again.

Here are our desired variables:

Number of emails
Email length
Target Audience Segment
Industry
Email Copy Framework
Campaign Topic

Assuming that we will insert these throughout the prompt, here’s what our template looks like:

Role:

Act as an email marketing expert.

Task:

Write a [VARIABLE1] email marketing campaign, for my business, [VARIABLE2] in the [VARIABLE3] Industry about [PROMPT] in [TARGETLANGUAGE] for [VARIABLE4]. Provide a recommended cadence for the email campaign.

Context:

Using only the [VARIABLE5] marketing framework, write each email to effectively achieve the goal of the campaign.

For Reference – Marketing Email Frameworks:

PAS –
Problem: describe the pain point that the consumer has.
Agitate: discuss how it will only get worse without a solution.
Solve: provide the solution.

AIDA –
Attention: draw in the attention of the reader with an interesting statement.
Interest: keep them going with a supporting statement.
Desire: explain how the product solves their problems or gives them an advantage.
Action: tell them how to grab what you are offering.

Storytelling –
Identifying with the reader by sharing a problem.
Discovering the solution and enjoying the benefits.
Telling the reader how they can enjoy the solution as well.

Format:

Provide the email cadence first.
Offer 3 subject lines for each email.
Leave placeholder opportunities for First Name and other personalization throughout the email.

IMPORTANT Constraints:

Make sure that the emails are [VARIABLE6].
Do NOT include any emojis in the email, including the subject line.
When writing the emails, do NOT explicitly mention any part of the marketing framework.

[VARIABLE1:Number of emails],[VARIABLE2:Business Name],[VARIABLE3:Industry],[VARIABLE4:Target Audience],[VARIABLE5:Email Copy Framework:: PAS|AIDA|Storytelling],[VARIABLE6:Email Length:: Short|Medium|Long]

You can see how the Number of Emails Variable is notated at the bottom, but seamlessly inserted into the sentence:

Write a [VARIABLE1] email marketing campaign

Say that you want to create social media posts in bulk for a new campaign. While your company is on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn, the format for content on each of those platforms is different.

You want content specifically for Facebook.
You need it for this specific product that you’re rolling out.
This needs to be tailored to your industry.

Here’s an example of an AIPRM Prompt that includes those variables:

You can try it out for yourself here:

AIPRM Prompt: Social Media Content Calendar (40 Posts)

Let’s take a look at this prompt:

Role:

Act as an expert social media manager and local SEO specialist in the [VARIABLE2] Industry.

Task:

Please assist in crafting 40 engagement-optimized [VARIABLE1] posts for [PROMPT] in [TARGETLANGUAGE].

Context:

For LinkedIn posts, it’s critical they are long-form posts (3-5 paragraphs each) with short and punchy sentences. Include a bullet point list within the table that highlights key insights.

Format:

Each post should integrate at least 3 relevant keywords for the given industry, presented naturally within sentences. Ensure each post comprises a minimum of five sentences for LinkedIn.

Please put each of these posts in a nice-looking table so it looks like a calendar. For each post, propose a fitting image. The table above should present (1) the post number, (2) the post content, and (3) the recommended image.

After the table, suggest the cadence for the selected social media platform and best posting times.

Constraints:

Avoid mentioning discounts or new product launches.
Make the posts educational, informative, or entertaining.
Do not be self excessively self-promotion in the posts.
[VARIABLE3] emojis in the posts.
Feature [VARIABLE4] in a quarter of the posts.
Adhere strictly to the guidelines provided.

[VARIABLE1: Social Media Platform],[VARIABLE2:Industry],[VARIABLE3: Emojis::Include|Do Not Include],[VARIABLE4: Featured Product or Service]

You can see how all of the constraints can shape the output based on the variables created.

If you want to learn more about building prompts, creating a prompt library, and bringing generative AI to your company, check out these other tutorials:

As always, if you have any questions, please visit our AIPRM community forums.