Small business owners often juggle a dozen jobs at once – from writing social posts to customer emails. AI Prompt engineering can take some of that load off. It saves time, helps maintain a consistent voice across communications, and can even spark creative ideas. With the right approach and when implemented effectively, AI can be a valuable tool for generating content, giving you more time to focus on running your business.

 

The Building Blocks of a Strong Prompt

Several key elements make prompts more effective:

  • Format: How you phrase a prompt changes how the AI interprets it. You might ask a natural question “Can you write a short product description?”, give a direct command “Write a 100-word description…”, or structure it with fields such as audience, tone, and format. Some models respond better to certain styles, so experimenting helps.

  • Context and examples: Giving the AI more background leads to better results. If you want a playful social post, tell it about your business and share the tone you’re aiming for. If you’re after a story or blog, provide a theme or a sample line to guide it.

  • Adaptation: Good prompting is iterative. Don’t expect perfection on the first try. Refine based on what the AI produces, ask questions, and over time you’ll discover which instructions consistently give the best results.

  • Multi-turn conversations: AI doesn’t have to be a one-off tool. You can build a back-and-forth dialogue, refining responses step by step. This approach often produces more tailored and useful content, as the platform can remember your preferences and adapt its responses to suit your style.

 

Prompt Styles to Try

Not all prompts work the same way. Understanding different styles gives you more control:

  • Zero-shot prompts: A simple, direct instruction with no examples. For instance: “Summarise this article in three sentences.”

  • One-shot or few-shot prompts: You provide one or more examples before asking for output, which helps the AI match your style.

  • Chain of thought prompts: You ask the AI to explain its reasoning step by step, which is useful for complex problems or structured outputs.

  • Zero-shot chain of thought prompts: A hybrid approach where you ask for reasoning even without examples, often leading to more detailed answers.

For small businesses, zero-shot and few-shot prompts are often the most practical. They’re quick to set up and powerful enough for everyday tasks like writing product descriptions, generating social captions, or drafting customer emails.

 

A Practical Example

We spoke to our Sussex Innovation team about how they get the most out of AI at work:

Eve Banks, Research & Insights Coordinator

“Writing a good prompt is really about setting up a clear conversation with the AI. Instead of just throwing a question at it, you want to give it the right ingredients. A strong prompt doesn’t just ask for an output – it defines the task, provides context and examples, and sets the boundaries within which the AI should operate. By framing the problem as you would for a human collaborator, you reduce ambiguity and give the model more structure to work with.

My top tip is to ask the AI: “Before you produce the output, repeat back the task, context, and constraints in your own words”. This forces the model to surface any misunderstandings. This quick validation step catches gaps or ambiguities early, so you can refine the prompt before wasting time on irrelevant or low-quality outputs. It’s like checking a brief with a colleague before they start work – and it consistently improves accuracy and alignment.”

 

Joseph Bradfield, Marketing Communications Advisor

“Something I always recommend is checking in with the AI for feedback. Asking questions like, ‘What do you need from me to do this well?’ or ‘What additional information can I provide to help you produce a more accurate result?’ helps the AI highlight details or structures you might not have considered. This quick back-and-forth makes the prompt more personal and usually leads to better results.”

To see this in action, imagine you run a small candle business. If you prompt the AI with: “Write about our eco-friendly candles”, you’ll likely get something vague. But if you say: “Write a warm, inviting 120-word product description for our eco-friendly soy candles as an experienced copywriter. Mention natural ingredients, their appeal as gifts, and an invitation to explore the full range”, the output will be much closer to something you can use straight away. Add an example sentence you like, and you’ll refine it even further.

 

Final Thoughts

Prompt engineering isn’t about learning technical jargon – it’s about clear communication. By paying attention to format, providing context, and experimenting with different types of prompts, you can unlock AI’s full potential. With practice, it becomes less of a novelty and more like a dependable extra pair of hands – ready with fresh ideas, first drafts, and quick solutions whenever your business needs them.

If you need help understanding how to make use of AI systems in your business, or want support integrating them into your strategy, speak to our team at Sussex Innovation. We can guide you on practical ways to use AI within your organisation and make valuable introductions to leading experts across our community network.