In a recent LinkedIn post, Dan Sherrard-Smith offers a practical guide for founders looking to leverage AI, specifically Claude, as a marketing strategist. He emphasizes that the quality of AI output is directly tied to the quality of the input prompts, moving beyond generic requests to more sophisticated, targeted queries.
Sherrard-Smith highlights a common pitfall for founders::
“Most founders prompts: “Write me a LinkedIn post.” “Help me with my landing page.” Then they wonder why the output is mediocre.”
He asserts that by providing AI with more context and specific instructions, users can unlock its potential for deeper strategic insights rather than superficial content generation.
From Generic Requests to Strategic AI Partnership
The core of Sherrard-Smith’s message is that AI tools can become powerful marketing strategists if prompted correctly. He provides ten specific prompts designed to elicit detailed, actionable advice across various marketing functions. These prompts are crafted to guide the AI through complex tasks such as refining product positioning, identifying ideal customer profiles, and auditing conversion rates.
Sharpening Positioning and Defining the ICP
One of the key areas Sherrard-Smith addresses is how to use AI for strategic positioning and customer identification. He suggests prompts that frame the AI as a specialized strategist.
“You’re a positioning strategist. Here’s my product, my pricing, and my three closest competitors: [paste]. Identify the one differentiator I’m underselling and the one I’m overselling. Then rewrite my one-line value proposition”
This type of prompt, according to Sherrard-Smith, moves beyond simple content creation to genuine strategic analysis. He also details how to use AI to analyze customer data to refine the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).
Content Creation and Conversion Optimization
Sherrard-Smith also outlines prompts for transforming raw ideas into engaging content and for optimizing landing pages. He advocates for prompts that instruct the AI to act as a critical reviewer.
“Here’s my landing page copy: [paste]. Act as a skeptical first-time visitor with 8 seconds of attention. Tell me exactly where you’d bounce and why. Then rewrite the hero section and the top objection-handling block to be clearer and more specific. no hype words.”
This approach, as detailed by Sherrard-Smith, helps identify conversion bottlenecks and refine messaging for maximum impact.
Advanced AI Applications for Marketing
Beyond foundational tasks, Sherrard-Smith’s prompts extend to more advanced marketing applications, including crafting effective cold emails, pressure-testing campaign strategies before significant investment, and mining customer language for compelling ad copy. He emphasizes the value of AI in simulating different stakeholder perspectives, such as a CFO or a cynical customer, to identify potential campaign weaknesses before launch.
Furthermore, Sherrard-Smith provides methods for using AI to build launch sequences, repurpose long-form content efficiently, and conduct rigorous monthly marketing reviews. His prompt for a monthly review is particularly direct:
“Here are last month’s marketing numbers: [paste traffic, leads, conversion, spend, channels]. Don’t be encouraging, be useful. Tell me the one channel I should cut, the one I should double down on, and the one metric I’m probably fooling myself about.”
This illustrates his philosophy of using AI for honest, actionable insights rather than just positive reinforcement.
In conclusion, Dan Sherrard-Smith’s LinkedIn post serves as a valuable resource for founders, demonstrating how to elevate their use of AI from a basic content generator to a sophisticated marketing strategist through precise prompt engineering.
📝 About This Content
This article is based on insights shared by Dan Sherrard-Smith on LinkedIn.
📅 Originally posted on July 8, 2026 | View original post on LinkedIn →