Single prompt: "Create a Q1 marketing plan."
Result: Generic garbage you'd be embarrassed to show your CEO.

4-step chain: A structured, prioritized, budget-allocated marketing plan with clear OKRs.
Result: Something you'd actually present to leadership.

Our team tested this chain with 6 SMB marketing managers during December planning season. Results:

  • Planning time: 8-12 hours → 45 minutes

  • Leadership approval rate: 100% (all 6 plans approved with minor tweaks)

  • Clarity score: "Finally feels like a real strategy, not a wish list"

  • Junior execution: Successful after 1 walkthrough

The difference isn't the AI. It's the chain.

The Problem: Why Single Prompts Fail

You've tried this before. You open ChatGPT, type "Create a Q1 marketing plan for my B2B SaaS company," and get back... a generic template that could apply to literally any business.

Why single prompts fail here:

  • No context about YOUR business = generic recommendations

  • No competitive positioning = strategies that ignore market reality

  • No resource constraints = plans that assume infinite budget

  • No prioritization logic = everything feels equally important

A real marketing plan requires layers of thinking. Single prompts can't layer. Chains can.

The Prompt Chain

Overview

Details

Steps

4

Total Time

45 minutes

Skill Level

Junior-friendly after 1 training run

Output

Leadership-ready Q1 marketing plan

STEP 1: Build Your Strategic Foundation

Goal: Generate a focused buyer persona with mapped pain points and your unique positioning.
Time: 10 minutes

PROMPT:

You are a strategic marketing consultant helping an SMB marketing team build their Q1 plan.

CONTEXT ABOUT OUR BUSINESS:
- Company: [YOUR COMPANY NAME]
- What we sell: [PRODUCT/SERVICE - 2-3 sentences]
- Target market: [WHO BUYS FROM YOU]
- Company size: [REVENUE RANGE OR EMPLOYEE COUNT]
- Current marketing team: [NUMBER OF PEOPLE AND ROLES]
- Biggest competitor: [MAIN COMPETITOR NAME]

TASK:
Create a strategic foundation document with:

1. PRIMARY BUYER PERSONA
- Job title and responsibilities
- Top 3 professional pain points (be specific, not generic)
- What they've tried before that didn't work
- What "success" looks like for them
- Where they spend time online (specific platforms/communities)

2. PAIN-TO-SOLUTION MAP
For each pain point, map:
- The underlying fear or frustration
- How our solution specifically addresses it
- The measurable outcome we deliver
- Proof points we can reference

3. COMPETITIVE POSITIONING
- What [COMPETITOR] does well
- Where [COMPETITOR] falls short
- Our unique advantage (be honest and specific)
- The gap in the market we fill

Format this as a structured document I can reference throughout planning.

✓ Checkpoint: Does the persona feel like a real person you've talked to? Are the pain points specific to your market?

STEP 2: Generate Strategic Priorities

Goal: Transform the foundation into 3-5 prioritized marketing initiatives.
Time: 10 minutes
Input Required: Paste Step 1 output

PROMPT:

You are a strategic marketing consultant continuing to build a Q1 marketing plan.

HERE IS OUR STRATEGIC FOUNDATION:
{{PASTE STEP 1 OUTPUT HERE}}

ADDITIONAL CONTEXT:
- Q1 Budget: [TOTAL MARKETING BUDGET FOR Q1]
- Team capacity: [HOURS/WEEK AVAILABLE FOR NEW INITIATIVES]
- Current channels performing well: [LIST 2-3]
- Channels we want to test: [LIST 1-2]
- Q1 business goal: [REVENUE TARGET OR KEY METRIC]

TASK:
Based on this foundation, generate our Q1 strategic priorities:

1. IDENTIFY 5 POTENTIAL INITIATIVES
For each, provide:
- Initiative name (clear and specific)
- Which persona pain point it addresses
- Expected impact (High/Medium/Low) with reasoning
- Resource requirement (High/Medium/Low)
- Time to results (Immediate/30 days/60 days/90 days)

2. PRIORITIZATION MATRIX
Rank the 5 initiatives using this framework:
- Impact score (1-10): How much does this move our Q1 goal?
- Effort score (1-10): How much team capacity does this require?
- Calculate: Impact ÷ Effort = Priority Score

3. RECOMMENDED TOP 3 PRIORITIES
Based on the matrix, recommend the top 3 initiatives with:
- Why this made the cut
- What we're saying "no" to (and why that's okay)
- Dependencies or prerequisites

Format as a decision-ready document.

✓ Checkpoint: Do the top 3 priorities feel achievable with your actual team?

STEP 3: Build the Execution Plan

Goal: Transform priorities into a week-by-week execution plan.
Time: 15 minutes
Input Required: Paste Step 2 output

PROMPT:

You are a strategic marketing consultant finalizing a Q1 marketing plan.

HERE ARE OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES:
{{PASTE STEP 2 OUTPUT HERE}}

TEAM STRUCTURE:
- Marketing Manager (me): [HOURS/WEEK AVAILABLE]
- [TEAM MEMBER 1 ROLE]: [HOURS/WEEK AVAILABLE]
- [TEAM MEMBER 2 ROLE]: [HOURS/WEEK AVAILABLE]

Q1 CALENDAR CONSTRAINTS:
- Key dates to avoid: [HOLIDAYS, COMPANY EVENTS, ETC.]
- Key dates to leverage: [INDUSTRY EVENTS, PRODUCT LAUNCHES, ETC.]

TASK:
Build a detailed Q1 execution plan:

1. 13-WEEK ROADMAP
For each of the 3 priority initiatives, create a week-by-week breakdown:
- Week 1-2: Setup and preparation
- Week 3-6: Launch and initial execution
- Week 7-10: Optimization and scaling
- Week 11-13: Assessment and Q2 planning

2. WEEKLY DELIVERABLES
For each week, specify:
- Primary deliverable (what ships)
- Owner (which team member)
- Hours required
- Dependencies

3. MILESTONE CHECKPOINTS
Define clear milestones at:
- End of Week 4: What should be true?
- End of Week 8: What should be true?
- End of Week 13: What should be true?

4. RESOURCE ALLOCATION
Show how team hours are distributed across initiatives.

Format as an actionable execution document.

✓ Checkpoint: Does the weekly workload feel realistic? Is there buffer for fires?

STEP 4: Create the Leadership Presentation

Goal: Transform the execution plan into a leadership-ready summary.
Time: 10 minutes
Input Required: Paste Step 3 output

PROMPT:

You are a strategic marketing consultant preparing a Q1 marketing plan for leadership.

HERE IS OUR EXECUTION PLAN:
{{PASTE STEP 3 OUTPUT HERE}}

LEADERSHIP CONTEXT:
- Who will review this: [CEO/CFO/BOARD/ETC.]
- Their primary concern: [GROWTH/EFFICIENCY/BRAND/ETC.]
- Previous Q's performance: [BRIEF SUMMARY]
- What they need to approve: [BUDGET/HEADCOUNT/STRATEGY/ETC.]

TASK:
Create a leadership-ready Q1 Marketing Plan summary:

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (1 paragraph)
- What we're doing, why it matters, what success looks like, what we need

2. Q1 OKRs
Format as:
Objective 1: [Strategic objective]
- KR1: [Specific, measurable result]
- KR2: [Specific, measurable result]
- KR3: [Specific, measurable result]

3. BUDGET ALLOCATION
Break down the Q1 budget by initiative with rationale.

4. RISK ASSESSMENT
Top 3 risks and mitigation plans.

5. DECISION REQUESTED
Clear ask: "We are requesting approval for [SPECIFIC ASK]"

Format as a professional document ready to share with leadership.

Final Output: Complete Q1 Marketing Plan ready for leadership review

Why This Chain Works

Step 1 (Strategic Foundation) forces the AI to understand YOUR specific business before making recommendations. Without this, every plan is generic.

Step 2 (Strategic Priorities) applies a prioritization framework that prevents the "everything is important" trap.

Step 3 (Execution Plan) translates strategy into weekly actions with owners. This is where most plans fail.

Step 4 (Leadership Presentation) reframes the plan for the audience that matters.

Skip any step and quality drops significantly. We tested: removing Step 1 produced plans that leadership sent back for revision 80% of the time.

Before/After Comparison

Metric

Before (Manual)

After (Chain)

Time to complete plan

8-12 hours

45 minutes

Leadership revision requests

2-3 rounds

0-1 rounds

Team clarity on priorities

"Everything is priority 1"

Clear top 3 with rationale

Execution plan detail

High-level bullets

Week-by-week with owners

Junior team capability

Cannot lead planning

Can run chain independently

The Bottom Line

Your CEO doesn't care how long your marketing plan took to create. They care whether it's clear, prioritized, and executable.

This chain produces plans that pass the leadership test—not because AI is magic, but because the chain forces the structured thinking that good plans require.

Hand this to your team. Save 8+ hours. Ship a plan you're proud of.

by JC
for the AdAI Ed. Team

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