Verified against ChatGPT · 2026-07-14
Brainstorm audience segments for a new campaign before you build targeting
Generate a wide set of candidate audience segments and the angle that would resonate with each, before you narrow down to what you actually target in-platform.
The prompt
Ready to copy — highlighted parts are example details you can swap.
I'm selling: A project management tool built for construction contractors. What I know about current customers: Mostly contractors managing 5-20 person crews who found us through referrals. Campaign goal: Find a second viable customer segment beyond our core referral base. Segments to exclude: Enterprise construction firms — our product does not scale to their compliance needs. Generate 8 candidate audience segments I could target, each with: 1. A one-line description of who they are 2. The specific pain point or trigger that would make them receptive right now 3. The angle/message that would resonate with this segment specifically (not the same generic pitch reworded) 4. A guess at where this segment is easiest to reach (channel, not exact targeting parameters) 5. A one-line reason this segment might NOT work, so I can sanity-check before spending against it Order them from most obviously validated by what I already know about my customers, to most speculative. Don't pad the list with segments that are just my existing customer base described a different way — I want genuinely distinct angles.
Customize the highlighted detailsoptional — the prompt above already works
Why this works
Segmentation brainstorms tend to produce eight versions of the same customer restated, because a model defaults to the safest, most obviously-correct segment repeatedly. Explicitly asking for a bull case, a bear case, and an ordering from validated to speculative forces real differentiation between segments, and gives you a built-in way to triage which ones deserve a small test budget versus which ones are a guess — this is a brainstorm to narrow from, not a finished targeting plan.
What you get back
1. Referral-adjacent contractors (validated) — crews of 5-20 who haven't heard of you yet but match existing customers exactly. Angle: 'the tool contractors like you already switched to.' Weakness: same segment as today, just unreached — may not be a second segment at all. 2. Solo contractors scaling to their first hire (speculative) — trigger: hiring their first employee and needing to share schedules for the first time...
Verified against
ChatGPT GPT-5.1 · 2026-07-14
Gemini Gemini 3 Pro · 2026-07-16
Changelog
- 2026-07-16 — Initial version.
Need this built into your business?
If a prompt isn't enough — Google Ads management, built and maintained for you — that's Scult's day job.
EXPLORE GOOGLE ADS MANAGEMENT
