Post Control Marketing

In this post, I explain how my second custom GPT can help you – not how I created it. To use AI to create your own custom GPT see my last post Social Media Audit GPT: How I Built It & How To Create Your Own.

What Brand Story Creator GPT begins with including these four prompt starters.

Why a brand story GPT?

In today’s cluttered media landscape, brand storytelling is the powerful way for marcom professionals to grab attention and keep it.

However, crafting a compelling brand narrative can be complicated to learn and practice. It takes more than creativity or experience—it requires strategic structure grounded in proven frameworks. Even seasoned veterans can struggle to craft a solid story every time.

That’s why I created the Brand Story Creator GPT — a Custom GPT trained on brand strategy principles, narrative theory, and my academic research into what makes marketing resonate.

An overview of the process the custom GPT will take you through step-by-step.

What Is the Brand Story Creator GPT?

Brand Story Creator GPT is a custom GPT built with marketing professionals, students, and educators in mind. It guides users step-by-step through a brand story process based on academic theory and professional experience.

More than an AI chatbot that returns answers–this is an AI tool designed to coach you to think like a brand story strategist. This GPT is trained on the principles outlined in my book with Michael K. Coolsen, Brand Storytelling: Integrated Marketing Communication for the Digital Media Landscape.

To test the GPT I gave it this marketing context. You need to know this background research before beginning. You don’t just say, “Create a YouTube ad for Saucony.”

Grounded in Research: Why This Framework Works

The GPT is based on a five-act storytelling structure we’ve tested and taught in professional and academic settings. It is derived from classical narrative theory (Aristotle’s Poetics, Freytag’s Pyramid), and inspired by Shakespearian plays.

We adapted for marketing communication through research. We’ve studied how this structure successful campaigns—including the highest-rated Super Bowl ads and the viral spread of YouTube brand videos.

Here the GPT is giving me feedback on my description of Act 5 of the brand story..

Who Should Use It?

This tool is ideal for:

Marketing Professionals – Sharpen brand messaging or test new narratives.
Students – Learn storytelling by doing, guided by a strategic structure.
Professors – Use in-class or in assignments to reinforce brand storytelling frameworks and integrate AI into course material.

After coaching me through each act to create a story arc the GPT summarized teh plot, gave an option for tweaks, and offered to help create a script or storyboard.

How the GPT Works

Once launched, the GPT walks you through the essential elements of a strategic brand story:

Brand mission and values
Target audience identification
Emotional and functional benefits
Story arc based on the five-act framework
Brand personality, tone, and call to action

Here is an example of the script format the custom GPT created. You easily could take this, tweak, and reconfigure into a more traditional two column format.

The result is a brand story draft ready to refine or insert into scripts, storyboards, or print and social media post mockups.

The storyboard form and images are impressive. The GPT image creator struggled with text. I could use this as the base storyboard and easily add my own text boxes with the correct type.

Alternatively, you can use the GPT for further explanation of the five-act framework and why brand storytelling is an effective strategy. Or you can use the GPT to help analyze existing brand communication to determine if ads or posts tell a five-act story and get suggestions to improve the storytelling aspect of the content.

Here I am using the custom GPT to help analyze an existing brand Instagram post for five-act story structure to practice critical thinking and theory application.

A Tool Designed for Education and Innovation

Instructors teaching branding, IMC, advertising, PR, or communications strategy can use the Brand Story Creator GPT as an AI tutor to:

Explore and understand brand storytelling
Get hands-on experience creating new brand stories
Analyze existing brand content for the presence of story structure
Integrate AI to improve critical thinking learning not replace it

After helping analyze the CPI Cabinets Instagram post for story the GPT sums up why it has only one act and suggests ways to make it a more engaging story post.

Though this GPT is based on my research, I found it helpful to more fully and efficiently apply the story framework. In my professional advertising creative career, we knew stories were powerful, but weren’t always intentional about practice leading to hit or miss results.

Get Started

Visit the Brand Story Creator GPT page to learn more about how it works and how it fits into your teaching, learning, or brand development.

Or go to the tool and build your story with AI:
https://chatgpt.com/g/g-6849bd5a8bac81918b88a059d58f64e3-brand-story-creator-gpt

This was 75% Human Created Content!

I created the custom GPT then gave ChatGPT a prompt to write a blog post about the new tool. I gave it my audiences, purpose, website, and links to my LinkedIn profile, the custom GPT and Custom GPT page on this site plus a post that I describes our storytelling research. I took that first draft and made tweaks in content and style. I feel like I wrote this post, but AI saved time getting a jump start from a blank page.

In integrating AI into my courses, I’ve had experience using Custom GPTs. They can be very beneficial over broad AI use as they focus specifically on a single task or project to help the user – whether student, professor, or professional. For example, I have used JobsGPT in a previous blog post as a way to help predict how AI will impact the skills marketers need in the future so that I can adjust my course material.

I was also recently inspired by an article in Chronicle of Higher Ed. In “Teaching: Can AI actually help students write authentically?” Beth McMurtrie shares how Jeanne Beatrix Law, director of composition at Kennesaw State created a custom GPT Writing Guide Assistant. She found a way to engage students with AI to teach critical thinking and the writing process through prompting versus having AI write for students.

I also realize my students need to gain experience working with AI such as custom GPTs and agents to prepare for today’s marketing jobs. The latest CMO survey reports use of generative AI in marketing increased by 116% since 2024 – now 15% of marketing activities. As a hopeful sign, the same survey reports companies are still growing their marketing teams – 5.3% last year and predicted 5.0% in 2025.

The Primary Goal of My GPT

My goal in creating the Social Media Audit GPT was to provide students with a learning assignment to teach step-by-step an important course concept. Social media audits are an amazing strategic tool but students often struggle to understand them completely – even with new examples in the 4th edition of my Social Media Strategy book.

The custom GPT takes them through the process of completing a main assignment through prompting, and they can ask questions at any time along the way. It also has the benefit of focusing on source materials to ensure accuracy.

To create the Social Media Audit GPT I gave it an article I wrote on this blog last year detailing the process for conducting a social media audit with a social media audit template. I see the custom GPT as a great support to in-person instruction giving each student access to how I would tutor them in this key concept 24/7. For those using my Social Media Strategy text in classes, this is a great supplement to support your instruction.

Social Media Audit Template To Improve Social Media Marketing Strategy. — I trained the GPT on the Social Media Audit template from my Social Media Strategy book.

Secondary Goals of My GPT

A secondary goal was to show students how to use AI responsibly to empower their learning, not harm it. Creating a custom GPT is a key demonstration of AI integration and teaching AI literacy versus AI bans labeling all AI use as cheating. This helps teach responsible AI use for students tempted to use AI to complete assignments.

Another secondary goal is to teach students how to work with AI as a partner in developing marketing strategies. The GPT is not a replacement for those creating a social media strategy for an employer or client. The AI agent doesn’t complete the audit.

I instructed the GPT to not collect data for the user it to prompt them to formulate their own insights. The real value of a social media audit is getting into each social media platform and seeing what’s happening with your own eyes. I built the AI as a strategy development assistant demonstrating how students or professionals can use custom GPTs and AI agents in their future or current marketing careers.

How I Created The Custom GPT

I had a working model of this Social Media Audit GPT several weeks ago as a Microsoft Copilot Agent (AI-powered assistant), but it was stuck inside my institution – you can only share with individuals or groups in your organization/company. Google Gemini Gems (custom AI experts), and Anthropic Claude Projects (curated sets of knowledge) have similar limitations in that your custom AI agent, gem, or project can only be shared internally within your organization.

Only OpenAI’s custom GPTs can be published on the open web and mobile app to be shared publicly. Anyone can use Custom GPTs with a free ChatGPT account, but to create a custom GPT you need at least ChatGPT Pro (at $20 a month). Before this, all my AI use was limited to only models and tools that I could access for free (so my students wouldn’t have to pay).

Yet with custom GPTs, I was in the opposite situation. As Marc Watkins explained recently, while OpenAI and Google are giving away premium subscriptions to students, they have not extended that offer to professors. I finally secured some funding to purchase a ChatGPT Pro account.

One thing I like about my blog is I own it and control what is published there. With this GPT I’m relying on OpenAI to host for me. If I downgrade to a free account, I can’t access it. Thus, I’m locked into paying $20 a month to manage and update. OpenAI, if you’re reading, please extend the free Pro account to educators, not just students.

GPTs Are Essentially Good Prompts

What is a custom GPT? OpenAI says “a version of ChatGPT for a specific purpose.” MIT Sloan explains, “Custom GPTs are helpful AI tools tailored for specific domains or contexts. GPTs differ from standard chats through ChatGPT due to custom instructions and the ability to keep a knowledge base in addition to what ChatGPT has been trained on. This allows users to create a custom GPT to address a specific need that might be hard for ChatGPT to achieve on its own. The process … requires no code, and involves using specific prompts and your own data to provide insights into a particular field.”

AI Prompt Framework Template with 1. Task/Goal 2. AI Persona 3. AI Audience 4. AI Task 5. AI Data 6. Evaluate Results. — AI Prompt Framework Template for writing good prompts – what you need to create a GPT.

Creating a custom GPT is essentially writing a good, detailed prompt that users of the GPT will begin a chat from that background and knowledge. In creating my Social Media Audit GPT I wrote a long prompt explaining what I wanted it to do following my AI Prompt Framework of Task/Goal, Persona, Audience, Task, Data, and Results.

In the image below I marked up my GPT prompt to sections of the AI Prompt Framework. The text on the top was my original building the Copilot Agent and adjustments. The text in the bottom right is the adjustments I made in custom GPT.

Custom GPT and Copilot Agent prompts to create Social Media Audit GPT.

Test Your GPT To Make Changes

An important part of this process is to test your GPT as a typical user to see how well it performs. If you find something wrong simply tell the GPT what you like and what needs to change. You can test it in a Preview column next to where you instruct the GPT.

One of the first adjustments I made was to clarify that I wanted the GPT to have the user visit each social platform and report results. An earlier version searched the web and reported back its analysis. I tested the social audit GPT with a running brand (see below).

I like to run so I chose to test Social Media Audit GPT with Saucony running shoes and apparel

Once you’ve tested the GPT you’re ready to publish! Click the “Create” button in the top right. Then click “Share” at the top right. In that pop-up screen select “Only me,” “Anyone with the link.” or “GPT Store access.” After choosing GPT Store your GPT will be available at https://chatgpt.com/gpts for anyone with a ChatGPT account to access. Search by name or click “My GPTs.”

The custom GPT you make is only limited by your discipline knowledge, the data you provide, and the strength of your prompt.

Have you explored creating a Copilot Agent, Gemini Gem, or Open AI Customer GPT? How might you use this in your teaching for professional practice?

Please try the Social Media Audit GPT and share any feedback you have. A great feature of custom GPTs is you can revise and update.

This Was Human Created Content!