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Flag campaigns over or under budget pace on day 20 of 30

  • For Marketing and content
  • You practice Catching mistakes and made-up facts
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Intermediate

About this exercise

It's day 20 of a 30-day month and you're checking ad spend pace. Write a prompt for a markdown table with columns Campaign | % spent | Status, where % spent is spent divided by monthly budget (whole number), and Status is "Over pace" if % spent is more than 5 points above the share of the month elapsed, "Under pace" if more than 5 points below, and "On pace" otherwise. End with a line starting "Total:" like "Total: $X of $Y (Z%)". Under 80 words.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Ignoring the 5-point band. The AI calls everything above 67% over pace or just guesses. Try: State the rule: more than 5 points above or below the elapsed share.
  • Wrong denominators. The AI divides by remaining budget or days. Try: Say: "% spent = spent / monthly budget."
  • Adding plans and commentary. The AI mentions next month's search increase. Try: Say: "Only this month's numbers; no other text."
  • Letting markdown through. AI adds bold text and headings by default. Try: Add: "Plain text only, no bold, no headings."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Names the table columns
  • Defines % spent
  • States the 5-point rule
  • Gives the Total line
  • Caps length

Practice this now ↑

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