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The Madison Avenue Field GuideA field guide to marketing & advertising, by Brandon Mina

GlossaryAI in MarketingFew-Shot Prompting

AI in Marketing

Few-Shot Prompting

Including a handful of examples in a prompt so an AI model copies the desired format, tone, or reasoning.

By Brandon MinaCEO, BrandPilot AIUpdated November 2026

Short answer

Few-shot prompting is including a handful of examples in a prompt so an AI model copies the desired format, tone or reasoning. Showing several sample inputs and outputs, such as past headlines in a brand's style, usually produces more consistent results than instructions alone, without retraining the model.