Getting the Best from the Best AI Tool – and It’s Not ChatGPT

Introduction

AI has been popping off in recent months. While many businesses still default to ChatGPT, savvy marketers and creative professionals are discovering that Claude 4.0 Sonnet delivers superior results for strategic work. The difference is not in the technology, but rather how you set it up.

Most companies treat AI like a search engine: you fire off a quick question and hope for decent results. But the businesses seeing real transformation understand that AI is more like hiring a really good consultant. You wouldn't brief a consultant with a one-line email and expect to hit strategic gold. The same principle applies to AI.

Why Custom Instructions Matter More Than You Think

When you're juggling multiple projects, client expectations, and tight deadlines, consistency becomes crucial. Custom instructions act as your AI's strategic briefing document, ensuring every interaction reflects your brand voice, understands your business context, and delivers outputs that align with your standards.

Without proper setup, even the most advanced AI becomes a sophisticated guessing machine. With thoughtful custom instructions, it becomes an extension of your team that understands your industry, your clients, and your own way of working.

Setting Up Your Perplexity Space: The Foundation

Creating Your Space

Navigate to your Perplexity dashboard and select "Create New Space." Think of Spaces as dedicated workrooms for specific projects or business functions. For marketing agencies like ThinkStory, you might create separate Spaces for client work, internal strategy, or content creation.

Name your Space something specific—"Brand Strategy Hub" works better than "Marketing Space." The clearer your naming, the easier it becomes to maintain focus when switching between different projects.

The Power of Reference Documents

This is where most users miss the opportunity. Your reference documents will act as your AI's knowledge bank. Upload your brand guidelines, style guides, client briefs, and strategic frameworks. The AI will reference these documents in every response, ensuring consistency across all outputs.

Upload documents that represent your core knowledge: industry reports, successful campaign case studies, brand messaging frameworks, and preferred content formats. These become the foundation for every interaction within that Space.

Crafting Custom Instructions That Work

The Strategic Brief Approach

Your custom instructions should read like a strategic brief, not a technical manual. Start with context: who you are, what industry you serve, and what success looks like. Then move to specific requirements: tone of voice, output formats, and quality standards.

For example: "You are a strategic marketing consultant working with ThinkStory, a creative marketing agency serving South African SMEs. Every response should reflect our brand pillars: approachable, direct, no-nonsense, and warm human connection."

Setting Quality Standards

Include specific formatting requirements, preferred content lengths, and citation standards. If you need UK English spelling, specify it. If you prefer bullet points over paragraphs for certain types of content, make it clear. These details prevent back-and-forth revisions and ensure first-draft quality.

Industry-Specific Context

Add context about your industry, common challenges, and preferred solutions. This helps the AI understand the nuances of your work without requiring explanation in every conversation. Include information about your target audience, competitive landscape, and strategic priorities.

Why Claude 4.0 Sonnet Changes Everything

The latest Claude 4.0 Sonnet represents a significant leap in AI capability, particularly for strategic and creative work. Unlike previous models, Claude 4.0 offers hybrid reasoning that can switch between rapid responses and deep, analytical thinking depending on the complexity of your request.

This matters for marketing professionals because strategic work requires both quick iterations and thoughtful analysis. Claude 4.0 Sonnet delivers enhanced coding support, improved long-context understanding, and significantly better instruction following. For agencies managing multiple client brands, this precision becomes invaluable.

The model's improved memory retention means it maintains context throughout long conversations, understanding project nuances without constant re-briefing. When you're developing a campaign strategy or refining brand messaging, this continuity transforms the collaborative process.

The Paid Version Imperative

Here's where many businesses stumble: they try to do professional work with free tools. Claude's paid version removes usage limits and allows you to access the most capable models.

The Pro plan provides access to Claude 4.0 Sonnet and Opus models, which offer significantly enhanced performance for complex reasoning and creative tasks. Free users are limited to older models with restricted capabilities and daily message caps that interrupt workflow when you're deep in strategic development.

For professional use, the paid version delivers priority access during high-traffic periods, early access to new features, and unlimited usage that supports sustained creative work. When you're working against client deadlines, these advantages become essential rather than nice-to-have.

Advanced Setup Strategies

Document Hierarchy

Organise your reference documents strategically. Core brand documents should be uploaded first, followed by project-specific materials. The AI prioritises recently uploaded documents, so structure your uploads to reflect your current focus areas.

Instruction Layering

Create base instructions for your overall approach, then add project-specific modifications. This allows you to maintain consistency while adapting to specific client requirements or campaign objectives.

Testing and Refinement

Your first set of instructions won't be perfect. Test them with typical requests and refine based on the outputs. Pay attention to areas where the AI misinterprets your requirements or produces outputs that need significant revision.

The Competitive Advantage

Businesses that master AI setup gain a significant advantage over those still treating it as a glorified search engine. When your AI understands your brand voice, industry context, and quality standards, it becomes a strategic multiplier rather than just another tool.

The difference shows in client work: faster turnaround times, more consistent brand execution, and strategic insights that reflect deep understanding of your business context. While competitors struggle with generic AI outputs, your team delivers work that feels authentically yours.

Making It Work for Your Business

Start with one well-configured Space rather than multiple basic setups. Choose your most important business function - whether that's content creation, strategy development, or client communication - and build a comprehensive setup around it.

Invest time in writing detailed custom instructions and curating relevant reference documents. This upfront effort pays dividends in every subsequent conversation, turning your AI from a helpful assistant into a strategic collaborator that understands your business as well as your best team members.

The future belongs to businesses that understand AI as a strategic tool rather than a convenient shortcut. With proper setup, Claude 4.0 Sonnet becomes the consultant you always wished you could afford; available 24/7, never forgets project details, and consistently delivers work that meets your standards.

Ready to transform your AI workflow? Start with a single, well-configured Perplexity Space using these strategies. The difference in output quality will convince you that the investment in proper setup is worth every minute.