By now you likely know that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be used to automate tasks, improve customer service, and personalize the shopping experience on your website.
What about the new AI tools like Open AI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Bard? These tools are diverse and can create content from the prompts you supply, but how do you use this AI in marketing and stay true to your brand voice and style?
While these tools are great for inspiration and for brainstorming, they should be used with a note of caution. Do not use the content they produce word for word, and verify the accuracy of any information you share. ChatGPT only has access to information up to 2021, and while Bard’s information index is current, Google displays a disclaimer on each page clarifying that it is a work in progress and the information provided may not be accurate. Not only can there be issues with accuracy, but using content on your website that is generated directly from an AI tool can hurt your SEO.
Here are 3 ways you can use AI in content and email marketing to help generate ideas and improve your efficiency:
1. Website Content Marketing
You have a great idea for a blog post that will provide interesting and educational information to potential customers, but you aren’t sure where to begin. You want to drive traffic to your website and to be sure clients and customers see the post, without being overwhelmed. AI tools can help create a post that not only drives traffic to your website but is relevant and easy to read.
Researching Keywords
You want to drive traffic to your website and to be sure clients and customers see the post, this begins with using the right keywords. Use AI to find these keywords by providing a prompt that includes your topic and ask for a list of relevant keywords. Once you have these you can create new prompts to research their search volume and competition. This will help you create keyword-rich titles and content which will improve your SEO and drive more traffic to your website.
Blog Outlines
Once you have your topic narrowed down with keywords and a working title, you can use AI tools to help you create an outline for your post. Generating an outline with AI can often be just what you need to jump start your writing. Create a prompt that is specific, include topics and ideas you would like to include, including your keywords. Use the outline you receive to evaluate whether your topic is too broad, then make a specific prompt for more detailed information.
Research
When you are writing and hit the dreaded writer’s block typing ideas into AI tools can provide inspiration and get your thought process moving again. You might also find that you need specific data, a quote, or other information you would normally spend time researching. Asking short questions in your prompt, specifically requesting the information you need and be sure to include a request a citation of a source. While it is still necessary to spend time fact-checking information your AI provides, you will still save a significant amount of time.
2. Social Media Marketing
Content created for social media needs to be concise, relevant to the platform you are posting on, and engaging in order to attract enough attention to “stop the scroll” of potential customers. AI tools can help you create concise and diverse messages that will reach your audience.
Generate New Ideas
You have a blog post, you have an email, but you aren’t sure how to make your content more engaging for social media. AI tools can take the copy you provide in a prompt and help you create a more concise message. You can include instructions about what tone you would like to use (“Use a casual tone and include a joke”) to make the response resonate more with your brand voice. Ask for 2-3 responses then narrow them down or take pieces from each one to craft your own final post.
Create a prompt that includes the ideas or content you would like to use in your social post, include specific instructions on how you would like the post to sound.
Create Platform-Specific Content
Each social media platform has a unique audience and a unique way of addressing them. Sending the exact same message across all of your platforms, or across multiple accounts, is not the best way to create engagement. To cut your copywriting time, create a prompt for your AI tool and ask it to generate 2-3 versions of a social media post using the copy you supply as a reference. You can make your prompt even more specific and request it create a post for a specific platform. Edit the answers you receive to craft a message in your brand’s voice.
Research Hashtags
Using the right hashtags in your social media posts will help you to reach a wider audience and increase your engagement. AI tools can research hashtags and provide you with a list to review that might be useful in your posts. Create a prompt that asks for relevant hashtags, using the copy of your post as a reference.
3. Email Marketing Campaigns
People can get overwhelmed with the number of emails they receive. If you want your message to reach shoppers you need your email to catch their eye and keep their attention, all while delivering a message that converts.
Eye Catching Subject Lines
It all starts with an eye catching subject line. Short, concise, and to the point, a good subject line will increase open rates and improve the overall performance of your email campaigns. AI tools can take information you provide from your email content and generate a subject line. Be specific about your product, promotion, and email content when you create a prompt to help get the most accurate responses. Even if you don’t receive exactly what you are looking for, you can adjust your prompt or use it as inspiration for your own.
Content, Headlines, and Calls to Action
They’ve opened your email, now you need them to keep reading and convert. Is it short? Clear? To the point? AI tools can take the copy you’ve written for your email and suggest more concise ways to present it. They can also use email copy to generate eye-catching headlines and calls to action that will draw shoppers in. When writing. your prompt be sure to include original copy, product or promotion, and suggested calls to action for your email campaign.
Using AI in marketing can improve efficiency and effectiveness in content creation. It can also be a little frustrating and like any other new tool, takes practice to get used to. Don’t be afraid to spend time experimenting with prompts to find out what works best for you. Editing or fine-tuning your prompts will help you find the right amount, and what type of information you need to provide to get the responses you are looking for.