Local Business Management

Manage all messages in one place with Podium

The AI Revolution: How to Use AI Tools to Boost Your Marketing Efforts

Remember the good old days when we used to fantasize about robots, jetpacks, and self-driving cars? 
Well, the future is here. And while we’re not quite to the point of commuting by jetpack, artificial intelligence (AI) is taking the world by storm, and the possibilities are pretty mind-blowing. If businesses want to get ahead of the curve, they should embrace these tools and integrate them into processes where possible. 
<h2>The AI Revolution Has Begun</h2>
ChatGPT, a free, chat-generating AI tool, is making the headlines. If you&#8217;ve spent any amount of time online recently, you&#8217;ve probably seen the chatter. 
We asked the AI tool to write us a 500-word blog post on how companies can increase customer retention in 2023. And it gave us what we requested. 
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-25619 size-full" src="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.21.21-PM.png" alt="" width="985" height="805" srcset="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.21.21-PM.png 985w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.21.21-PM-300x245.png 300w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.21.21-PM-768x628.png 768w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.21.21-PM-600x490.png 600w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.21.21-PM-360x294.png 360w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.21.21-PM-160x131.png 160w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.21.21-PM-350x286.png 350w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.21.21-PM-100x82.png 100w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.21.21-PM-420x343.png 420w" sizes="(max-width: 985px) 100vw, 985px" />
The quality was&#8230;okay. Don’t get us wrong; we liked the post. But we were looking for something a little more witty. So, we gave the AI tool another chance to impress us. And it did a decent job.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-25620 size-full" src="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.22.33-PM.png" alt="" width="968" height="885" srcset="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.22.33-PM.png 968w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.22.33-PM-300x274.png 300w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.22.33-PM-768x702.png 768w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.22.33-PM-547x500.png 547w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.22.33-PM-360x329.png 360w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.22.33-PM-160x146.png 160w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.22.33-PM-350x320.png 350w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.22.33-PM-100x91.png 100w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.22.33-PM-375x343.png 375w" sizes="(max-width: 968px) 100vw, 968px" />
Once you start using ChatGPT, it&#8217;s easy to see what all the hype is about—especially if you&#8217;re a small business owner or a one-person marketing team. A tool that can do work for me? Sign me up!
But before you get ahead of yourself, it&#8217;s important to note that tools like <a href="https://openai-openai-detector.hf.space/">Hugging Face Open AI Detector,</a> <a href="https://originality.ai/">Originality.AI,</a> and <a href="https://writer.com/ai-content-detector/#">Writer.com </a>do a decent job of detecting AI-generated content. And if these tools can easily detect AI content, Google can do too. And we’re all well aware of how much Google loves high-quality, original content. 
So, if you can&#8217;t use AI to fulfill all of your writing needs, what can you use it for? Don’t cancel your Jasper or Rytr subscription just yet. Let&#8217;s talk about how you can—and should—use AI tools to boost your marketing efforts and gain a competitive advantage.

Become a Local

<h2>Understanding AI: How Does it Work?</h2>
We get it. AI is still pretty new, and it can feel a little creepy—especially if you don&#8217;t understand how it works.
So let&#8217;s shed some light and talk about what&#8217;s going on behind the scenes. ChatGPT in particular uses a type of deep learning called the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformer_(machine_learning_model)">“transformer model.”</a> This model has been trained on large datasets of text in the form of books, websites, and articles. 
Basically, AI tools like ChatGPT are trained on a massive amount of data. When given a prompt, they scan the data they&#8217;ve been trained on and use a sort of predictive text to generate a human-like response. It feels like you&#8217;re talking to a real person, but you&#8217;re not.
<h2>Real Life Examples: How Marketers Use AI</h2>
Next, let&#8217;s take a look at some real-world examples. Here&#8217;s how marketers are already using AI to get more done.
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/clintonryanwilliams/">Ryan Williams</a>, Senior Demand Generation Manager at <a href="https://www.phoneburner.com/">PhoneBurner,</a> demonstrated in <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7016093795989549056/">a LinkedIn post</a> how he used ChatGPT to come up with different variations of email subject lines for A/B testing. </li>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidhoos/">David Hoos</a>, B2B Performance Marketing Manager at <a href="https://www.outloudgroup.com/">The Outloud Group</a>, uses AI tools like ChatGPT to quickly outline and map out the core points that he wants to cover in his articles. He said AI tools save him at least one hour per article. Read his recent blog post <a href="https://www.outloudgroup.com/post/growth-plateau">here</a>, which he and his team crafted by using AI tools as assistants.</li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/alexgarcia_atx">Alex Garcia</a>, CMO at The Kollective, mentioned in <a href="https://twitter.com/alexgarcia_atx/status/1612253154044674049">one of his Twitter threads</a> that he uses ChatGPT to prevent blank-page syndrome while writing his landing page copy.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/barrettoneill/">Barrett O&#8217;Neil</a>, in <a href="https://twitter.com/barrettjoneill/status/1610629309236150272">one of his Twitter threads</a>, explained how marketing teams can use AI tools like ChatGPT for finding long-tail SEO keywords.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kentmcdonald/">Kent McDonald</a>, Product Manager and Writer at KBPMedia, uses AI tools like ChatGPT to generate rough content outlines that he uses as a starting point.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelmacfarlane6457/">Rachel MacFarlane</a>, social media marketer and content strategist at <a href="https://www.redfoxvisual.com/">Redfox Visual</a>, uses AI tools to generate creative social media content ideas, generate captions, and get more done in less time.</li>
</ul>
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-25612 size-full" src="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-11.57.24-AM.png" alt="" width="993" height="629" srcset="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-11.57.24-AM.png 993w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-11.57.24-AM-300x190.png 300w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-11.57.24-AM-768x486.png 768w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-11.57.24-AM-600x380.png 600w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-11.57.24-AM-360x228.png 360w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-11.57.24-AM-160x101.png 160w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-11.57.24-AM-350x222.png 350w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-11.57.24-AM-100x63.png 100w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-11.57.24-AM-541x343.png 541w" sizes="(max-width: 993px) 100vw, 993px" />
<h2>How Local Businesses Can Use AI to Save Time and Get More Done</h2>
You can use AI to speed up various tasks on your daily to-do list. Let’s have a look at some use case examples with screenshots to get your creative juices flowing. 
1. Creating Blog Post Briefs
Have a topic and a <a href="https://www.podium.com/article/local-keyword-research/">keyword</a>? Let AI take care of the outline so you can spend more time researching and gathering your thoughts.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-25616 " src="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.58.13-PM.png" alt="" width="786" height="846" srcset="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.58.13-PM.png 806w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.58.13-PM-279x300.png 279w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.58.13-PM-768x827.png 768w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.58.13-PM-464x500.png 464w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.58.13-PM-360x388.png 360w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.58.13-PM-149x160.png 149w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.58.13-PM-325x350.png 325w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.58.13-PM-93x100.png 93w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.58.13-PM-319x343.png 319w" sizes="(max-width: 786px) 100vw, 786px" />
2. Suggesting Social Media Captions 
Do you waste an unnecessary amount of time coming up with quippy social captions? Let AI do the work for you.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-25613 " src="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.51.14-PM.png" alt="" width="787" height="655" srcset="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.51.14-PM.png 984w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.51.14-PM-300x250.png 300w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.51.14-PM-768x639.png 768w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.51.14-PM-600x500.png 600w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.51.14-PM-360x300.png 360w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.51.14-PM-160x133.png 160w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.51.14-PM-350x291.png 350w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.51.14-PM-100x83.png 100w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.51.14-PM-412x343.png 412w" sizes="(max-width: 787px) 100vw, 787px" />
3. Email Marketing 
AI is great at generating subject lines and can even come up with email copy. Just make sure you proofread and add your brand&#8217;s unique flavor to the copy before you run the email.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-25615 size-full" src="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.55.19-PM.png" alt="" width="790" height="552" srcset="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.55.19-PM.png 790w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.55.19-PM-300x210.png 300w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.55.19-PM-768x537.png 768w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.55.19-PM-600x419.png 600w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.55.19-PM-360x252.png 360w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.55.19-PM-160x112.png 160w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.55.19-PM-350x245.png 350w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.55.19-PM-100x70.png 100w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-1.55.19-PM-491x343.png 491w" sizes="(max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px" />
4. Writing Video Scripts 
People on the internet love videos—it&#8217;s one of the <a href="https://sproutsocial.com/insights/video-content-ideas/">most engaging forms of content</a>. Let AI help you come up with quick video scripts if you&#8217;re fresh out of ideas.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-25617 " src="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.05.38-PM.png" alt="" width="791" height="895" srcset="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.05.38-PM.png 814w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.05.38-PM-265x300.png 265w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.05.38-PM-768x869.png 768w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.05.38-PM-442x500.png 442w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.05.38-PM-354x400.png 354w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.05.38-PM-141x160.png 141w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.05.38-PM-309x350.png 309w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.05.38-PM-88x100.png 88w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-20-at-2.05.38-PM-303x343.png 303w" sizes="(max-width: 791px) 100vw, 791px" />
Apart from using AI tools for writing and generating images, you can use them for several other purposes, such as: 
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Customer interaction</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Lead generation</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Target audience research</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Behavioral analysis</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">PPC advertising</li>
</ul>
Note: As we&#8217;ve mentioned, remember that AI should be used to assist, not replace. For example, if you are using an AI tool to create blog briefs, you should, of course, give the generated briefs a final proof read before sharing with your writers. Don&#8217;t be afraid to make some adjustments based on your expertise. AI is a tool in your toolkit. You&#8217;re the expert. 
<h2>Some of Our Favorite AI Tools</h2>
So, you&#8217;re ready to get started. Excited to harness the power of AI. But with so much chatter about various exciting tools, it&#8217;s hard to decide which one is right for your needs. Here are a few favorites we&#8217;d recommend trying.
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.jasper.ai/">Jasper.AI:</a> Generates content and speeds up your writing process.</li>
<li><a href="https://chatgpt.pro/">ChatGPT:</a> Gives you written output based on prompts.</li>
<li><a href="https://prowritingaid.com/">ProWritingAid:</a> Checks your grammar and enhances your writing.</li>
<li><a href="https://openai.com/dall-e-2/">DALL·E 2:</a> Creates realistic images based on written prompts.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.wordtune.com/">Wordtune:</a> Gets your creative juices flowing by rewriting and rephrasing your copy.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.canva.com/magic-write/">Canva Magic Write:</a> Gives you inspiration that will kickstart your creative process.</li>
</ul>
<h2>A Marketing Workflow Small Businesses Can Try </h2>
We reached out to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-pines-60380410/">Ben Pines</a>, the Director of Content at <a href="http://wordtune.com">Wordtune</a>, to get his input on how businesses can use AI tools to streamline and level up their marketing efforts. 
He shared the following flow local businesses can use to get more done in less time. 
1. Brainstorm ideas and add them to a spreadsheet. Planning is everything. To stay on top of your game, write down a list of 30 ideas for content pieces that you plan to create in the next couple of months. You can use AI tools like ChatGPT to create content outlines and brainstorm content ideas. Then, use tools like <a href="https://ahrefs.com/">Ahrefs</a> or <a href="https://www.semrush.com/">SEMRush</a> to do some <a href="https://www.podium.com/article/local-keyword-research/">keyword research</a>.
2. Create written content. Creating content takes time, but AI tools like Wordtune can help you slash that time in half. Using the free <a href="https://www.wordtune.com/spices">Wordtune Spices</a> feature, you can turn an idea into a blog post or Instagram video script within minutes. You can also try using Wordtune to get rid of your writer’s block. 
3. Create engaging videos. In the step above, you may have used AI tools to create video scripts. Now, you can use tools like <a style="font-weight: 400;" href="https://www.descript.com/">Descript</a> or <a style="font-weight: 400;" href="https://veed.io/">VEED.IO</a> to help you turn those scripts into engaging videos.
4. Repurpose existing content. The final step in the process is to repurpose your existing content. After publishing a video, for example, you can repurpose it by using the paraphrasing feature of <a href="https://wordtune.com/">Wordtune</a>. Then, you can use that content on platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or TikTok.
Ben stated, &#8220;Following this method, you can spend the least amount of time on marketing, and you don&#8217;t need to hire a dedicated marketing team while also getting the highest visibility.”
<h2>Now is Just the Beginning</h2>
AI has made its grand debut. It&#8217;s shaking things up and changing the way we do things, and now is just the beginning. 
As it stands, AI tools are here to assist us—not to replace us. While Jasper isn&#8217;t a replacement for a content strategist, it can greatly speed up the writing process. ChatGPT isn&#8217;t a replacement for talented developers, but it can greatly improve productivity. You get the picture. 
Running a small business is hard work. Let AI help you speed things up and get ahead of the curve. If AI is the future of how work gets done (and it&#8217;s certainly looking that way), you want to hop on the bandwagon early and get comfortable using these tools now.

The AI Revolution: How to Use AI Tools to Boost Your Marketing Efforts

Join our community of local business lovers.

Sign up for The Local Digest

Ready to grow?