We’ve talked before about the importance of ‘social proof’, that holy grail of credibility and legitimacy that your clients can give you.
One of the things I’ve been looking at closely is AI. There’s a lot of ‘noise’ around AI in general at the moment and developments in AI writing and translation in particular.
With several associates on the team who have built up their writing experience over many years – whether in writing great SEO copy for websites, informative blogs or social media posts – I wondered what they thought.
I’ve also been talking to some of TMA’s clients about how they use AI, and I asked some of them what it’s good at, and what it’s not.
1. Speed and Efficiency
Unsurprisingly, this comes top of the list of pros for AI. Using AI tools massively speeds up the writing process. Whether you’re creating emails for a campaign, or looking to launch a fast-turnaround social media campaign, AI can save you hours.
But, be careful. 100% AI-generated content isn’t yet a match for a good human writer. Remember, AI doesn’t create. It generates copy from existing content, which can make it repetitive, and it can be something of a blunt instrument.
It’s a great way of getting started, but anything written by AI needs to be carefully edited, and often given a bit more of a human twist before you publish it.
2. Idea Generation
AI can be a great tool for kicking off your ideas – for new campaigns, or straplines or content plans, for example. It’s especially helpful if you’re a business owner without a creative team around you to bounce ideas about with. Just type in what you need help with, and seconds later it will come up with some suggestions.
3. Spelling and Grammar Check
If writing isn’t your thing, or you are dyslexic, checking your writing can be a nightmare. Spelling and grammar tools (like Grammarly, for example, though there are others) can be really helpful here, picking up on errors and suggesting better ways to punctuate or structure a sentence. They are useful if you need to focus on particular readability levels, too.
On the downside, these tools can be restrictive, popping up annoyingly to suggest changes to perfectly good sentences. If you want to develop a particular writing style, the lowest common denominator approach might not work for you. And you might need to watch out for US vs UK spellings, even when you’ve configured your settings.
4. Better Customer Experience
Using AI in marketing can improve your relationships with your customers, as it allows you to get deeper into personalising your recommendations and communications, to better meet their needs and expectations.
5. Data-Based Marketing Decisions
Using data-driven AI can help you to scale your business more quickly, allowing you to analyse and predict your market’s needs and buying behaviour, and create more products, services and marketing campaigns that sell.
There are so many different AI tools out there, from free to paid, and what works best for you will depend on your specific needs.
One thing to watch out for is data protection/privacy, particularly if you’re using free tools. If you are using AI for anything involving your customers’ personal data, or uploading any confidential content (for example, if using AI translation), it’s important to check the T&Cs really carefully to understand what happens to your data.
If you’d like some help to decide which AI tools could be best suited to help you with your digital marketing, get in touch.
tabitha@themarketingassociates.co.uk or call 01233 720379
At The Marketing Associates, we specialise in strategic freelance marketing support for professional service practices, providing excellent quality advice on your marketing strategy to develop and grow your business on a retained basis.