The rise of ChatGPT has been nothing short of spectacular. In a span of fewer than six months, it has gone from being relatively unknown to achieving such popularity that business owners and clients across different age groups have heard of it.
It’s become so prominent that hardly a week goes by without us being asked questions like “What are your thoughts on ChatGPT?” or “How should I leverage it for marketing tasks?” or “Can it help with writing blog posts?” In this blog post, we’ll delve into our firsthand experience using ChatGPT, share our typical recommendations for clients, provide essential DOs and DON’Ts, and offer plenty more valuable insights. But before we dive in, let’s start with some basics for those who are new to ChatGPT.
What is ChatGPT?
In straightforward terms, ChatGPT is a computer program that uses artificial intelligence to answer questions and provide information. Think of it as a very knowledgeable virtual assistant that can have conversations with you and assist with various tasks.
In just a matter of seconds, ChatGPT delivers impressive results. Need a workout plan? Simply ask, and within moments, you’ll have a personalized regimen. Looking for a clear and concise explanation of a complex topic? ChatGPT provides well-written explanations. Even when it comes to mealtime, whether you’re searching for a recipe or seeking recommendations for a restaurant, ChatGPT will help.
Not many questions (prompts) will trip up ChatGPT, but it’s not bulletproof, either. We do catch it making a mistake, so we will discuss that shortly, but let’s start with some common uses. More specifically, how ChatGPT can help your business.
Keep in mind that ChatGPT is designed to engage in conversations, so ask follow-up questions.
Content Rewriting
Rewriting/Optimizing content is essential but can be time-consuming and tiring, especially if you have already spent hours writing the content. For example, the first paragraph of a blog post, newsletter, product page, or service page is very important, so it needs to be written well. ChatGPT can help you rewrite in a matter of seconds. We often use prompts like “Make this paragraph sound more urgent” or “Make this text actionable.”
Additionally, you can ask ChatGPT to rewrite a whole page or a document. We typically only do that when trying to compress a page or a document. For example, reduce a 1,500-word page to 800 words or less.
Lastly, if you don’t love how your social media post sounds, you can ask ChatGPT to improve it.
Call-to-Actions (CTAs)
Call-to-actions are extremely important because they can improve your conversion rate (e.g., complete one of the following tasks “contact us,” “signup for a newsletter,” “buy,” etc.)
We typically recommend CTAs be action-oriented, and ChatGPT can help you come up with the right word.
Related: 7 Call-To-Action (CTA) Tips To Boost Your Sales
Content Creation
ChatGPT can help you create content for most marketing purposes. For example, it can generate blog posts, articles, social media posts, product descriptions, email newsletters, and more.
That said, we do not recommend you copy ChatGPT-generated content word for word. You want your marketing content to sound like you, not like it was auto-generated. Also, keep in mind that ChatGPT does make mistakes, and big mistakes can hurt your brand and reputation.
Related: How To Write Content Marketing That Sells (Using Buyer Decision Process)
Market And Competition Research
At Evolving Digital, we spend countless hours doing market and competitor research for our clients, but not every small business has the resources to hire someone to help them – ChatGPT can help you with some basic research.
For example, you can ask ChatGPT questions about market trends, consumer preferences, competitor analysis, industry-specific information, consumer behavior, and market dynamics.
We have to mention again that some ChatGPT responses are incorrect, so if you are making a strategic business decision because of ChatGPT responses, we strongly recommend you follow up with some additional research (outside of ChatGPT) to validate those responses and conclusions.
When making strategic decisions, avoid relying solely on ChatGPT.
Advertising (Optimizing Ads)
ChatGPT can provide suggestions and insights for optimizing your advertising campaigns. It can analyze campaign performance, recommend changes to ad copy, targeting parameters, and budget allocation to improve the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
Optimizing your digital ads is especially important because even minor improvements in conversion rate can be the difference between a profitable and unprofitable ad. Furthermore, you can A/B test alternative versions of your ad (e.g., your version vs. ChatGPT recommendation).
Related: Advertising Compensation Methods: CPC, CPA, CPM, CPL, And CPI
Brand Monitoring
ChatGPT can monitor your social media platforms for mentions, customer feedback, frequently asked questions and trends. It can identify opportunities for engagement, flag potential issues, and assist in managing brand reputation online.
Customer Support
Chatbots are getting really good! If you have only encountered old-school (non-AI bots) chatbots, you probably have a terrible opinion of them. However, the latest versions and versions that use ChatGPT are considerably better at handling customer inquiries, providing support, and engaging with website visitors or social media users.
For example, ChatGPT can answer frequently asked questions, provide product recommendations, assist with order tracking, and offer personalized assistance (to a point).
Additionally, ChatGPT can engage with potential leads on your website or social media platforms, gathering information about their needs, preferences, and purchase intent. By qualifying leads based on predefined criteria, it can identify high-quality prospects and pass them on to the sales team.
Data Analysis And Insights
While most small businesses may not need to sift through vast amounts of data that require AI processing, there are cases where ChatGPT can be very helpful. For instance, if you find yourself dealing with a lot of customer surveys, feedback, or sales data, ChatGPT can quickly analyze and extract valuable insights.
It can help identify patterns, trends, and correlations within the data, enabling you to make data-driven decisions and refine your strategies accordingly.
Related: Data Will Set You Free (Data-Driven Marketing)
Summary
ChatGPT is an incredibly valuable tool for marketing and business tasks. It can generate content, assist with market research, provide customer support, analyze data, optimize ad campaigns, and more. While it’s not flawless, it continually improves with each iteration. It has become an essential tool for small businesses, and we highly recommend utilizing its capabilities.
Stay tuned for an upcoming blog post on Google’s Bard, an alternative to ChatGPT.
