A study by OpenAI and the University of Pennsylvania indicated that large language models (LLMs), including GPT-4, could affect around 80% of the US workforce, with 19% of jobs being heavily impacted. While it is known that these AI tools will impact content creation of all kinds, there are also many other ways they can impact jobs and small businesses. One of those ways is in the area of marketing.
In fact, the advanced LLM is already influencing how HR screens applicants. When assessing candidates to hire, 90% of U.S. business leaders say having ChatGPT experience is a plus for jobseekers, a Resume Builder survey of 1,000 bosses found.
ChatGPT might surprise you with all it can help you in terms of marketing. Whether you are an entrepreneur or work in the marketing field, learning how to use ChatGPT will help you succeed.
Not convinced? Here are 5 ways ChatGPT can help with your small business marketing functions.
What Is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT – short for Chat Generative Pre-training Transformer – isn’t just a search engine.
Sure, it has some similarities to search engines like Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google, and the like. Those sites can help you if you type in some words. They’ll quickly spit out a result.
But ChatGPT is different. Unlike traditional searches, ChatGPT is an advanced chatbot. It tries to simulate a human tone of conversation. If you use it repetitively, you may notice that it tries to correct wrong responses and build on its prior responses.
ChatGPT can answer questions, create content, help with outlines, and solve equations. While this tool can do some amazing things, it also has its limitations. Let’s take a look at how you can use ChatGPT for marketing and also some of the limitations it currently has.
Content Creation
While you may know the importance of creating content for your business, finding the time or the inspiration can be the toughest part. You might need help with brainstorming topics for your content, or even just producing an outline. This is especially true if you don’t consider yourself to be a content creation expert.
This is where ChatGPT can come in. While ChatGPT can create full articles, blog posts, and product descriptions, it’s important to note that the tone might not quite be right for your audience. And, the content it creates might not be fully accurate. You will need to monitor it for inappropriate responses.
There are a number of things ChatGPT can help you do:
- Blog posts
- Product descriptions
- Social media posts
- Video scripts
So, try asking ChatGPT for some topics that would be relevant for your company blog, and see what it comes up with. Or, if you’re creating a website for your brand new business, you could try asking what customers might want to know about a brand new business. What features are absolutely essential for your website?
SEO Optimization
You may not need Chat GPT to help you with content writing, but what about your website content: is it reaching the right people? Are your keywords relevant?
This is another area that Chat GPT can help with which is SEO optimization, or keyword research.
Having the right keywords in a blog post, product description, or just your website in general can ensure that the right customers find you. So, when people search for your business online, will they find your business? The right keywords increase the probability of this happening.
Try asking Chat GPT for relevant keywords for your business’ website.
Writing Emails
Another way Chat GPT might make your life easier as a small business owner is with some email help.
Here are some simple requests you can test out for your business:
- You can ask ChatGPT to write an email explaining to customers that we’re closing early due to the holidays.
- Write a short email, no more than 200 words, promoting our 20% off sale.
- Write an email that reminds customers that every Thursday is Customer Appreciation Day at (Insert Business Name).
Customer Support
At first glance, customer support might be thought of as separate from marketing. However, chatbots are changing this. An emerging generation of consumers who grew up as digital natives will enjoy being able to get instant answers from companies without having to pick up a phone. Without speaking a word, a chatbot can respond to their questions and concerns.
Integrating a chatbot into your website is a way you can amp up your customer support while using Chat GPT at the same time.
But it isn’t just the chatbox ask-me-a-question capability that can help your business.
Chat GPT can help you integrate some other “self-service” functions such as:
- FAQs: Do your customers seem to keep asking the same questions? Try integrating some FAQs through a Chat GPT FAQ section.
- Support in Many Languages: Customers appreciate service in the language that they best understand. However, interpreting services come at an additional cost. Chat GPT responds to this language barrier with ease, as it “speaks” many languages.
Your Own Marketing Consultant
As a small business in its early stages, you may not have the desire or financial ability to hire an expert who specializes in marketing. Even hiring a freelancer for select tasks might be out of reach when you’re bootstrapping your business and simply striving to be profitable in the first year.
But, this is where Chat GPT can come in and help you with your most basic questions.
More than just a search engine, you can ask detailed questions, and it will give you an answer. It can build and improve on prior responses to help give you inspiration for a marketing strategy that you can create.
If you’ve identified your target audience, you can ask Chat GPT for ideas on how to reach your target audience. You can also ask it to create tweets that will reach that specific audience. So, try asking some questions about your business, and see if you enjoy having the free version serve as your marketing consultant.
ChatGPT’s Limits When It Comes to Marketing
While there are some powerful uses for this tool for marketing it is not without its limits. Let’s take a look at a few of the ways you shouldn’t use ChatGPT for marketing.
Creative Brand Strategy
AI tools can generate a vast array of content and propose numerous strategies based on data trends, but they may fall short in crafting a brand strategy that resonates on a human level. Strategic branding involves understanding deep emotional drivers, cultural nuances, and long-term market shifts that AI might not fully grasp.
For initiatives that require originality and emotional intelligence relying solely on AI can result in a lack of authenticity. You will also risk losing engagement with the target audience. Things like defining brand identity or setting the tone for a new market entry need a human who can think critically. Save AI’s
Personalized Customer Relationships
While AI can efficiently manage large-scale communications, it’s not adept at building genuine personal relationships with customers. Marketing strategies that depend heavily on personal interactions, understanding customer nuances, and developing deep customer loyalty require a human touch.
AI systems like ChatGPT might handle initial queries or provide standardized responses but cannot truly connect on a personal level, which is crucial for retaining long-term customer relationships and building brand loyalty.
Handling Sensitive Content
Marketing campaigns occasionally address sensitive topics or aim to resonate emotionally with an audience. Using AI to manage such content can be risky. ChatGPT cannot fully understand the social context, moral implications, and ethical considerations. Missteps in handling sensitive issues can lead to public relations disasters for your brand.
If you’re going to use an AI tool to handle sensitive content you need to have human oversight. I don’t just mean a person checking in on the content. Rather, someone needs to go through and do their due diligence on the content being published to make sure it is not going to offend anyone.
Complex Decision-Making
Strategic decisions in marketing, such as budget allocation, crisis management, or pivoting in response to market changes, require a level of sophistication beyond current AI capabilities. These decisions often involve variables that are abstract and highly contextual, such as competitor behavior, economic shifts, and human sentiment.
AI can provide data-driven insights, but the final decisions should be made by human experts who can consider a broader context than AI can process.
Ethical Marketing Practices
The use of AI in marketing raises significant ethical questions, particularly concerning consumer privacy and data use. AI systems, including ChatGPT, require access to large amounts of data, some of which may be sensitive.
Marketers must navigate complex regulatory landscapes like GDPR and ensure ethical practices in data handling and consumer privacy. Relying on AI without stringent controls and human oversight can lead to breaches of trust and legal issues, potentially damaging a brand’s reputation.
Conclusion
Chat GPT offers more than just answers. It can be a marketing tool for your small business. While it can’t do everything and it shouldn’t be given complete trust, it can save time and generate fast ideas.
