It’s no secret that these days, small businesses need to use every advantage to stay ahead. And one of the biggest advantages lately? Well that has been the flood of accessible Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools. Because AI isn't just for tech giants anymore—there are lots of ways small businesses can combine AI and marketing. And in this post, we'll explore how AI and marketing are changing and how you can use AI to stay ahead and market your small business better and easier than ever!
In this blog post, we are going to explore:
- How can small businesses use AI in their marketing?
- What are some AI tools to use?
- Are there any negatives to using AI?
Let’s jump into how small businesses can use AI in their marketing first.
Leveraging AI for First Drafts
Writer's block is a common challenge for many small business owners, especially when it comes to the volume of copy that needs to get written on the marketing side of things—you know, all those social media captions, blog posts, website pages, product descriptions, etc.?
Here's the good news - we are big believers that AI copywriters can get you a great first draft and it makes it super fast too. Seriously, our community is constantly impressed with how well the Enji copywriter pumps out blog posts, Instagram captions, Facebook posts, and pin descriptions for them. Think about it. If you’ve ever stared at the dreaded blank page (at the end of an already long work day), having a solid first draft done-for-you can help you get more content out (and a lot faster). Not to mention, an AI copywriter can also help you with ideas if you have no idea what to write (or are trying to come up with new ways to say the same thing over and over again).
Enji’s suite of small business marketing tools includes an AI copywriter! Start your free trial today to see how it can help you write marketing content fast. Plus, you only need to train it on your voice once.
Automating Repetitive Tasks
Whether it’s writing your 1000th Instagram caption or bringing your data into a KPI chart you can read, AI is constantly improving to take those repetitive, neverending marketing tasks off your plate. This not only boosts your productivity but also lets you spend more of your energy doing what you enjoy (and ideally, what is actually going to move the needle in your biz). By embracing AI, you're not just ticking off tasks; you’re removing the tasks that you’re probably procrastinating on (and therefore are spending way too much time thinking about).
Analyzing Data for Insights
Data is the backbone of effective marketing, but sifting through it can be overwhelming. We are big fans of data over here, but that doesn’t mean that everything needs to be done manually. Enji is constantly improving and finding more and more ways to bring in your data for you so that you can get a better idea about the health of your business and impact of your marketing at a glance. When it comes to AI, this is one of the things we are most excited to see get better all the time!
AI chatbots to get your wheels spinning
AI chatbots aren’t just for customer service—they can also be really helpful brainstorming partners. Because when you use an AI chatbots (like ChatGPT or Google Bard), you can bounce ideas off an intelligent system, receive instant feedback, and even take your vague idea into one that is crystal clear. So think of these AI chatbots as virtual assistants that can help you overcome mental blocks (read: stop overthinking things) and explore new concepts in a conversational and approachable manner.
Pro-tip: Wondering how to write a good prompt? There are 4 things a good AI prompt includes: a clear role for the AI (for example, “you are a helpful marketing assistant”), a concise goal, information you want the chatbot to consider, instructions on what you want the AI to do with the information.
Automated Chatbots for Improved Customer Service
While we are talking about chat, let's talk about using chatbots! While not the right fit for every small business, we are seeing more and more AI chatbots pop up on small business websites (and hey, if it can help your customers get an answer faster, we are here for it). If you aren’t sure where to start, here’s an article to help you learn more about adding a chatbot to your website.
Bonus points if you can use what you learn from what your customers regularly ask and then use it in your marketing!
AI generated quiz lead magnets
We love a quiz lead magnet (and you will too if growing your email list is on your list of marketing goals this year). But who has time to create a good one? If you’re raising your hand right now, one of our favorite new AI tools is Interact’s new AI quiz maker. It will help you create a quiz lead magnet within minutes—just enter your information and check it off your to-do list.
AI notetakers to summarize meetings
Small business owners often (actually, more like always) juggle multiple responsibilities, including attending and leading meetings, webinars, or calls. And while sometimes you can manage to take decent notes, there are always times you can’t or maybe wish you had a magical way to double check you didn’t miss anything important. Well, AI notetaking tools like Fireflies.ai can alleviate the burden of manually taking notes by transcribing and summarizing key points from meetings. In fact, you know those group calls you want to make but can’t? Send an AI notetaker so you can at least get the cliff notes!
AI editors to turn big pieces of content into smaller ones
Creating long-form content is an important part of most small business marketing strategies, and you’ve probably been told a time or two that you should be repurposing it. Which is definitely the right thing to do…but also takes time. AI-powered editing tools like Munch or Choppity can simplify the process by breaking down your long-form content into smaller, more digestible, and shareable segments. Whether it's creating clips from a YouTube video to share on TikTok, creating a few captions from a longer blog article, or pulling out punchy quotes from your latest podcast episode, AI editors can help you repurpose large volumes of content into smaller ones you can distribute across other marketing channels—saving you tons of time and helping you keep up with a marketing best practice.
AI image generators to bring any idea to life
If you’re a photographer, we probably don’t need to tell you how exciting the AI editing tools are, but the truth is, these AI image tools are great news for non-photo-related businesses too.
First, there’s the AI image editing and generating tools in Canva (like the background remover tool) which helps small businesses create better graphics and marketing collateral without needing to learn the ins and outs of Photoshop—or even creating the visual you have in your head but don’t actually have a photo for.
Speaking of those photos you don’t have, there are tools like Midjourney that will create an image based on a prompt. This is such a huge time saver (and money saver too since high-quality stock photos or branding photography can get expensive if you want something unique for every post). While stock and branding photos won’t go away anytime soon (and for good reason!), the fact that we can create the images that we want to use in our marketing without a big photo shoot or hours of searching is pretty freaking cool.
Using AI and Marketing Tools
Wouldn’t it be great if you got a prize (or at least were recognized) for doing everything yourself? Because we see you wearing all the hats and putting in all the hours, but the truth is, you rarely get the credit—even though it feels like you always get the blame. Using AI in your marketing can help you do your marketing tasks more efficiently and build out your strategy in minutes.
Are There Any Negatives To Using AI?
While we are making AI and marketing sound pretty great right now, it’s important to talk about the potential negatives of using AI in your marketing (so that you can avoid them). Because like pretty much everything in life, there are two sides to this coin. Mismanaged AI tools can become time-consuming distractions, pulling you away from the core of your business rather than driving it forward. Because it can be tempting to jump from tool to tool without actually getting anything done (like you probably already do with the 34 tabs you never close out on your browser). Constantly juggling different AI systems can also disrupt your workflow, sapping your focus and productivity.
That’s one of the reasons we created our Enji AI Copywriter. We wanted to create a better and easier to use AI writing tool than we saw on the market, but we also wanted to make sure that you didn’t have to tab-switch a million times just to schedule your social media content.
Another potential pitiful of combining marketing and AI is that an over-reliance on AI can lead to content that feels robotic and impersonal, missing the mark in connecting with your audience which is the whole reason you are marketing in the first place. The key here is finding a balance—utilizing AI to boost your productivity while preserving the personal touch that defines your brand. That’s why we made sure the Enji AI Copywriter can write in your unique brand voice.
Ready to Give Combining AI and Marketing a Try?
If you're excited about the potential of combining AI and marketing but aren’t quite sure where to start, you're not alone. Many small business owners are in the same boat. We created our Enji AI Copywriter to guide you through a few prompts so that you can give us the information we need to start writing content for you. Ready to give it a try? Start your free trial here!
