Is the mere mention of artificial intelligence enough to make your head spin? You’re not alone. Platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter (or X, as it’s now known) are overflowing with self-proclaimed AI gurus and tech enthusiasts eager to share their latest 27-step methods for manipulating algorithms and automating entire marketing strategies. Let’s be honest, most of that isn’t very practical for marketers on the ground level. So what is actually helpful? Understanding how this technology can be used to solve our everyday marketing challenges right now. To find out, I reached out to several marketing professionals I respect to learn how they’re incorporating AI into their work. Their responses were incredibly insightful. They shared practical, tactical examples, along with the specific prompts and AI tools they use—giving you everything you need to replicate their processes.

Contents

• Pull insights from past campaigns for future strategy
• Complete competitive analysis
• Roleplay for customer sentiment
• Produce internal project management assets
• Find thinking models for thought leadership content
• Analyze data for SEO audits
• Link ideas while you write automatically
• Repurpose long-form content for social media posts
• Create customized SMS and email marketing campaigns
• Prepare an interview question list
• Improve design elements in email headers
• Build article outlines quickly
• Write craftier subheadings
• Scale product descriptions and ad copy Download this free and convenient Guide to AI in Marketing for additional strategies and advice.

14 ways professionals leverage AI for marketing

Interestingly, none of the marketers I spoke with mentioned using AI to generate entire articles ready for publication. Instead, they’re using AI tools to break through writer’s block, analyze data, inform their strategies, and automate marketing workflows. The range of use cases was far broader than I anticipated.

1. Extracting insights from past campaigns to inform future strategies

Determining which advertisement or blog post resulted in the most leads is a straightforward task. What’s more challenging is understanding why those pieces resonated with audiences so you can replicate their success. Curt Woodward, the Director of Content at ZoomInfo, discovered an ingenious method for using Jasper, a generative AI copywriting tool, to accomplish this. Curt began by assigning a “power score” to a list of ZoomInfo’s content titles. This score, composed of three weighted KPIs, helped him rank the content. Below is a sample list, utilizing hypothetical data for demonstration purposes.

Next, he inputted the list into Jasper, accompanied by a prompt that asked the AI to pinpoint commonalities that could guide future content campaign decisions. His prompts resembled this: “Assume the role of a marketing analyst. I’m going to provide you with a list of content titles, each with a corresponding numerical value score. This score indicates the performance of our content, with higher scores reflecting better performance.” “Analyze the content titles and identify recurring themes, keywords, ideas, and approaches among the highest-scoring titles. Suggest ways to replicate the success of these content packages.” “Typically, Jasper, as a tool, requests additional information about the desired output format of your prompt,” Curt explained. “In this case, I provided it with instructions regarding format, memo usage, and other specifics.” Here’s the subsequent prompt Curt gave Jasper: “I aim to extract a concise memo that summarizes our most effective themes, formats, and concepts for our upcoming marketing content campaigns. Provide us with actionable ideas and frameworks for future implementation.”

Based on the provided data and prompts, Jasper generated a list of recommendations with detailed ideas for future content creation. Curt acknowledged the rather obvious results from this example, emphasizing the use of fictitious data. He asserted that feeding the AI accurate information leads to more insightful analysis. Moving forward, he intends to task Jasper with proactively ranking and sorting content assets by their power score, further streamlining the process. For now, however, Curt recommends applying this tactic to other marketing copy. “This approach can be adapted for any measurable marketing asset, such as ad and landing page copy. Rank them based on your chosen KPIs and instruct the AI to uncover themes for future campaigns.” Free guide » 135 of the Best Words & Phrases for Marketing With Emotion

2. Streamlining competitive analyses

Conducting a competitive analysis is a fundamental task for almost every marketer. However, synthesizing competitive product features and brand positioning across multiple competitors can be quite demanding. Celia Quillian, an MBA and product marketing leader, is also a prominent voice in the artificial intelligence domain. Through her channel @smartworkai on TikTok and Instagram, she leverages ChatGPT Plus (the paid version) to swiftly gather competitive intelligence. “ChatGPT Plus, with its web browsing functionality, is an invaluable tool for competitive analysis,” she remarked. “My prompts typically include links to competitor websites, instructing it to solely source information from these sites. I then request a table comparing the features of various market competitors.” Unlike its paid counterpart, the free version of ChatGPT lacks web browsing capabilities. I attempted a simplified version of the request on perplexity AI using three competing HR software providers.

While this initial output would require further prompting to be truly useful, Celia affirmed AI’s proficiency in this area. “Generative AI models like GPT-4 have extensive ‘context windows,’ allowing me to ask a series of follow-up questions,” she explained. “My combined prompts and their corresponding answers create a cumulative effect, facilitating my learning, brainstorming, and efficient problem-solving.” To put this into perspective, Celia explained that ChatGPT Plus has the capacity to “remember” the context of approximately 100 pages of written text.

3. Utilizing roleplay to gauge customer sentiment

While AI cannot replace humans entirely, it excels at emulating them. Celia highlighted this as a valuable feature of the technology. “ChatGPT’s ability to engage in roleplay is impressive. When I need to brainstorm solutions for a customer problem, I ask ChatGPT to step into the shoes of my ideal customer persona.” I decided to experiment with this feature using the free version of ChatGPT. After inputting a description of a backpacking tent that emphasized its weight, I used the following prompt: “Imagine you are the target customer for a company specializing in outdoor camping gear. Durability and weight are your top priorities when purchasing your next backpacking tent. What are your thoughts on this product description?” Here’s what I received in response:

Though a simple example, ChatGPT effectively identified the missing information about durability and suggested adding more specific details. Not too shabby! Celia acknowledged, “It will never be as effective as interacting with a real customer, but it serves as an excellent substitute during the initial stages of research and ideation.”

4. Generating internal project management materials

One of the most beneficial applications of AI lies in automating repetitive marketing tasks. This is a common way Alaura Weaver, Content Marketing & Community Leader at Writer, incorporates AI into her workflow. “I rely on Writer to instantly create internal project management assets—things like writing briefs, editing checklists, and content promotion plans,” she shared. “This eliminates the need to start from scratch for routine tasks.” Alaura elaborated on her process for creating briefs, as it’s a common responsibility for many marketing team leaders and those collaborating with freelancers. “I created a custom ‘brief generator’ app using the no-code Writer App Studio,” she explained. “I simply input a working title, specify the target audience, and paste or upload source material (such as an executive’s LinkedIn post, a research article, or developer documentation). The app then generates content briefs that are aligned with our business goals and content strategy, which I incorporated into the prompt that drives the generator.”

According to Alaura, this AI-powered approach accelerates the entire editorial process, freeing up time for more strategic tasks. “The consistent output format allows me to seamlessly integrate it into documents with minimal editing,” she added. “This means my writers receive the necessary information to begin assignments much faster, and I have more time to focus on engaging, creative, and strategic work, such as producing our Humans of AI podcast.”

5. Unveiling thinking models for thought leadership content

Exceptional thought leadership content requires a unique, personal, and captivating perspective—an area not typically associated with robotic writing. However, Anjana Vasan, a Senior Copywriter and Content Strategist at Block Club, uncovered a surprising method for enhancing thought leadership content with AI. She prompts ChatGPT to provide thinking models or academic concepts related to her chosen topic.

“By employing AI in this manner, I can develop a fresh perspective or identify an intriguing metaphor to connect the dots to the topic or the individual I’m writing for,” Anjana explained. “All while remaining mindful of their unique experiences and expertise.” The beauty of this tactic lies in its compatibility with various AI writing assistants and even generative search engines like Perplexity AI.

6. Utilizing AI for data analysis in SEO audits

Anjana revealed another way AI can assist in analyzing large datasets—this time, for SEO audits. In this instance, she instructed ChatGPT to review a spreadsheet containing content links.

“My usual approach involves delving deeper with additional questions or prompts to extract the specific insights I need,” she explained. “Alternatively, I’ll ask ChatGPT to organize the data, sparing me from tedious administrative tasks.” Here are some follow-up prompts Anjana often uses:

• “Can you identify the top 10 pieces of content based on the data provided?”
• “Have you observed any recurring themes or overarching topic categories within the content?”
• “Can you modify the spreadsheet to retain only the URL, date of publication, title, meta description, and word count, while removing the remaining columns?” She emphasized that this tactic is only effective with accurate information and that all AI output should be double-checked. “The quality of your input directly impacts the quality of your results. Ensure you include the appropriate information in your file,” she advised. “Always validate the information, as solely relying on ChatGPT may not yield accurate insights.”

7. Automatically linking ideas during the writing process

For those with folders brimming with half-formed ideas and clever copy that seem to disappear when needed, Anna Burgess Yang understands your struggle. “As someone who publishes frequently online, I have accumulated thousands of notes from articles, podcasts, and even my own writing. In the past, I relied on tags or categorization within note-taking apps to connect related topics or ideas.” Anna, a prolific freelance content marketer and self-proclaimed workflow automation enthusiast, uses an AI tool called Reflect to surface relevant notes based on her writing. This means that as Anna writes, she sees categorized suggestions pulled from her entire network of documents.

While remarkable in many ways, our human brains aren’t always adept at quickly recalling specific details buried within a sea of information. AI, however, is perfectly suited for this task. “This feature has become an indispensable part of my note-taking process. The AI’s ability to connect ideas I may have overlooked or not considered is invaluable,” Anna shared.

8. Repurposing long-form content for social media

Social media marketing is an effective channel for boosting brand awareness and generating leads. However, it also demands a constant influx of fresh content ideas to maintain relevance. Here, Anna shared another helpful AI tip: extracting social media posts from previously created content. “Since I’ve already invested the effort in crafting long-form content, why not leverage AI to expedite the process of creating social media posts?” Anna uses a content summarization feature within the Writer generative AI platform to accomplish this.

Source Upon inputting the URL of her source article, Writer provides a concise synopsis of three key takeaways.

Source She then transfers these takeaways into Trello, her preferred content planning tool. These snippets serve as inspiration for social media posts when she’s ready to craft them. Why not simply task AI with writing the posts? “While using AI to generate social media posts is an option, I’ve found that the output never sounds authentically like me,” Anna explained. “I prefer using key takeaways as a springboard and then writing my own social media content.” Access customizable, ready-to-use social media posts » Social Media Calendar Template

9. Creating personalized SMS and email marketing campaigns

Customer journeys often resemble choose-your-own-adventure stories, with countless potential paths and outcomes. Personalizing these journeys often necessitates a significant amount of manual effort. Angela Rollins, an ecommerce-focused content marketer and strategist, recommended a tool called Attentive AI as a solution. “Instead of manually mapping out every possible customer flow and applying segments, Attentive AI personalizes SMS and email messages at scale using a brand’s existing customer data,” Angela explained. The following screenshot from Attentive AI’s website illustrates the campaign creation workflow.

Source This tool continuously learns from the most successful marketing interactions to generate multi-channel campaigns. It can also construct refined segments from your subscriber base and determine the optimal send times to maximize response rates. By leveraging AI, Angela noted that you can “ensure each recipient receives the right message at the right time, based on their individual relationship with the brand.”

10. Generating interview question lists

Here’s another interesting application of AI’s ability to build upon existing text. Angela provides the AI assistant Claude with outlines and then requests question lists for subject matter expert interviews. Below is an anonymized example of a recent conversation Angela had with Claude.

Claude responded with several insightful questions to incorporate into the list, even categorizing them as Angela had in the original structure.

Once the interview is complete, Angela returns to Claude for assistance in extracting the most compelling insights. “Inputting large amounts of content into Claude and requesting a summary is incredibly helpful. It allows me to quickly pinpoint specific answers from lengthy interviews.”

11. Enhancing design elements in email headers

Marketers who aren’t necessarily graphic designers are often tasked with creating visuals for their assets. When Ceillie Clark-Keene, Head of Marketing & Communications at Building Ventures, finds herself in this situation, she turns to AI for assistance. “Although I’m not a designer by trade, I occasionally need to create email headers,” she said. “I’ve started experimenting with the AI features in Canva and Designs.ai to enhance design elements or generate graphics.” I decided to try this out in Canva. While I struggled to find an option for creating a new newsletter design (although there were plenty of pre-made templates), I was able to generate several Instagram-sized post designs with just a few clicks.

“These tools are invaluable for creating higher-quality graphics when outsourcing to a professional isn’t feasible within the given budget or timeframe,” Ceillie shared. However, it’s important to exercise caution when using AI image generators. They can occasionally produce less-than-ideal visuals, so reviewing the output carefully is crucial.

12. Rapidly constructing article outlines

Having written hundreds of articles myself, I can confidently say that creating the initial structure is invariably the most challenging step. Once you have the logic and framework in place, the rest is simply a matter of filling in the blanks. Will Ruzvidzo is a seasoned B2B SaaS content marketer with over a decade of experience working with global brands. Will explained how he leverages Writer to overcome outlining hurdles. His process begins by inputting a straightforward headline. “With a few clicks, I can generate a well-structured blog post outline, complete with relevant subheadings, key points, and supporting examples.”

Once the basic “skeleton” is in place, Will customizes the outline to “infuse it with my own voice, insights, and creativity.” Writer also provides Will with AI-powered copy suggestions as he writes. He emphasized that the time saved allows him to concentrate on crafting captivating introductions and compelling arguments—aspects that distinguish human-written content.

13. Crafting more compelling subheadings

Subheadings are crucial elements of any blog post. They facilitate skimming for readers and crawling for search engines, making them more effective overall. That’s why Hsing Tseng, a freelance content writer, editor, and strategist, relies on ChatGPT as a sounding board when crafting subheadings. “AI tools can brainstorm far more quickly and, at times, more imaginatively than I can when my creative energy is depleted,” she shared. Here’s an example prompt provided by Hsing.

Notice how she incorporates tone and structure instructions within her prompt, such as “avoid being overly flowery” and “keep H2s concise.” Hsing stressed that the more specific your instructions, the better the output will be. However, it’s not simply about generating better section titles. The AI suggestions Hsing receives often spark new directions for her posts that she hadn’t previously considered. “I’m able to explore a wider range of angles and select wording that aligns more effectively with the overall framing of my article,” she observed.

14. Scaling product descriptions and ad copy

A single ecommerce site can feature hundreds of products, each requiring a succinct description and accompanying advertising copy. Gordon Donnelly, a multi-disciplinary marketer and SEO specialist, revealed that this is one of his favorite AI use cases. “I manage a couple of affiliate/dropshipping websites, and ChatGPT is incredibly useful for generating product descriptions and ads.” Here’s an example of Gordon prompting ChatGPT to enhance a rather dull product description.

The key, according to Gordon, lies in guiding your AI tool with effective prompts to elicit compelling and valuable output. As he previously outlined, when prompting an AI tool, you should strive to:

• Be specific
• Provide all relevant information
• Follow up

Looking ahead: The future of AI in marketing

We are only beginning to uncover the vast potential of AI for marketers. Current trends suggest a future characterized by increased automation, more sophisticated customer-facing AI tools, and analytics capable of both prediction and review. Celia also anticipates a reckoning for marketers who attempt to exploit the system with AI. “There’s a significant ethical concern surrounding the practice of presenting AI-generated writing as your own, which, unfortunately, is becoming more prevalent as individuals seek shortcuts or quick profits,” she remarked. “While you could ask ChatGPT to generate a blog post filled with SEO keywords, doing so not only risks incorporating inaccurate information but also raises ethical concerns. Most consider failing to disclose AI-generated content as plagiarism.” But does this ethical aspect truly matter to less scrupulous marketers solely focused on driving traffic? Celia believes it should, particularly given the recent volatility of Google SERPs. “Ultimately, such practices might do more harm than good for your website’s SEO,” Celia cautioned. “Google is implementing recently announced updates to its algorithm, making it more adept at detecting and removing low-quality content, including much of what AI produces without human refinement. So, even if ethics aren’t a primary concern, a decline in your website’s rankings might be!”