ChatGPT Is the Future: How and When to Use AI in Your Marketing

Several months into the ChatGPT era, it might feel like that's all you see or read about. And there's a good reason for it. It's an exciting new tool that's transforming how we think about information and what we can accomplish in a day.

But it also comes with some warnings. Early ChatGPT adopters learned a lesson fast: you have to fact-check its work and build out the content in some places. CNET found errors in at least half of its AI-written stories and experienced some blowback from using the service to write its content designed to boost the tech website’s SEO.

And as Google has always said, poorly written AI content will not rank well for SEO no matter how effective the keyword use throughout the blog or website content is.

So if ChatGPT is the future how and when should you use it? Here’s a look at the best and worst use cases for AI-written content.

How and When to Use ChatGPT-written Content

Like any new technology, ChatGPT is best for enhancing the tools, resources and expertise you already have within your organization. As you look for ways to boost awareness for and participation in your teen programs, here’s how and when you should be using AI-written content.

Social Media Content

Knowing what to say to keep up with regular social media postings can be challenging. But AI can help craft ideal comments or captions to go alongside video, images and links to your collateral.

The key here is that you still have a social media expert who can develop visuals to go alongside the AI-written captions. Plus, your team will have access to valuable data that will aid you in knowing the best times to post and the best media types that resonate with your audience.

Once you request the AI-written social content, review it for accuracy and voice and tone. You want to ensure your content sounds like you and helps you build relationships with stakeholders – whether that be students, parents, donors, volunteers, etc.

Paid Ads

A major challenge copywriters and marketers face when drafting content for a paid ad is character limitations. You want to get your message across clearly and concisely, but you might find yourself staring at a blank screen.

AI is good at writing simple content. It can take complex messages and shorten them to fit constraints or even write the content entirely. You can tell ChatGPT to write you a Facebook ad or Google ad and you’ll have the content in seconds.

Much like organic social media content, just be sure that you’re editing it to match your style guide and checking the content’s accuracy.

Email Marketing

One strong suit that marketers are finding with using ChatGPT is sales emails. But the key to getting the most out of this service is ensuring that you give the chatbot clear prompts and details for your content.

In very specific industries, marketers have found that asking ChatGPT to edit and improve a sales email can be more helpful. So if you have a specific message you’re trying to get across about your teen programs, you might be better off writing the content and asking AI to improve it.

Or you can write the first email and ask ChatGPT to write several follow-up emails. The average response rate on a marketing or sales email is 16 percent. But sending a follow-up email can increase that response rate to 27 percent.

Using one initial email with two follow-ups tends to be the best way to ensure you're reaching your target audience at a good time and not slipping their minds. Timing is everything with marketing and your first email might have caught your target audience at the wrong moment to garner a response.

ChatGPT helps draft subject lines as well. You can tell the program the tone you want to set with your email and it can help you increase your open rates with an optimized subject line.

Internal Communication

Are you struggling to know what to say to last year’s volunteers or stakeholders about this year’s opportunities? Or maybe you want to provide regular updates to your staffers. A good way of doing that without spending too much valuable time on these internal communications is to use ChatGPT.

The key to using AI for these communications is in ensuring they don't sound cold or disconnected. Adjust the language to match your voice and elaborate in places the AI bot oversimplifies the message.

Offline Communication

Preparing a brochure or flier for your teen programs? AI can help. Offline communications have lower stakes when it comes to SEO and algorithms judging your content.

ChatGPT is good at helping summarize messages into 3-5 word headlines to grab attention and communicate a complicated message simply. Perhaps the bot can’t write the entire brochure, but it can help when you feel stuck or aren’t sure what else to say. When prompting the chatbot, just be sure to use plenty of bullet points and numbered lists to make the printed content feel more readable for your audience.

When NOT to Use AI Content

While AI content can help you save time and summarize messages clearly and concisely, there are still two main areas of your marketing you should never use it.

Website Content

Since Google has explicitly called out AI-written content as low-quality and often designed to game the system for SEO, it’s not a good idea to use ChatGPT for website content. 

You can use it to get ideas for headlines but you should not ask AI to write your website content for you entirely. Changing up a few words here or there will likely not be enough for Google to rank your content well. There’s no magic bullet for drafting content that speaks to your target audience and their unique needs.

Blogs

For the same reasons you should not have AI write your website content, you should not allow it to draft blogs for your organization. There are also concerns about accuracy when AI writes blog content. 

More than likely, you're also just getting content that's rewritten from your competitors instead of speaking to the unique needs and psychographics your audience has. Blogs should help answer common questions your counselors and staff hear or collaborate with educators to learn more about what today's youth are looking for in teen programs. 

Great content requires a deeper understanding of your audience than AI will ever have because it has no human condition or feelings. All it knows is what other people tell it, which means your content will not be unique.

Reliable Marketing and Lead Generation for Teen Programs

As you look for ways to do more with less, the answer might not be in AI content, but in more effective marketing strategies and lead generation. Partnering with TeenLife can get your message in front of your target audience when they are seeking solutions and opportunities, such as summer programs, gap years, college preparation, and more. Contact us to learn more about marketing opportunities.