By Nick Mann

It seems you can’t go anywhere without hearing about artificial intelligence (AI) these days. And that’s not going to change anytime soon. Forbes predicts the AI market size will increase dramatically, going from $86.9 billion in revenue in 2022 to $407 billion in 2027. Further, 64% of businesses believe that AI will help increase their productivity, which shows how much of a potential impact it can have. One particular area of AI that will be of interest to many business owners is how it can improve digital marketing. For this article, I’ll cover four specific ways you can put AI to use in your digital marketing campaign to achieve bigger results with less heavy lifting. 

 

Use ChatGPT to generate content ideas

 

Short for Chat Generative Pre-Training Transformer, ChatGPT is a software that lets users ask questions or give commands using conversational language and receive (usually) exceptionally good responses. After going through several iterations, the latest model ChatGPT 4 is currently being implemented and has improved by leaps and bounds from previous models. From a digital marketing standpoint, it has numerous uses. But one of the best is generating content ideas for blogs, videos, guides and so on. 

 

For example, I asked ChatGPT to give me some blog post ideas for military surplus topics. Within seconds, it provided me with 20 ideas including, “Exploring the History of Military Surplus: From World War 1 to Modern Times,” “The Appeal of Authenticity: Why Military Surplus Has Become a Fashion Trend” and “Discovering Hidden Gems: How to Find Rare and Valuable Military Surplus Items.” If you’ve ever struggled to come up with fresh content ideas that will resonate with your audience, ChatGPT is a fantastic tool to have, and it’s available for free at chat.openai.com. 

 

Write basic blog content with ChatGPT

 

Another way to work ChatGPT into your digital marketing fold is by using it to write basic blog posts. While it’s not a complete replacement for a human writer, and you’ll always want to proofread and fine-tune the content, ChatGPT can write a solid article in seconds. You simply give it a prompt like “write a blog post about military surplus clothing,” and it will produce the content. Note that if you’re producing thought leadership articles where you focus on sharing your personal opinion and experience with readers, ChatGPT won’t be a good choice. But if you just need some informative content to populate your blog, it can work perfectly. Again, you can find ChatGPT at chat.openai.com. 

 

Use AI image generators to create professional images

 

A few short years ago, the idea of anyone with zero design skills creating mind-blowing images in seconds would have been inconceivable. But in 2023, it’s a reality. And best of all, it’s completely free. While Midjourney is one of the best and most well-known text-to-image tools on the market and currently only has a paid version, others like Stable Diffusion and Leonardo offer comparable quality for free. My personal favorite is Leonardo (which can be found at leonardo.ai) because of the exceptional quality and user-friendliness. 

Simply enter a “prompt” of what you want your picture to look like, and within seconds, it will create multiple high-end, professional-quality images to choose from. Then, you just pick the one you like best, and you can use it on your website, blog posts, social media, merchandise or wherever else you need without having to pay any royalties. While AI image generators do have a slight learning curve, most people can quickly figure out the basic features and continually improve their skills over time. If you’re sick of standard stock photos or want to create your own high-quality images without having to learn design, I highly recommend these tools. 

 

Send automated, personalized emails

 

Although far from new or cutting-edge, email marketing still offers one of the best returns on investment, with the average marketer earning $36 for every $1 spent, according to HubSpot. And with new AI technology, email marketing has gotten an upgrade where it’s now possible to build deeper relationships with subscribers and promote relevant products while automating the majority of tasks. 

 

One of the best tools for this is Constant Contact, which allows you to send automated, hyper-relevant emails to every single subscriber without lifting a finger. If, for instance, someone just subscribed to your newsletter, Constant Contact will send them an automated message thanking them for signing up. Or, it can use data from their browsing behavior or interests to send them targeted product promotions that will appeal to them. This kills two birds with one stone because subscribers get personalized emails that cater to their exact needs, and it frees up your time so you can focus on other areas of marketing and core business operations. In terms of pricing, you can get the full suite of Constant Contact AI tools for $35 a month. So, if email marketing is one of your primary outreach methods, this can be a great investment. 

 

Taking your digital marketing to the next level

 

Although AI has been around for some time now, 2023 has been the official tipping point that has marked exponential growth. As we’ve learned, there are several ways to implement AI into your digital marketing strategy. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. By staying at the forefront of this technology, you give your business a significant advantage over competitors who haven’t yet adopted it.

 

Nick Mann writes professionally for both digital and print publications in business, marketing and technology. He’s also an avid traveler and sports fan.