ChatGPT has become a name echoing in the corporate world, educational institutions, and even the non-profit realm over the last two months. The arrival of this innovative tool has raised several questions from various communities, including Marketing. These questions include:
What is the accuracy and reliability of ChatGPT?
Will ChatGPT take away our jobs?
Will ChatGPT replace traditional marketing team roles?
So, I asked ChatGPT itself the question - Will ChatGPT be a threat to marketers' jobs?
Here is the answer given by the tool - ChatGPT is not designed to replace marketers, but rather to augment and assist their efforts. While ChatGPT can automate certain tasks, such as answering frequently asked questions, it does not have the ability to replace the creativity, strategy, and human connection that are crucial components of successful marketing. In fact, by freeing up time and resources, ChatGPT can allow marketers to focus on more high-level tasks, such as data analysis and campaign planning, and ultimately enhance the overall effectiveness of the marketing team. The use of ChatGPT in a marketing team should be viewed as an opportunity to improve efficiency and productivity rather than a threat to job security.
So this blog post will give you a perspective on how ChatGPT can evolve into an amazing asset for Marketing teams.
To begin with, for the benefit of folks who are still not aware of ChatGPT, here is a quick introduction.
Meet ChatGPT - An advanced natural language processing model developed by OpenAI, an AI research and deployment company based out of San Francisco, USA. The company is focused on developing friendly Artificial Intelligence solutions that can benefit all of humanity. ChatGPT is an AI-powered language model that is capable of generating human-like responses to text-based inputs.
The typical use cases for ChatGPT include Conversational AI (integrated into chatbots etc.), Customer Service, Content Generation, Personalization, and more.
So, as a marketer, I started experimenting with ChatGPT in December 2022, and this post is a result of my experience so far with this tool.
First, let's address the elephant in the room - Is ChatGPT a threat to marketers? I say NO. It is not.
On the other hand, if you deploy smartly, this smart tool can become a valuable asset for your marketing team. Let's dive into the details:
How ChatGPT can Become a Valuable Asset for Marketing Teams?
ChatGPT is a multi-faceted asset for every marketing team. This smart tool can take up various roles for marketing teams:
The Best Social Media Assistant
Have you ever struggled to come up with catchy variations of social media copies to promote your content? I bet you have. Not anymore. ChatGPT can be your new social media assistant who can write impactful social media copies in seconds with the right input by you. The best part is ChatGPT will not roll its eyes at you if you ask for a few extra copies of the same content.
The Content Ideation Specialist
Every content marketing team understands the pain of content ideation. Coming up with new blog post titles or podcast questions can become tedious or painful sometimes. Leave your worries behind. ChatGPT can suggest you fresh blog post titles based on your keyword of interest on a click. Another amazing use case I discovered was this tool's ability to augment your livestreaming or podcast questions and topics.
The On-Call Copy Editor
Copy editing in a lean marketing team is one of the biggest challenges. As you cannot afford any content piece with errors to go live, this becomes a real challenge to the teams. Not anymore. ChatGPT can function as your on-call copy editor by making necessary changes without grammatical errors etc.
The On-demand Researcher
Every marketer understands the importance of thorough research in their daily work. Be it writing a blog post or building a buyer persona, solid research becomes imperative as well as a challenge for marketers. Next time you or your team struggles to get the research done, you have an on-demand researcher at your disposal. ChatGPT can do fast and in-depth research for you and provide insights* you can use to complete your tasks.
*The knowledge cut-off of the current version of ChatGPT is 2021. So plan accordingly.
The 24/7 SEO Assistant
Another area where ChatGPT can prove its value for marketing teams is Search Engine Optimization. It can be your perfect assistant for performing keyword research, completing on-page SEO tasks, generating the content, and even link building. It can become an integral part of your strategy and execution by being an extra team member for SEO.
The Fastest Team Member Ever (Maybe)
Every marketing team considers nimble and agile team members as one of their biggest assets. From that context, ChatGPT may evolve into your fastest team member (ever). With the right and smart interventions, it can deliver amazing results at an astonishing pace for Marketing teams.
The Quirky Entertainer
This is not a typical value-add of ChatGPT for marketing teams, but I would like to add it as all work, and no play makes marketers dull. ChatGPT can bring its quirky side also to the table. Will you believe me if I say ChatGPT can be used to design furniture? Here is a blog post from Mark Schaefer on 20 entertaining uses of ChatGPT. You can leverage this tool to bring some fun into your team. For example, conduct a quirky caption contest using ChatGPT or a creative poem-writing contest for your team.
So these were some of the roles or new aspects ChatGPT can bring more marketing teams.
Before you jump in and start using this innovative AI assistant, let me share some cautions for marketers to keep in mind:
ChatGPT is Not Perfect
ChatGPT is an AI tool that brings its share of positives and negatives. But remember, it is not a perfect one, so due diligence is recommended while using the tool and its responses.
ChatGPT may be Biased
ChatGPT can provide outputs that may be inaccurate or biased as it is trained on an enormous amount of data. So always be sure to fact-check and verify the information provided by the tool.
ChatGPT has Limitations
As I mentioned earlier, ChatGPT has only access to data until 2021. So it brings its limitations, and the responses will call for active human intervention before usage.
ChatGPT may Become Addictive
This is something I have observed personally. As ease of use and speed become the norm, there is a chance to rely on ChatGPT for most mundane tasks. Be aware of this and encourage yourself and your team to use this tool with good judgment.
ChatGPT may Impact Decision-making
As the reliance on ChatGPT rises, it might become your fall-back plan for every task. And since the tool is capable of delivering decent output, there is a chance of you getting used to the platform. This can negatively impact your thinking and decision-making capabilities.
To conclude, as a marketer, stop worrying about tools like ChatGPT taking away our jobs. Start getting excited about the possibilities such tools bring to the table to augment our capabilities. ChatGPT can be your next best team member who will deliver astounding results for your team. Utilize the tool smartly and focus on getting the best out of it for you and your team.
As a parting comment, allow me to share a quote by Joe Hyland, Chief Marketing Officer at ON24: "Artificial Intelligence is not about replacing marketers; it is about empowering them to create more meaningful and personalized connections with their customers."