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AI tools to make your life easier
Automation has slowly been creeping along since the industrial age, with short bursts of innovation followed by improvements on said innovations. The last couple of decades, however, we’ve been harvesting the benefits of human creativity and convenience as automation and AI tools made our lives easier.
While some of us are trying to figure out advancements from the last decade, new AI and automation inventions are being introduced on a regular basis, and if you aren’t paying close attention, you can easily get left behind.
So, to ensure you’re as hip and trendy as you may have been in your earlier days, we’ve collected and grouped a bunch of new AI tools that will make your life easier and your ventures more streamlined.
Perhaps a bit more utilitarian than cool, but utility is the new cool anyway.
Here’s an alphabetical list (since we’re being cool) of AI tools that you can use for 10 specific purposes, from marketing and SEO, to design, social media, and ecommerce.
We’ll be creating in-depth posts in the coming weeks for each section and their standout tools so check our blog for updates.
Obviously, this post and its children aren’t exhaustive, nor are the tools exclusive to a specific field or objective. These are the tools we consider top quality for a specific purpose. If you find using one tool for several purposes works well, more power to you.
Let’s introduce our computer contenders!
Using AI in advertising
Now, we as people can be quite creative and convincing when going about advertising or creating ads. We can tap into what makes people tick or what drives them, but even our best efforts can be hit or miss.
AI, on the other hand, can take a more neutral and objective approach, analysing tons of successful adverts and other data. After gathering all this information, it can spit out advertising content that meets all the criteria that made award winning adverts win awards.
You can also use AI to assist in optimising your ad budget and find which avenues would be worth pursuing, and which offers the highest return on investment (ROI).
If you prefer to keep those tasks to organic-thinking individuals, that’s fine too. Simply letting AI take care of the menial ad management or performance tasks relating to your adverts that eat up time during your day would be a massive save.
That way you come up with the strategy and plan, while AI helps you piece it together. Think of it as getting an intern to help piece your adverts together, except the intern is 1000 times smarter than you, and can only make virtual coffee.
Strong picks for AI advertising
Take your adverts to the next level with these AI tools that’re adept at advertising.
These self-learning tools will improve the efficacy of your digital advertising using persistence and precision. You’ll get to redouble your efforts in advertising but use half as much energy to get the outcome you’re looking for.
- Albert.ai
- GumGum
- Persado
Using AI chatbots for customer communication
Chatbots, as the name so obviously denotes, are AI bots that focus solely on customer communication.
They can offer artificial intelligence expertise when you’re scouring a knowledgebase, ordering online, or reaching out to support to handle an issue.
They’re a useful tool to ensure customer communication is prioritised when biological staff may be short on hand.
The reason chatbots are a popular and viable solution for communications is because they’re coded to use natural language processing (NLP). Basically, they read and interpret human language, and then respond in kind, constantly learning as they go along.
So, you’re essentially able to have a conversion with a chatbot, and they’ll follow where you lead the conversation.
This contrasts with rule-based chatbots that follow a specific script that has been set up before. Rule-based chatbots have their uses and place, but if a customer goes off script the chatbot inevitably won’t be able to respond and the customer or visitor may end up getting annoyed.
Depending on what you’re looking for, both can be a powerful tool to add to your customer service arsenal.
Strong picks for AI chatbots
Again, depending on what your chatbot requires, you might want to focus on different aspects of customer communication. These offerings are well-rounded enough to meet your needs and can offer some complex additions if you’re looking for specific features as well.
- Tideo
- Netomi
- Proprofs Chatbot
Using AI to help generate content
Content is undoubtedly one of the aspects that makes the internet go round. content is created by the millions each week, and we’re not just talking about blog posts and articles.
Emails, social media content, guides, infographics, and the lot of them, all added to the melting pot of the internet. Some hit, some of them miss, but they’re swirling around the online realms waiting to be consumed.
Then, in comes AI.
Using Ai to create content takes the guesswork out of the creation part of it. Equally as important, it also allows your creative juices to recover after putting in work to see that content plan to fruition.
AI content creation isn’t a magic button that solves all content problems, however (although that may change as the years go on). AI tools need prompts, especially when generating content.
They can be used to generate content, ideas for content, long and short blog posts or guides, check grammar or plagiarism, and surprisingly, personalising content as well.
So not a one-trick pony but more of a one-man army. And that’s an army you’d want on your side if you’re sending content to the internet to fight for people’s precious time and attention.
Strong picks for AI content generators
Using Ai to generate your content can sometimes require a change in how you view the entire task. You’re not replacing a human with a machine. You’re giving them a multi-purpose tool that can make their job creating content a lot more streamlined.
Think of using your hands to dig a hole versus using a spade. The spade may have been revolutionary at the time, but it still needs a person to make it function optimally. These are some AI tools for optimal content generation.
- Jasper
- ChatGPT
- Writesonic
- Copy.ai
Using AI to help with design
Another creative field AI enters to the mixed reactions of those in it. Not to worry, though, as with content creation, or any creative field, AI enters as a tool to be used for design purposes, rather than a replacement for the designer.
While AI can generate art, similar to how it can generate written content, there’s plenty of room for improvements before it becomes usable for design purposes.
For the foreseeable future, using AI in design will mostly be about optimising and creating efficient design processes. AI will also allow designers to do actual design work more speedily with less cost due to the multi-faceted nature of AI.
Some of the things designers can expect to use AI for is generating images from text (text to design), editing and resizing, image generation for inspiration, populating templates, and the list goes on.
To ease into it, we suggest letting Ai do the grunt work you’d rather avoid that takes up quite a bit of time. After all, that’s the point of using tools – to make your job easier.
Strong picks for AI design tools
As with any innovation, early adopters usually come out on top. AI as a design tool is something you’d want in your metaphorical shed. These tools are great to get you going in that direction.
- Adobe Sensei
- Designs.ai
- Uizard
- Midjourney
Leveraging AI and ecommerce
When it comes to ecommerce, the theme for AI is pretty similar to what we’ve covered so far, (and what you can expect for the other categories) – efficiency.
Unlike the obvious way we can implement AI within other facets of marketing and business, AI in ecommerce has been steadily becoming more prevalent. This makes it seem like less of a renaissance versus other facets like content generation and design.
Some of the ways AI is used already includes things like self-checkouts, voice commerce and virtual assistants like the chatbots we touched on earlier, smart searches like Google uses, and personalisation to a customer’s preferences.
Some of the more interesting ways you can use AI in ecommerce is to determine a competitive pricing range.
AI can scour large datasets (which is what most of us associate AI with anyway) and personalise pricing based on a variety of factors like global supply and demand, or increasing prices when competitors’ stocks are low.
AI can also be used to spot and halt fraudulent or suspicious behaviour in real time, something that humans might only pick up after the fact.
Strong picks for using AI in ecommerce
These picks are suited to boost your ecommerce standing and output, and naturally optimise processes in general.
- Seamless.ai
- Clarifai
- Coveo
- Copysmith
AI uses for email marketing
Right off the bat, AI in email marketing has one major focus. Or rather our focus for AI in email marketing is one thing, and that’s personalisation.
We’re sure you’re familiar with the feeling of spending hours (sometimes days) drafting, planning, writing, and designing an email only for it to be skimmed or worse – not opened at all.
As glass-half-full people, we like to think that it could’ve been worse had it ended up in the spam folder, which is a sad and painful death for any email.
AI tools for email marketing can help to ensure the spam folder is something your emails aren’t familiar with, but also that it hits the mark when it needs to.
Some of the uses AI in email marketing boasts are ensuring emails are tweaked and adjusted so it’s not just another slot in your clients’ inbox.
So, the open rates, click-through rates (CTR), auto-replies or engagements, subject lines, and of course personalisation can all be taken care of with AI.
Naturally, you’ll use it as an addition to your own skills, after all, it’s still only a tool (albeit a pretty nifty one).
Strong AI picks for email marketing
Connecting with your clients or customer base on a personal level is one of the best ways to ensure your emails are not left by the wayside.
These tools help with that and focus on a variety of personalised customer aspects, like when the best time to send an email is, what they’ll react to and share or purchase, and what will prompt engagement from them.
- Compose.ai
- Copy.ai
- Seventh Sense
Utilising AI in influencer marketing
A relatively new branch of marketing that can be hard to get a handle on – for humans, that is. AI might have (read ‘certainly has’) some tricks for providing more concrete insights on influencer marketing data.
While influencer marketing is a reliable way to get the word out about your product or service, knowing which influencer to approach and what would work for their followers can take some doing. But not if you’re sifting through millions of pieces of data in a fraction of the time it would take humans to do so.
The biggest sell for AI in influencer marketing is that machines can find suitable influencers while also determining whether a campaign was successful or not.
This is a massive turn for influencer marketing efforts because not knowing what the ROI was for a campaign is akin to playing the slot machines. Plenty of flashy lights with the occasional dribble of returns, but you never really know if you’re closer to winning the jackpot.
To that end, AI can help direct the right amount of resources to the right influencers, while also optimising their campaign. Machine learning can also detect fraudulent influencers and engagement, plus monitor the success of the brand as campaigns progress.
Strong picks for using AI in influencer marketing
The major gripe is vetting influencers and assessing ROI for campaigns. Fortunately, these Ai tools help with that. This allows you to make the influencer a more concrete plan of action and less of a shot in the dark.
- IMAI
- Linkfluence
- Phrasee
- InstaText
Using AI for SEO
SEO has been the name of the game in marketing for the last two decades, at least. We know the lengths we’ve gone through to reach the precipice of SERPs, and how much of a tussle it can be to stay there.
Statistically, even a front-page ranking can be thought of as quite an achievement. But that’s seldom enough, and if ranking at the top of the SERPs is a priority for you, a team of marketers is the standard prescription.
Although keeping to the theme of our blog, we’d be remiss if we didn’t at least introduce the concept of using AI for SEO.
SEO is probably one of the places where AI’s work can be most accepted, since pouring through datasets, research, (for competitors and keywords), and sitemaps can take massive amounts of time.
On the most unproductive days, you’d be doing little more than stare at a screen full of data without absorbing a single aspect of it. As you’d expect, AI doesn’t succumb to burnouts or exhaustion.
Strong picks for using AI in SEO
Some other tasks you can use AI for in SEO include generating, FAQs, keyword gap analysis, and if you want to go all the way, content generation as well (which we mentioned earlier in the blog).
AI shines when huge datasets require a thorough reading. So, making a seat for AI in your marketing team will take a heavy load off their backs. Here are our top picks to that your marketing team is sure to welcome with open arms:
- Writesonic
- Brightedge
- SEMrush
- SEO.ai
Maximising social media reach and output with AI
Another avenue, like content generation, that’s brimming with AI potential. But don’t let its untapped potential trick you into believing that AI is not already well-rooted in social media.
Nailing the right social media post that hooks your followers but doesn’t take too much of their time is an artform to create. That’s why there’s plenty of marketing jobs in and around social media. That, and the massive market potential it holds, of course.
Leveraging AI to excel in social media works similar to many of the other facets of marketing wherein AI will use machine learning to track a number of datasets and metrics.
Assuming you ask it to spit out a ready-made post, all these things will be considered. Alternatively, if you want the human touch AI can offer suggestions for what works and what doesn’t.
Strong picks for maximising social media reach and following with AI
The immediate perks of using AI for your social media projects are social interactions, audience insights and discovery, optimisation, writing scripts and hooks, and repurposing content.
All these perks in the AI toolbox works for paid media and ads as well, which we’re sure you want to be a lot more precise on since you’re forking over quite a bit. It’s only natural to try and get the most bang for your buck, which AI certainly helps you do.
Some reliable choices for using AI in social media are:
- ChatGPT
- Copy.ai
- Lately
Using AI to build a website
If you’ve got any familiarity with programming and development, you’ll know that writing code for a spanking new website can take some doing.
It’s a highly technical skill that you can spend loads of money on when looking for a professional. While it can be self-taught, it takes hard work and a change in how you see and approach problem-solving. Take a look at these things every business website needs.
Of course, you can forgo hiring someone or learning it yourself by employing AI to do it for you. Asking AI to build you a website can be a viable solution as they’ll spit finished products extraordinarily faster than the average developer could ever hope to do.
While the AI technology is not fully evolved to create a 100% complete site yet, it can certainly create a basic website that’s functional. The process usually involves answering questions, so the AI is better able to determine your preferences.
Depending on the software you use, layout, image generation, title generation, background, and text can all be accounted for using AI.
Strong picks for AI website builders
AI website builders don’t require you to write a single line of code for it to be functional. You’ll probably have to be as detailed as possible when informing the AI about your preferences when prompted.
On some occasions, it may just be yes or no questions, so you won’t have to be hyper specific.
Without a doubt, the biggest benefits of using AI to create your website is saving time while enhancing your website’s design. The layout will be a lot more streamlined and organised which will improve customer interactions, That’s because the AI will likely be basing it off of known and successful website designs.
Of course, since the tech is still developing, having a developer take a look at it afterwards is not a bad idea. To ensure everything is alright, but also if you want to change a couple of things. Here are some of our picks that use AI software to help you build your own website.
- Durable
- Appypie
- 10Web
- Bookmark AIDA
Using AI to create and edit videos
Last on our list, and perhaps the trickiest for AI doubters to reconcile is using AI for video content.
Whereas the other avenues worked mostly with datasets and behaviour personalisation, using AI for video creation or editing seems much more unprecedented or mysterious.
That’s because creating or editing a video appears to have a lot less to do with numbers and massive amounts of research.
In fact, even though it follows a clearly coded and structured path for how it’s able to do this, it resembles the creative process of humans more accurately than the others on this list.
If you’ve wanted to enter the video content game but didn’t have the budget to employ someone with the necessary skills, AI can step in to cover the role until your star player eventually joins.
Text-to-video is the first and primary objective for anyone looking to use AI as a video tool. It opens the door to having video content without owning a single camera.
If you’ve got someone to take care of video content for you, AI can work as an editing tool, going so far as to edit the actual visuals you see (or don’t see).
AI tech for videos also allows you to create videos with AI avatars or characters. This way you can take any guide you’ve written on your blog and have it be explained by a suitable custom avatar.
To make it even more realistic, you could upload audio of yourself so the AI learns and registers your voice, using it in the avatar’s speech.
That might be a bit too far for some, but it certainly makes the video content feel a lot more natural and personal.
Strong picks for using AI in video
These innovative AI tools don’t require a videographer to be useful. Simply adopting the software and playing around enough will allow you to get your foot in the door.
As with any tool, however, it shines when in the hands of a master. For example, a samurai with a sword would be a lot more dangerous than any of us with one.
As usual, other standard optimization perks follow AI into this section as well, like creating captions for videos, resizing, or creating a clearer picture.
These are our picks for AI video software.
- Synthesia
- Synthesys
- Pictory
- Elai.io
Only you can benefit from adopting AI
We’ve touched on 10 different areas where AI has practical applications, and noticeable impacts. This list was by no means exhaustive, and we’d consider it a simple introduction to the sections we covered.
We think knowing about something is the first step towards making an informed decision as to whether it’ll work for you or not. Hopefully this was that first step for you.
The second step will be in the follow up blog posts on AI’s uses for each individual facet as well as a deeper look at what specific tools can do for you. From ChatGPT, to Writesonic, to Persado.
As with any major technological invention, you either adopt it and learn what you must, or fall off to the side of the road.
Many of our inventions had its sceptics, from when electricity was invented to the internet. It’s no different with artificial intelligence. No doubt, it can be daunting to acclimatise to progress, but you’ll be better for it.
It’s important to remember that these are tools and despite being vastly useful, can’t replace the impact of a human.
