5 Ways to Use ChatGPT in Your Small Business

AI has been applied to dozens of business activities, from data analysis to automating routine tasks like scheduling social media posts. AI is already very common in many industries; four out of five marketing industry experts said they had already included some form of AI technology in their work.

One segment of AI tools are specifically tailored to help generate text-based content. ChatGPT and its competitors, such as Google’s Bard, YouChat, and Jasper, can write narrative text, such as blog posts, emails, and essays, as well as more creative content. Here are some ways to harness the power of AI writing to help run your small business.

Generate brainstorming suggestions

If you’re stumped on what to write on your company blog, share on social media, or include in your next email newsletter, ask ChatGPT. “ChatGPT can function remarkably well as a brainstorming tool and potential sounding board,” wrote Business News Daily. “Whether you’re trying to think up a new marketing strategy, looking for various iterations on social media posts, or coming up with SEO-friendly titles — or a whole lot more — ChatGPT can help.”

The results you get from ChatGPT are only limited by the question you ask — and the way you phrase it. If you ask the AI, “What dishes should I serve at my restaurant?”, you’ll get a very different response compared to the question, “What dishes should I serve at my fast-casual, vegan restaurant that’s only open for breakfast and lunch?”.

Write marketing materials

ChatGPT is a quick way to generate marketing emails, blog posts, taglines, social media posts, and more. “It's like having another person to talk through copy with, even if they possibly aren't the most qualified expert,” wrote Zapier.

To get the best results, simply feed ChatGPT or your AI tool of choice a prompt with some directions, such as “Write a list of the top 5 tips for planning a backyard vegetable garden.” ChatGPT will generate an answer in response, which you can then ask to be tailored for your specific brand voice (e.g., “write it for a fifth-grade reading level” or “make your answer less formal”).

Note that ChatGPT won’t always get the facts 100% accurate. Use your own research and expertise to verify the recommendations and information any AI chatbot writes on your behalf.

[Read more: How Artificial Intelligence (AI) Is Changing How Marketers Sell Everything From Food to Fashion]

Improve customer service

ChatGPT can provide your team with responses to common customer concerns and other customer service–related materials. “You can ask it to help you with specific responses to bad reviews, website way-finding and product-related questions. Simply copy paste the customer query into ChatGPT and request a response,” wrote Square.

ChatGPT can help write customer service emails, such as messages notifying customers about upcoming business closures, modified holiday hours, or changes to their account. In addition, new integrations allow you to add ChatGPT to social media accounts and respond to customer requests automatically. Dialogflow, Botpress, and ManyChat are just a few options for adding ChatGPT to your social media platforms.

Help with SEO

ChatGPT can optimize your metadata, generate SEO-friendly keywords, and make suggestions to improve the structure, readability, and relevance of your content for better SEO performance. As marketing expert Neil Patel outlines, there are tons of ways to use ChatGPT in your SEO strategy with prompts around technical improvements, building effective content, keywords, and more.

Note, however, that Google and Microsoft are still working on a strategy for ranking AI-generated content. Don’t over-rely on ChatGPT to create all your SEO-focused copy, since this content can both be factually inaccurate and contain outdated information.

Level up your hiring and recruiting

AI tools like ChatGPT can help you write compelling job descriptions that bring in more applicants. It can also help optimize your existing recruiting efforts. For instance, send the AI an existing job description and ask it to remove any language that suggests hiring bias, such as gender-biased language or ageism. Once you get to the interview stage, ChatGPT can help you generate interview questions to ask all candidates.

It can also help with candidate engagement. Ask ChatGPT to write candidate emails, such as invitations to interview, messages acknowledging the application has been received, and updates throughout the hiring process. ChatGPT can help take some of the routine communication off your recruiter’s plate so they can focus on finding the best candidate for the job.

[Read more: 7 Digital Marketing Trends to Pursue in 2023]

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