How generative AI is transforming the way marketers go to market
We’re seeing more and more businesses dip their toes into the generative AI waters. Once an intriguing and novel concept, this trending iteration of AI is working its way into everything from logo design and illustration to business writing and ad copywriting to uncannily realistic chatbots and voiceover.
Given today’s contradictory pressures to offer your customers more while streamlining business operations, understanding the role generative AI can play in your marketing programs is instrumental to your ongoing success.
We know that many business leaders and marketers alike are still struggling to understand what generative AI is and how to use it effectively. Below are some of the basics – and look for more unique Insights articles from MHz Design in the coming months that will address other ways generative AI can assist your business.
We suggest you give this article a quick read and then contact us or give us a call at 416.626.1777 to learn how we can help you use generative AI to work better and smarter.
What is generative AI?
Generative AI is the biggest buzzword in marketing these days (aka gen AI), but what does the term actually mean? Prior to the generative AI boom in late 2022, when we talked about AI it was about machine-learning (ML) models that can use past data to make predictions on future outcomes. For example, think of a playlist that Spotify creates for you based on your music streaming preferences.
Generative AI, on the other hand, uses ML to generate new data rather than make a prediction about a specific dataset. Unlike traditional ML models, gen AI draws from large language models (LLMs) to provide human-like content, new creative sources, improved personalization and greater user engagement in the creative process.
Popular generative AI platforms marketers use
ChatGPT 4.0 The original AI chatbot, ChatGPT was launched in November 2022 and within five days had already reached one million users. The tool is free (though there is a paid subscription version that comes with additional bells and whistles) and can be used to generate original marketing copy for draft emails, blog posts, product descriptions and even code. We have also found “Chat” to be incredibly useful as a brainstorming tool to help get ideas flowing.
Microsoft Copilot Like ChatGPT, Copilot can be used for content creation but has been optimized to strategically enhance productivity within the Microsoft ecosystem. Use in Word for content creation, Outlook for organizing emails, PowerPoint to help create presentations, Excel to transform data into visuals and Teams to summarize meetings and provide relevant information.
Gemini Pro Naturally, Google has entered the AI waters with a suite of tools branded “Gemini”. Gemini Pro goes beyond mere text comprehension and generation to seamlessly understand and process not just words but also code, images and even video. Think of it as a dynamic problem solver rather than just a simple digital assistant.
Meta Llama 3 Meta’s answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google Gemini. The Llama AI assistant has been built into Meta’s mainstream offerings: Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp. Like ChatGPT and Gemini, Llama can be used for content creation; the difference is that all the Llama models are freely available for almost anyone to use for research and commercial purposes, setting it up to potentially become the default generative AI platform.
Perplexity A next-generation search tool that provides robust conversational-style answers to questions using Large Language Models (LLMs). All answers included citations to enhance the credibility and reliability of the answers generated.
Claude A privacy-first AI assistant that offers a Swiss Army knife-like range of solutions from simple content generation to helping you build a marketing content calendar, develop reports, illustrate graphs and more.
DALL·E 3 Produced by OpenAI, the same firm behind ChatGPT, the cleverly named DALL-E creates images from text descriptions.
Leonardo AI Another AI-powered art creation platform that can be used for image creation, editing and polishing, transforming existing artwork and more.
Stable Diffusion XL A text-to-image generation tool that excels in producing highly detailed and photo-realistic 1024×1024 images.
AI Voice Generators are also reaching an uncanny new level of human-like character while offering several benefits: money and time savings, an incredible variety of voice styles, and unmatched convenience and flexibility. This Zapier article gives a good rundown of the technology and recommends six top platforms.
Tomorrow starts today
Think about all the marketing tools we’ve embraced over the past decade. Automation apps have made social posts and email deployment a breeze. Data and analytics have enabled us to test a campaign’s effectiveness and recalibrate to forge better connections with our target audience. Generative AI is simply the next step in marketing’s continuous evolution.
The great news for marketers is that we’re still in the early stages of using gen AI. For example, a recent McKinsey B2B Pulse Survey indicated that just 21% of commercial leaders have fully enabled enterprise-wide adoption of gen AI in B2B buying and selling, while more than 85% who have deployed gen AI are “very excited” about the technology.
Keep in mind that schools, especially post-secondary colleges and universities, are now using generative AI daily to support their curriculums. When those students enter the workforce, they’re bringing AI with them.
Whether you’re already using AI tools or just “thinking about it,” there’s a lot here to think about. Let’s talk. Contact us to learn how we can help you integrate AI into your workflows for greater performance and results.
Up next in our AI Insights series, we’re going to take a look at a handful of real-world use cases that showcase generative AI in action, providing inspiration around how this incredible new technology can be put to work for you.
Angelo Perri is the founder and CEO of MHZ Design Communications, a customer engagement agency located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Connect on Linkedin.
