As a busy creator and dad, I always look for ways to work smarter. I’ve been experimenting with AI tools to help streamline my social media marketing efforts. In this post, I’ll walk through my process and how AI assists me with content creation, ideation, and scheduling.
Customizing ChatGPT to Be My Marketing Assistant
ChatGPT has been a game-changer, but the free version has limitations. I upgraded to ChatGPT Plus which allows me to enable useful plugins. This custom setup allows the AI to handle research, task management, and content creation for me.
I have different ChatGPT conversations set up, each with plugins for specific purposes:
Analytics – I use VoxScript, Memory Bank, and AIPDF here. This allows ChatGPT to read YouTube transcripts and PDF reports. I can then ask for data summaries without having to dig through the details myself.
Content Creation – This conversation has the BrowserOp, Memory Bank, and Video Insights plugins. I can feed it long-form video transcripts and ask it to create blog posts. This helps me rank my YouTube videos in Google.
Task Management – With BrowserOp, Memory Bank, and Zapier, I can have ChatGPT handle administrative tasks like scheduling social media posts. It connects with Buffer and other apps through Zapier.
The key is taking the time to refine my prompts and guidance to ChatGPT. With thoughtful prompting, it can handle time-consuming marketing tasks allowing me to focus on high-level strategy.
Repurposing Old Content with AI Support
Over my years of creating gaming content, I’ve amassed a library of over 1,200 short funny video clips. I realized this old content was just sitting on a hard drive collecting virtual dust.
I decided to leverage these unused clips, along with AI, to increase my social media presence. Here’s how my automated system works:
First, I uploaded all the clips to Google Drive and created a spreadsheet with their filenames and descriptions. Using Zapier, a video is randomly selected from the sheet each day.
ChatGPT then creates a caption and title for the selected video.
Finally, Zapier automatically posts the video with AI-generated text across my social platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.
The randomly staggered old videos intermixed with my new content perform well. And it takes the workload off me – I’m freed up to create high-quality, evergreen content.
Crafting AI-Powered Social Media Post Ideas
While I still create some posts manually, I also have ChatGPT generate unique post ideas for me daily.
I carefully crafted a lengthy prompt providing the AI with guidelines, best practices, and examples of my posting style. I instructed it to create either long or short posts focused on specific categories I provided.
Once ChatGPT returns an initial post, I have it label the category it fits into. Then Zapier grabs a relevant image from Unsplash to pair with the text.
After reviewing, I schedule the AI-made posts in Buffer to go out on my Facebook and Instagram.
The AI isn’t perfect – sometimes I tweak the wording. But I’m impressed with how authentic and on-brand the posts sound. The prompts were key to achieving this.
My Takeaways From Using AI Tools
Experimenting with these AI tools to aid my social media marketing has been eye-opening. The automation helps free up so much time that I can reallocate to high-impact creative work.
That said, you have to invest time upfront to thoughtfully design the AI systems. Refining and guiding your prompts is essential to get great results. Start with something narrow in scope before tackling massive projects.
The tech still has some limitations. But I’m excited to see how much more sophisticated AI assistance will become in the near future. For now, it’s already a valuable tool in my marketing stack.
FAQ
What are some risks of using AI-generated content?
Some risks include content seeming generic or robotic if the AI isn’t guided properly. There are also potential legal issues around copyright and plagiarism to be aware of. Always review AI output thoroughly.
How much does an AI assistant cost?
Pricing varies. Basic ChatGPT is free but limited. Upgraded plans like ChatGPT Professional start around $20/month. There are also paid tools like Zapier and Unsplash. Shop around to find options that fit your budget.
What if I don’t know how to use these technical tools?
The learning curve can feel steep at first. Take it slow, research thoroughly, and start with simple automation. Following step-by-step tutorials can help build knowledge. Consider taking an online course on marketing automation for guidance.
Is AI-generated content as good as human-written?
The quality has improved vastly, but AI still lacks human creativity and strategic thinking. Review its output closely and be prepared to tweak it as needed. Use AI for drafts and foundational work, not final publishable copy.
What ethical concerns should marketers have about AI?
Transparency is key – don’t mislead people that AI content is human-made. Avoid plagiarism. Monitor for bias, toxicity, and inaccuracies. Uphold your brand voice and values—set guidelines so AI aligns with your ethics.