ChatGPT: Newest Bot On Block And What It Means For Marketers

Tech, marketing, and communication professionals have been skittishly watching as ChatGPT took on more than a million users in just five days. There have even been suggestions that eventually ChatGPT (or other such AI) may replace marketers, writers, and other creative mavens altogether. I disagree. Yes, it can assist with straightforward automated chores and provide extremely high-level suggestions that may serve as the framework for a plan, but ultimately it is devoid of, in its own words, “personal experiences or feelings." I exist solely to process and generate text based on the information that I have been trained on.” And that is the crux of the matter here. AI, in this case, ChatGPT will be able to generate content for your next great idea, but it won’t be able to help your readers/viewers feel anything. Yet. There will be a logical structure and flow to the content, albeit devoid of storytelling. So far. And that is where the uncertainty lies. Will it take over marketing? Will it replace marketers?

Remember digital photography? Or digital film editing? Or digital music editing software? Each successful invention in technology has either contributed a new capability, increased the effectiveness of already-existing creative process activity, or did both. Using artificial intelligence for creative endeavors is not something unfamiliar or new. It’s inevitable. We’ve been there, we’ve got this. 

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is a chatbot that uses deep learning to generate conversational, human-like text responses that are based on the input provided. Unlike other chatbots using pre-programmed responses, ChatGPT provides more dynamic and varied content to help its users get rich answers to their questions. That is possible, mainly, because it is a variant of Generative Pretrained Transformer 3 (GPT-3), a powerful AI model trained by OpenAI. Given an initial text as a prompt, it will produce text that continues the prompt. You can ask ChatGPT a question in any format. The bot is adept at understanding language, adjusting responses based on your keywords, and providing a conversational and thorough answer.

If you don’t like the answer, you could ask it to try again. Or provide more details about what it is you’re looking for. The bot continues a conversation, not just giving out single prompt answers. And the answers can be different every time. For now, the answers it gives are driven by the data that has been fed into it. It doesn’t currently have access to the internet to look up answers and it won’t know anything about current events.

How can it help marketers?

Like the many other AI tools that have recently been released, ChatGPT represents a significant advancement. For some, it even represents a terrifying development, but like any new tool, ChatGPT has the potential to be an invaluable asset for you and your team if used properly. Some of its uses for marketing purposes include - 

Keyword Recommendations: ChatGTP can be used to quickly identify synonyms for root keywords. For an SEO specialist, identifying keywords is just one small part of an on-page optimisation strategy or to PPC campaigns.

 Summary Information: If you are looking to write an article, especially a listicle-style post, ChatGPT would be a great place to start as it helps with outline and structure. However, it may not be able to understand intent as well as a human. So for instance, while it may provide great information on ‘what to do in Goa’ it may not necessarily give you the answer you are looking for when you ask for ‘best kept secrets of Goa’ for which SERPs provide far richer and more intent driven information as these were written by humans with the actual experience of Goa. Nonetheless, for a quick summary, ChatGPT is very effective.

 Simplify and Scale: One of ChatGPT's key features is its capacity to offer prompt and thorough responses in conversations to improve your customers' experiences. ChatGPT can generate real, organically unfolding conversations to respond to customer questions, requests, and concerns across all marketing channels. This is a remarkable improvement over the old, pre-programmed chatbots. It can also effectively address common customer service issues such as long response times, personalized conversations, deciphering and declining inappropriate requests, and issues related to inaccessibility or unreliable communication channels. Due to its quick and effective handling of numerous customer interactions, ChatGPT has the potential to significantly impact the digital marketing sector.

 Nurture Leads: Chatbots have assisted in nurturing leads and directing them into the sales pipeline for some time now. ChatGPT can remember what users said earlier, provide follow-up corrections, and even suggest different options. These tools can support leads in a more effective, tailored process to boost engagement and aid in decision-making. ChatGPT could enable marketers to take business to the next level. 

The Road Ahead

We already routinely use AI to research things on Google, check our grammar, or search for the right image for our social media posts. Now a more advanced and nuanced version of this AI will help us construct the written word. The only question that remains is how to harness it as professionals. 

Perhaps it's crucial to keep in mind that, despite the development and advancement of digital editing, we still need artistic talent to make a film resonate with the audience. Digital editing merely provided new features that helped content creators accomplish tasks they couldn't before. Similarly, ChatGPT will amplify creativity. It will reshape and reconfigure our ways of working. To what extent and how effectively it will do that, though, is yet to be seen. What is certain is that it is still our story, and it's up to us to tell it well – with our new tools.