In the fast-paced world of marketing, I’ve always approached creativity as an organization’s bread and butter, with innovation as the knife that spreads it. As the VP of marketing at Hootsuite, I’ve found an unexpected ally in this creative quest—artificial intelligence and, more specifically, ChatGPT.

I’ve incorporated AI as an integral part of my strategy and brainstorming process in the past year—transforming the way I think, create, and deliver business value for my organization. Here are five ways it’s made an impact.

REINVENTING THE CREATIVE BRIEF

My years in agency life at BBDO have ingrained in me a love for structured creativity. The “Get-Who-To-By-Because” brief has always been a staple in my toolbox. It helps zone in on who I am trying to target, pushes me to identify the pain point I am trying to solve, how I plan to solve it, the key message that I’m trying to drive home, and the why behind the entire campaign.

Recently I began using ChatGPT to reframe these briefs. By feeding it relevant information and asking for multiple versions of a brief within the “Get-Who-To-By-Because” format, I’ve been amazed by the unexpected perspectives it offers. This process has helped fuel my creativity. Coupled with my experience in the creative space and deep understanding of my customer, it ensures that the final output is both human-centric and insight-driven.

CRAFTING TARGET PERSONAS WITH PRECISION

We all know that data is king. But the interpretation of any data is the key to the kingdom. ChatGPT’s ability to dive into vast public data pools has been a game changer for developing customer personas.

For instance, I asked ChatGPT to define the core demographics of North American social media managers.

From there, I used that very demographic output as an input to a user persona framework. ChatGPT was able to create detailed user personas that captured everything from challenges and joys to the preferred technology stack, budget, and even their favored media outlets. These insights have been invaluable in refining my team’s content and paid media strategies.

ENHANCING RESPONSE-BASED ADVERTISING

In marketing’s creative landscape, a tactical approach is sometimes crucial. ChatGPT excels here, notably during a time-strapped holiday season. Tasked with creating a compelling email for a January webinar with little time and lots of folks on holiday, we used prompted ChatGPT with our holiday webinar theme “Supercharge Your 24 Social Strategy” and asked for it to help us craft a click-worthy email via the AIDA (Attention-Interest-Desire-Action) framework. The outcome was a remarkable 300% increase in click-through rates, showcasing AI’s power in strategic, responsive advertising.

ACKNOWLEDGING THE POWER OF AI EDITING

From crafting a Slack message to assisting with internal briefs, ChatGPT has been my go-to editor. Its ability to tailor certain messages to specific communication styles—such as being jargon-free—is nothing short of impressive. This has enhanced the clarity and impact of my communications across the board.

SERVING AS A CREATIVE ARCHIVIST

In preparing for a product launch, ChatGPT has served me well as a creative archivist—providing insights on past marketing campaigns from companies who have similarly launched disruptive products.

By getting specific around needing to understand the specific tactics that drove success, ChatGPT has helped shape our approach to generating fame and achieving widespread industry impact.

These are just a few examples of how I’ve used AI in the past year. It has played multiple roles—from a strategist and brainstorming partner to a copywriter and researcher.

Throughout all of this, it’s important to remember that AI is a tool and not a replacement for human creativity.

To me, AI provides deep insights based on what’s been done. But it’s our creativity that dreams up ideas that have never been done. As we continue to harness AI’s power, it’s our human touch that will continue to make a real difference in the world of marketing.