AI in sales and marketing Archives

Marketing Is Quickly Becoming the NHL in 2005 but More Aggressive

Below is the transcript of the above video, which was inspired by my LinkedIn Post.

Transcript

Marketing is quickly becoming the NHL in 2005 when the game changed forever. Just like the league was dealing with new rules and a faster pace, marketers are dealing with a massive game shift: The rise of generative AI.

Skate to where the puck is going, not to where it has been.
-Wayne Gretzky’s Father

Aside from this not being the greatest hockey quote, because you’d find yourself often out of position, this quote has been on my mind as chatGPT has been changing the marketing and business landscape. The NHL went through a lot of changes making the game faster and more offensive. This included removing the two-line pass, adding additional penalties, and expanding the offensive zones. The same could be said for marketing with the rise of generative AI, increasing the speed of workflows, content ideation, reporting, and more.

Though it’s important not to get distracted by AI as a shiny object. It’s important to know where the puck is, but also the ability to see what else is developing on the ice. As a defenseman, I would anticipate where an offenseman was going to receive the pass, and nothing like an open ice hit. However, I have to be aware of what else is developing on the ice because I could bring myself out of position creating an opening for the other team’s offense.

In the case of AI, so many people are skirmishing for the puck, how do you uncover the ultimate prompt? Eventually, prompts will be more intuitive and become the new floor. And then what? At least the AI gurus who are promising millions of dollars a month will be gone with it.

It’s crucial that we develop a strategy that allows us to be flexible as AI changes and ultimately as the game evolves with it. GMs are constantly having to make their bets accordingly, and those who didn’t adapt to the faster, more offensive pace of the game found themselves going into slumps. AI is this to the business landscape. The key is to anticipate how it plays out and adopt the best positioning both before and as it develops.

To amend the quote, skate not just to where the puck is going, but anticipate the most crucial point and be there first, before the puck and everyone else even thinks to be there. And at the very least, skate with your head up.

On a related note: learn how to use ChatGPT more subtly: How to Make Killer Articles That Do Not Scream ChatGPT’.

How to Make Killer Articles That Do Not Scream ChatGPT

Hi Fellow Growth Explorers!*

If you’re in marketing and following generative AI, you’re seeing signs of ChatGPT all over. It’s likely in your own work too. But, what’s our relationship? Is it an assistant lifting us to new heights or our descent in the race to the lowest common denominator.

✅ I’m not a robot

* I know what you’re thinking, but that’s not ChatGPT. That’s 100% Bryan 😄

A Quick Look Under the Hood

ChatGPT is trained using a method called supervised fine-tuning. This training is on a large amount of text from books, websites, and other sources in a process called pretraining. It learns language patterns, facts about the world, and some reasoning abilities.

These models don’t “understand” text in the human sense. They become incredibly good at recognizing patterns. The result is that it’s responses often mirror the most common trends and phrases.

Deja Vu Moments with ChatGPT

Here’s something I’ve noticed, both in my interactions and in what I’ve come across many media channels.

Familiar words and phrases that are starting to crop up more than usual:

“Harnessing the Power of…”
“Delve into the transformative world of…”
“Unlock the Power of…”
“Game-changer”
“Deep dive”
“In the realm of…”

Word cloud with terms like 'power', 'harnessing', 'deep dive', and 'ChatGPT'

And then there’s also a certain brand of humor that I can’t quite put my finger on. You know it when you see it.

While these may actually be punchy phrases, they’ve become predictable (a nice word for lame).

My theory is that ChatGPT has an elementary idea of what makes a good headline, for example. It knows the components but doesn’t understand why so it can create diverse effective alternatives.

How to Make Killer Headlines that Do Not Scream ChatGPT

One day ChatGPT (or other LLMs) will also have specialized expertise.

Tools like Headline Analyzer use a set of criteria as a guide to creating compelling headlines.

Below is a basic outline to craft a headline in a way that ChatGPT doesn’t (at least not by default).

Engaging Headline Types

List: “5 Hidden Phrases to Avoid So You Don’t Actually Look Like ChatGPT”
How To: “How to Make Killer Headlines That Do Not Scream ChatGPT”
Question: “Have You Seen the Horrific AI Headlines Made With Lack of Imagination?”

Headline Word Balance

Common Words: 20–30%.
Uncommon Words: 10–20%.
Emotional Words: 10–15%.
Power Words: At least one.

Word Balance Type Examples:

Common Words

a	about	after	and
her	how	this	why
these	what	your	things

Uncommon Words

actually	awesome	baby	beautiful
heart	here	more	right
see	social	world	year

Emotional Words

absolutely	attractive	blissful	bravery
confessions	danger	dollar	spotlight
valuable	results	wonderful	zinger

Power Words

amazing	big	breakthrough	chance
destroy	exploit	forget	pay
scream	steal	urgent	wealth

Headline Length

12 words
60 characters

Sentiment

Positive sentiments: the way to go for best overall results
Negative sentiments: more engaging than neutral, but will turn off some of your audience
Neutral sentiments: Take a stance, and have a point of view.

Reading Level

This is a rule for copywriting across the board.

Simple is the new sophisticated:

Write at a 6th-grade reading level

The Hemingway Editor App is great for reading level adjustments as well.

Bonus: Social Media Post Recommendations:

🚀 Emojis – A ChatGPT 🤖 Love Afair 💘

Emojis have their use

Adding eye-catching color, emotion, and clarity.
Capturing attention in email subjects, and this trend translates to social media posts

ChatGPT’s Use and Abuse

The good: makes use of emojis that are technically contextually correct.
- The not good: Frequency – will include emojis in every sentence of social posts if you let it
  - A couple of emojis are great, but we’re not decorating a Christmas tree here. 🎄🚫

Because I’m Silly:

In fairness, I told ChatGPT to ramp up the emojis to exaggerate my point:

## 🚀 **Emojis - A ChatGPT 🤖 Love Affair 💘**

### Emojis have their use 🌟

- Adding eye-catching color 🌈, emotion 😊, and clarity 🔍.
- Capturing attention 👀 in email subjects 💌, and this trend translates to social media posts 📱💬

### ChatGPT’s Use and Abuse 😇😈

- **The good:** makes use of emojis 😃 that are technically contextually correct ✅.
- **The not good:** Frequency 🔄 - will include emojis in every sentence of social posts if you let it 📝
    - A couple of emojis are great 😁, but we’re not decorating a Christmas tree here 🎄🚫.

My EYES! 😎😎😎😎😎😎

Making ChatGPT Work for Marketers

So, we’ve got this tool, which, while incredibly powerful, sometimes seems to take the road frequently traveled. How do we, as marketers steer it in the direction we want?

Content Ideation: ChatGPT is great for brainstorming and organizing your ideas. It can even help you create visual content faster.
Workflow Automation: You can have ChatGPT write VBA code to automate PowerPoint slides for repurposing content.
Test Custom Instructions: block the played-out phrases. Instruct it to use a diverse set of power words.
Use the right tool for the job: know when you shouldn’t use AI and when there’s no substitute for a dedicated tool.
1. Headline Analyzer for headlines.
2. Hemingway Editor for reading level
3. The same goes for other marketing initiatives like audience and keyword research
Feedback Loop: Tell ChatGPT what you want.
Direct and Specific: Be clear in your prompts.
Continuous Learning: The allure of AI tools like ChatGPT is their ability to learn from interactions. The more you engage and correct, the better the outputs become.

Custom Instructions' highlighted in a dropdown menu with an email address visible at the bottom. — Custom instructions setting for personalizing user experience.

In Conclusion…

ChatGPT can be a powerful tool in your utility belt. It’s just important to use it with intention, a strong input, and always make the final product yours.

Keep experimenting, keep refining.

And remember, while ChatGPT can suggest “Harnessing the Power…”

but only you can harness the power of your unique point of view.

***🎤 Drop***

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How to Best Automate and Conquer Your Whopping PowerPoint Slide Needs

In today’s digital landscape, creating automations to improve workflows and efficiencies is crucial. With the rising popularity of ChatGPT and generative AI, more and more professionals are finding innovative ways to gain an edge (and here’s how you can use ChatGPT for content without being generic).

In this blog, I’m going to demonstrate how to automate PowerPoint presentations using ChatGPT to generate VBA code. This post was inspired by a LinkedIn post conversation with Wil Reynolds, who asked his network for suggestions on how to use AI to improve presentations and communications.

What’s cool about this is that you don’t need to be an expert on VBA code. If you can follow short step-by-step instructions, you’ll be good to go!

In another post I dive into how to use ChatGPT to assist with visual content.

How Is This Useful?

Use Case: repurposing my content. If I take one (or several) of my blogs, I can quickly reformat it into a presentation.

Check it out for yourself:

Step-by-Step Guide to Automating PowerPoint with ChatGPT

ChatGPT Prompting: Open a new ChatGPT chat and enter your prompt along with labels and text for each slide. See the prompt I used below.
VBA Code Generation: Upon feeding the above prompt to ChatGPT, it returns with a VBA code specifically tailored for PowerPoint. This code will be used to automate the PowerPoint creation process. See the VBA code it provided below the prompt example.
Integrating VBA into PowerPoint: a. Open PowerPoint. b. Press Alt + F11. This will open the VBA editor inside PowerPoint. c. Navigate to Insert > Module. This action will create a new module. d. Once the new module is open, paste the VBA code that ChatGPT generated for you. e. Save your work by hitting the save icon or by pressing Ctrl + S.
Executing the VBA Code: With the code now in place, run the code by pressing the green “Play” button or hitting F5. Boom! Watch as PowerPoint populates your slides using the imported text.

My Prompt Example

Write this into a VBA code for PowerPoint:

---

## title: "The Rise of the Eagles: The Journey to the 2018 Super Bowl"

---

slide: 1
title: "Introduction"
content:

- The Eagles' remarkable journey.
- The underdog story that captured America.

---

---

slide: 2
title: "The Head Coach: Doug Pederson"
content:

- Hired in 2016, Pederson's leadership transformed the team.
- Created a dynamic and aggressive offensive strategy.
- Fostered a tight-knit team culture.

---

---

slide: 3
title: "Carson Wentz's Stellar Season"
content:

- Drafted 2nd overall in 2016.
- In 2017, threw for 33 touchdowns in just 13 games.
- A frontrunner for MVP before his injury.

---

---

slide: 4
title: "The Backup's Rise: Nick Foles"
content:

- Stepped up after Wentz's injury.
- Had previous success with the Eagles in 2013.
- Played some of the best football of his career in the playoffs.

---

---

slide: 5
title: "Defensive Dominance"
content:

- Ranked 4th in total defense.
- Fletcher Cox led a formidable front.
- Malcom Jenkins provided veteran leadership in the secondary.

---

---

slide: 6
title: "Offseason Acquisitions"
content:

- Acquired key pieces like Alshon Jeffery and LeGarrette Blount.
- Trades and free agent signings provided depth and talent.
- Front office's shrewd moves set the team up for success.

---

---

slide: 7
title: "The 'Philly Special'"
content:

- Trick play in the Super Bowl that defined their aggressive approach.
- Foles caught a touchdown pass on 4th down.
- Embodied the team's fearless attitude.

---

---

slide: 8
title: "Overcoming Adversity"
content:

- Many key players faced injuries throughout the season.
- The "next man up" mentality prevailed.
- Overcame the underdog label to triumph.

---

---

slide: 9
title: "The Super Bowl LII Win"
content:

- Faced the New England Patriots.
- High-scoring game ended 41-33.
- First Super Bowl win in franchise history.

---

---

slide: 10
title: "Conclusion"
content:

- A season of trials and triumphs.
- A true team victory – from the front office to the players.
- A historic moment for Philadelphia and its fans.

VBA Code Provided by ChatGPT

Sub GeneratePresentation()

    ' Declare variables
    Dim pptApp As Object
    Dim pptPresentation As Object
    Dim pptSlide As Object
    Dim pptTextbox As Object
    Dim slideIndex As Integer
    Dim contentIndex As Integer

    ' Create a new PowerPoint application and presentation
    Set pptApp = CreateObject("PowerPoint.Application")
    pptApp.Visible = True
    Set pptPresentation = pptApp.Presentations.Add

    ' Set presentation title
    pptPresentation.Slides.Add 1, 1 ' Slide 1
    pptPresentation.Slides(1).Shapes(1).TextFrame.TextRange.Text = "The Rise of the Eagles: The Journey to the 2018 Super Bowl"

    ' Add the content
    For slideIndex = 1 To 10

        ' Add a new slide
        Set pptSlide = pptPresentation.Slides.Add(slideIndex + 1, 1)

        ' Slide titles and content
        Select Case slideIndex

            Case 1
                pptSlide.Shapes(1).TextFrame.TextRange.Text = "Introduction"
                Content = Array("The Eagles' remarkable journey.", "The underdog story that captured America.")

            Case 2
                pptSlide.Shapes(1).TextFrame.TextRange.Text = "The Head Coach: Doug Pederson"
                Content = Array("Hired in 2016, Pederson's leadership transformed the team.", "Created a dynamic and aggressive offensive strategy.", "Fostered a tight-knit team culture.")

            Case 3
                pptSlide.Shapes(1).TextFrame.TextRange.Text = "Carson Wentz's Stellar Season"
                Content = Array("Drafted 2nd overall in 2016.", "In 2017, threw for 33 touchdowns in just 13 games.", "A frontrunner for MVP before his injury.")

            Case 4
                pptSlide.Shapes(1).TextFrame.TextRange.Text = "The Backup's Rise: Nick Foles"
                Content = Array("Stepped up after Wentz's injury.", "Had previous success with the Eagles in 2013.", "Played some of the best football of his career in the playoffs.")

            Case 5
                pptSlide.Shapes(1).TextFrame.TextRange.Text = "Defensive Dominance"
                Content = Array("Ranked 4th in total defense.", "Fletcher Cox led a formidable front.", "Malcom Jenkins provided veteran leadership in the secondary.")

            Case 6
                pptSlide.Shapes(1).TextFrame.TextRange.Text = "Offseason Acquisitions"
                Content = Array("Acquired key pieces like Alshon Jeffery and LeGarrette Blount.", "Trades and free agent signings provided depth and talent.", "Front office's shrewd moves set the team up for success.")

            Case 7
                pptSlide.Shapes(1).TextFrame.TextRange.Text = "The 'Philly Special'"
                Content = Array("Trick play in the Super Bowl that defined their aggressive approach.", "Foles caught a touchdown pass on 4th down.", "Embodied the team's fearless attitude.")

            Case 8
                pptSlide.Shapes(1).TextFrame.TextRange.Text = "Overcoming Adversity"
                Content = Array("Many key players faced injuries throughout the season.", "The ""next man up"" mentality prevailed.", "Overcame the underdog label to triumph.")

            Case 9
                pptSlide.Shapes(1).TextFrame.TextRange.Text = "The Super Bowl LII Win"
                Content = Array("Faced the New England Patriots.", "High-scoring game ended 41-33.", "First Super Bowl win in franchise history.")

            Case 10
                pptSlide.Shapes(1).TextFrame.TextRange.Text = "Conclusion"
                Content = Array("A season of trials and triumphs.", "A true team victory – from the front office to the players.", "A historic moment for Philadelphia and its fans.")

        End Select

        ' Add content to slide
        For contentIndex = LBound(Content) To UBound(Content)
            Set pptTextbox = pptSlide.Shapes.AddTextbox(Orientation:=1, Left:=100, Top:=100 + (contentIndex * 50), Width:=600, Height:=40)
            pptTextbox.TextFrame.TextRange.Text = Content(contentIndex)
        Next contentIndex

    Next slideIndex

    ' Clean up
    Set pptSlide = Nothing
    Set pptPresentation = Nothing
    Set pptApp = Nothing

End Sub

In Conclusion

The future possibilities for improving workflows appear to be limitless, as generative AI will only get better.

How have you leveraged ChatGPT and other generative AI to enhance your workflows?

Share your experiences, tips, or challenges in the comments below!

Join the 16,000+ people I’m predicting, optimistically to the point of silliness, will see this blog someday… and get my updates straight to your inbox!

Harnessing the Power of AI with ChatGPT: A Personal Stylist and Professional Problem Solver

Hello, fellow tech, sales, and marketing enthusiasts! Today, I’m thrilled to share some intriguing ways AI is beginning to augment part of my life, simplifying tasks I once found beyond my priorities, and yes, even helping me dress better. We’ll first explore some playful personal applications before delving into its transformative role in my professional life. Ready to geek out with me? Let’s dive in!

I might not be a fashion leader, but I appreciate a well-dressed individual. However, like most (maybe at least some?) adults, I often find myself reaching for familiar pieces in the whirlwind of everyday life. Imagine my surprise when I found a solution in the form of ChatGPT, OpenAI’s language model, stepping in as my personal stylist!

The Unexpected Perks of an AI Stylist

Infographic illustrating the impact of AI (ChatGPT) in personal and professional life, featuring elements like AI as a stylist, automating invoicing, recipe generation, process optimization, writing aid, and visual aid.

Here’s a classic scenario – I needed an outfit for a friend’s daughter’s baptism. Balancing work with a lively 19-month-old child at home meant I had minimal time for outfit planning (let’s face it, I wasn’t likely to plan my outfit regardless). So, I turned to ChatGPT and what ensued was a fascinating experience. With basic instructions including the occasion, weather, dress code, and a family color scheme (we were going for a ‘blue’ theme), ChatGPT put together three outfit options, making full use of my underutilized wardrobe.

To make this possible, I curated a Google Sheets database of my clothes. Ensuring ChatGPT comprehended the layout of this data was critical to receiving meaningful suggestions. I had to do this by first quizzing its understanding of the data and then making adjustments accordingly. When it comes to AI, like anything else, garbage in equals garbage out. So, a well-organized input is essential.

AI: A Game Changer in Professional Sphere

The exciting journey with AI doesn’t end with my personal fashion choices. On the professional front, my role as a Sales System Engineer often entices me to dig into my wider skill set. In the past, I’ve dabbled in the Adobe Suite, website coding, advanced Microsoft Excel reporting, and that’s before getting into my specialization in digital marketing platforms and SEO. However, the question isn’t so much about my ability to execute these tasks, but rather, should I be focusing on them?

While my diverse skill set could, in theory, be advantageous, it’s important to remember my primary role – ensuring optimal sales process and performance. Spending time reacquainting myself with JavaScript or taking on design tasks in Adobe would detract from my core responsibilities. In another post, I show How ChatGPT Helped Me Create Visual Content Faster, detailing how AI assisted in rapidly producing visual assets for a blog on email management and responsiveness.

This is where a predicament arose: Our team provides an automated Personalized Video solution that has greatly improved our own prospecting. However, unlike our target customers, we have a greater need to regularly create new templates to show off our latest capabilities. New templates often require separate setups from our tech team which usually results in manual data processing for our marketing team. While the tool is beneficial even in its current state, we’re not using the fully automated version that our clients use. The manual data processing often takes up to two weeks. As client work usually takes priority over internal requests, we needed to speed things up given the immediate need for new campaigns. And hey, it costs more in resources to acquire new clients than it does to overdeliver for our existing clients, so I’m happy we operate this way. Enter ChatGPT.

ChatGPT came to the rescue by helping me automate the data processing necessary to deliver the data template used for rendering new videos. It followed my instructions to create a JavaScript in Google Sheets. With precise instructions and a clear goal, a task that was previously stuck in the queue for weeks suddenly took only a matter of seconds. What a game-changer!

The Future is AI: Personal & Professional Augmentation

With ChatGPT, I’ve discovered a tool that seamlessly blends into my personal and professional life, offering unique solutions and enhancing productivity. It not only helps me dress sharply (okay, I’ll settle for better) but also offers a swift solution to complex work processes, allowing me to utilize my wider skill set without compromising on my key responsibilities.

The very post you’re reading now was crafted with the assistance of ChatGPT. Like a professional copywriter, it provided suggestions, corrected grammar, helped with formatting, and even adjusted the tone and format for various platforms, including social media posts, my blog, and an accompanying video script. Furthermore, it interviewed me to capture my thoughts and experiences in a comprehensive and coherent manner. The possibilities seem boundless.

As I continue to delve into the world of AI, I’d love to hear about your experiences. How are you using AI to enhance your personal or professional life? Let’s explore this exciting new realm together!

Bryan Kofsky
Sales System Engineer

Tag: AI in sales and marketing