I have a confession to make.
When I first came across Generative AI and chatGPT last December, I couldn't help but feel a slight sense of skepticism. Like Shania would put it -- that don't impress me much.
After all, how many times have we been promised the "next big thing" in this industry? Whether it was the proclaimed "Year of Video Marketing" or the year "Snapchat would change everything" -- none of these predictions truly lived up to the hype.
However, all my doubts vanished when I decided to give chatGPT a try, and was absolutely amazed by its capabilities and versatility.
The Aha Moment: My first experiments were with research.
I had been frustrated for a while by how many blue links you have to click in Google to actually get the answer you want.
Let me give you an example: if you search in Google for "no sugar no sweeteners cake recipe for toddlers" you will get a bunch of websites, most of the them half answering this query. So to actually get to build a recipe, I'd have to read through each one and put together an answer of my own.
But this applies to many situations where you need multiple Google searches and clicking on multiple links to get the answer you want. Think about a time when you need to create an itinerary for a 2-day trip to Barcelona for a very specific event, with a specific crew. It's a lot of work to get to your desired outcome.
The ChatGPT research experience is so different.
With chatGPT, you can type something like "give me a raspberries and mascarpone cake recipe that's good for toddlers. No sugar and no sweeteners" and it gives you the entire recipe, step by step. You don't need to look for more answers, because the information you need is right there, curated for you. This is amazing and saves at least 30 minutes otherwise spent reading a lot of useless information.
Research is still one of my favorite uses of chatGPT. I use to research very specific travel plans, recipes, exercise plans etc.
Note: chatGPT is not up to date, so make sure you're researching things that are more evergreen.
Lightning-Fast Content Creation
The moment I truly fell in love with the power of generative AI for content creation was when I witnessed its incredible capabilities. While many bloggers find it valuable, I initially doubted whether I needed AI to generate content since my writing is deeply personal, reflecting my own experiences and thoughts. However, as a Product Marketing Manager, I quickly realized the potential of generative AI in my day-to-day job, wherever content creation is needed. It has become an essential tool that effortlessly helps me create compelling content and boosts my productivity.
I use it almost daily to:
Re-write meeting notes
Create summaries of articles
Re-write notes and turn them into stakeholder reports
Literally, turn any draft into finished work
Draft demo scripts
Draft video scripts
Draft outlines and scripts for conferences and events
As a marketer, storytelling is essential to my work. However, I also highly prioritize productivity and efficiently completing projects. Since integrating AI into my workflows, I've seen a remarkable enhancement in both my creative writing abilities and overall productivity.
AI and Personalization
When I started using AI to create content, the results were so-so. Though technically sound, the content lacked either my unique voice or sounded too robotic. However, with better and better prompting, it began producing content that resonated better with my voice and goals.
Prompting is both an art and a science. If you're too broad and not specific enough about your intention, you'll get an answer that is too broad. Here's an example of how slightly changing my question gives two very different results.
But being too too specific is just too time-consuming. If I had the time to write that much, I wouldn't need a generative AI tool in the first place. So that's why you need to experiment and hone the prompting skill if you want to get more out of AI tools.
The Blend of Human & AI
As I delved deeper into the world of AI this year, I came to realize that its purpose is not to replace the human touch, but rather to enhance it.
This year, I used AI to help me draft some video scripts that a creative team then took to refine. The AI didn't do any of the creative work, but it gave a quick head start and instead of spending hours on the initial draft, it allowed the creative team to focus on refining the finer details, developing strategies, and crafting compelling lines. With AI handling the heavy lifting, the team gained more time and freedom to unleash their creativity.
To all my fellow product marketing managers and entrepreneurs, I know the idea of integrating AI might seem daunting or even counterintuitive. But based on our experience, it's a leap worth taking.
PS: This year at INBOUND I'll be talking about the awesome tools and features the HubSpot AI product team has been developing and how those can help unlock your productivity. I'm so excited to be at a live event again and to be talking about AI! Hope I'll see you there.