By Julian Horsey

In today’s fast-paced digital world, the pressure to produce high-quality content quickly and efficiently is more intense than ever. Whether you’re a marketer, educator, or content creator, the demand for engaging and visually appealing material can feel overwhelming. But what if there were AI tools out there that could not only ease this burden but also enhance your creative process?

Imagine having access to a suite of AI-powered tools that streamline everything from video production to web design, allowing you to focus on what truly matters—your unique voice and vision. This guide by Aurelius Tjin introduces you to eight such new AI tools that are transforming the content creation landscape, offering solutions to everyday challenges.

Essential AI Tools for Modern Content Creators

As you dive into this guide, you’ll discover how these tools can transform your workflow, making tasks that once seemed daunting feel like a breeze. From Gamma’s intuitive presentation creation to Dream Machine’s text-to-video magic, each tool is designed to unlock new levels of efficiency and creativity. These AI solutions not only save you time but also open up new possibilities for content creation across various media formats. So, whether you’re looking to enhance your research capabilities with Perplexity or simplify video content analysis with YouTube Summary, these tools are here to empower you on your creative journey. Ready to explore how AI can elevate your content game? Let’s get started!

8 AI Tools You Probably Didn’t Know Existed!

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Gamma: Streamlining Presentations and Web Content

Gamma stands out as a versatile AI-powered platform that transforms the creation of presentations, documents, and web pages. By automatically generating content, themes, and layouts, Gamma allows you to focus on fine-tuning and customization rather than starting from scratch.

Key features of Gamma include:

• Intelligent content suggestion based on your input
• Customizable templates for various industries
• Seamless integration with existing data sources
• Real-time collaboration capabilities

This tool is particularly valuable for professionals who need to produce high-quality, visually appealing content under tight deadlines. Whether you’re preparing a business proposal or designing a website, Gamma streamlines the process, allowing you to achieve professional results in a fraction of the time.

Dream Machine by Luma: Bringing Text to Life

Dream Machine by Luma offers an innovative approach to content creation by transforming text prompts into captivating video content. With a user-friendly interface and a generous free tier of 30 credits per month, Dream Machine makes video production accessible to creators of all levels.

Notable aspects of Dream Machine include:

• Intuitive text-to-video conversion
• Wide range of customizable video styles
• Integration with popular stock footage libraries
• Easy editing and refinement options

This tool is ideal for marketers, social media managers, and content creators looking to diversify their media offerings without investing in extensive video production skills or equipment. Dream Machine enables you to create engaging video content that resonates with your audience, all from a simple text prompt.

Hostinger: Redefining Web Hosting with AI

Hostinger is transforming the web hosting industry by incorporating AI into its website building platform. This innovative approach allows you to create sophisticated websites using straightforward text prompts, eliminating the need for complex coding or design skills.

Hostinger’s AI-powered features include:

• Text-based website generation
• E-commerce functionality integration
• Mobile-responsive design optimization
• SEO-friendly structure suggestions

For businesses aiming to establish a robust online presence, Hostinger’s AI capabilities offer a comprehensive solution. By streamlining the web design process, you can focus on strategic growth and content creation, rather than getting bogged down in technical details.

Perplexity: Transforming Information Retrieval

Perplexity is changing the game in research and information gathering by providing real-time results with credible source references. Unlike traditional search engines, Perplexity offers up-to-the-minute information, making it an invaluable tool for professionals who rely on accurate and current data.

Key advantages of Perplexity include:

• Real-time information updates
• Credible source citations
• Contextual understanding of queries
• Conversational interface for natural interactions

This tool enables you to make informed decisions based on the latest available information, enhancing your research capabilities and making sure you stay ahead in your field.

Notebook LM: Elevating Document Management

Notebook LM, an experimental tool developed by Google, takes document management to new heights. By allowing you to upload and organize personal research documents, Notebook LM ensures more accurate and relevant information retrieval.

Standout features of Notebook LM include:

• Personalized document indexing
• Advanced search capabilities within your documents
• AI-powered summarization of complex texts
• Integration with Google’s vast knowledge base

This tool is particularly beneficial for researchers, academics, and professionals who need to manage and navigate extensive data sets efficiently. Notebook LM’s capabilities streamline the research process, significantly enhancing productivity and depth of analysis.

Teller: Simplifying Screen Recording and Video Creation

Teller is transforming video creation by offering a comprehensive screen and webcam recording solution. With its user-friendly interface and advanced features, Teller is perfect for educators, trainers, and professionals who need to produce instructional or presentation videos quickly and efficiently.

Key features of Teller include:

• Simultaneous screen and webcam recording
• Automatic silence removal for concise content
• Built-in captioning for accessibility
• Easy editing and sharing options

By automating many aspects of video production, Teller allows you to focus on delivering high-quality content rather than getting caught up in technical details. This tool is invaluable for creating engaging tutorials, product demonstrations, or online courses.

Pictory: Automating Video Content Creation

Pictory transforms the way you approach video content by automatically converting scripts or blog posts into dynamic visual presentations. This tool is particularly useful for content creators who want to repurpose their written content into engaging video format without extensive editing skills.

Pictory’s standout capabilities include:

• Automatic integration of relevant stock footage
• Intelligent caption generation and placement
• Customizable branding elements
• Multi-format export options for various platforms

For social media marketers and content creators, Pictory offers a way to maintain consistent, high-quality video output with minimal effort. This tool bridges the gap between written and visual content, allowing you to maximize the reach and impact of your message across different media formats.

YouTube Summary with ChatGPT: Efficient Video Content Analysis

The YouTube Summary with ChatGPT browser extension is a fantastic option for professionals who need to extract key information from lengthy video content quickly. By generating transcripts and concise summaries of YouTube videos, this tool saves valuable time and enhances information retention.

Key benefits of this tool include:

• Automatic transcript generation
• AI-powered summarization of video content
• Quick access to key points and timestamps
• Integration with ChatGPT for further analysis

This extension is ideal for researchers, journalists, and busy professionals who need to stay informed on various topics without dedicating excessive time to video consumption. By condensing video content into digestible summaries, you can efficiently extract valuable insights and stay up-to-date in your field.

These eight AI tools represent a significant leap forward in content creation and management technologies. By incorporating these innovative solutions into your workflow, you can dramatically enhance your productivity, creativity, and efficiency across various media formats. Whether you’re a marketer crafting compelling campaigns, an educator developing online courses, or a researcher managing vast amounts of data, these tools offer tailored solutions to meet your specific content needs. Embrace these AI-powered technologies to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving digital landscape and unlock new possibilities in your content creation journey.

Media Credit: Aurelius Tjin

By Julian Horsey

Sourced from Geeky Gadgets

By Satya Narayan

A good social media marketing strategy forms the backbone of a social media presence. More importantly, it is about drawing up a plan that not only attracts your target audience but also engages and grows them. Businesses that wish to expand their online footprint partner and share their expertise with companies such as Creation Infoways, which really can make a difference.

They come with a very deep understanding of the digital landscape and bring with them tailored solutions to drive measurable results.

Developing a Social Media Marketing Strategy

Developing a social media marketing strategy simply starts with understanding your brand objectives, which have goals, knowing the target audience, and choosing the right platform that best focuses on a specific target. Your strategies will need to correlate properly with your overall business objective if you want to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or drive sales.

Key elements of a successful social media strategy would be:

• Audience Analysis: Who your customers are and where they hang out online.

• Content Planning: What to share, how it will resonate, and the kind of engagement that is expected.

• Platform Selection: Picking the right channels for your campaigns.

• Performance Metrics: Establish KPIs for campaigns.

Creation Infoways offers total assistance in this regard and makes your strategy fluid so that it is up-to-date with the trend changes.

How to Know the Best Time to Post on Social Media?

When it comes to social media, timing is everything. Knowing the best time to post on social media can make a huge difference in your engagement rates. While there is no one-size-fits-all answer, sometimes looking at the activity patterns of your audience can help to gain insights about exactly when to post.

Factors that affect the best times to post

• Audience demographics: What is the age group and region in which your audience is generally online?

• Platform algorithms: It may be that some platforms give more credence to what has been posted most recently.

• Industry trends: What are the trends in posting of competitors and industry peers, and how can you take advantage of high activity times?

Creation Infoways Advanced analytics are used to determine the best times you should be posting as per your audience, ensuring that your content gets maximum visibility.

To maximize your reach, you need to know how the social media algorithm works. Algorithms define what every user sees in their feed and usually do this by the relevance, engagement, and timeliness of your post. Understanding them deeply can help in producing content that does well organically.

Understanding the Social Media Algorithm

Some key factors help us understand social media algorithms:

• Engagement is key: Get people to engage through comments, likes, and shares.

• Content quality: High quality and relevant content is more likely to weed through the algorithm and frequently to the top.

• Consistency: As regular posting keeps your content frequent and relevant, then no chances of bouncing back in an algorithm.

The content by Creation Infoways is optimized to be up-to-date with the latest algorithms, and hence your brand will never be left behind in the race.

Leveraging Social Media Analytics

Social media analytics give you insights that help back up your campaigns. Use data analysis to understand what is working and what is not, which will guide you in making the proper changes in your strategy to realize better results.

The main metrics you will be watching include:

• Engagement rates: Likes, shares, comments, and general interaction

• Reach and impressions: See how many people see your content.

• Conversion rates: How your social media effort translates to sales or leads.

Creation Infoways monitors these metrics by using advanced tools for analytics that come up with actionable insights to aid in refining your strategy for better performance.

Benefits of Having a Social Media Calendar

A social media calendar helps keep the content timely for every business, relevant, and consistent. It allows planning the posts, maintaining a campaign timetable across all platforms, and saving the business from scrambling at the last minute.

• Simplify Your Content Creation: Plan out when to post and create content in advance.

• Consistency: Post content continually without any breaks.

• Campaign Coordination: Integrate and work your social campaign with your other marketing campaigns.

We will help you create a personalized calendar that enables you to show up online consistently without having to develop content day in and day out.

Social media growth requires strategic planning, engaging content in the platform, and a consistent effort to grow the count of followers along with building the community.

Strategies for Continued Growth on Social Media

• Varied content: Diversify your content.

• Influence marketing: Associate with influencers to have a larger reach.

• Engagement posts: Make posts to initiate a discussion.

At the same time, Creation Infoways gives you amazing brand creative growth strategies to engage your audience, make a following, and expand your reach.

Why You Need to Work with a Social Media Marketing Agency?

Partnership with a social media marketing agency is important at the current time. Creation Infoways will work out the proper strategy to force you through the social media ranks. Its professionals work on every component of the strategy for absolute success, from content creation to analytics.

Here are the Pros of Working with Creation Infoways:

• Expert advice: Access knowledge and experience from professionals.

• Customized Strategies: Get a personalized strategy that matches up with the uniqueness of your brand.

• Comprehensive Services: Ranging from strategy development to content creation and performance analysis, acquire the benefit of full-service services.

Choose to work with Creation Infoways and, hence, keep your mind free to concentrate on your main business. They will take care of the rest, making sure that your social media activity is in a constant state of growth while keeping your people engaged.

Engagement is what makes sure that a social media campaign is powerful. This doesn’t mean that one can just post and expect magic to happen. Active engagement with an audience is a critical way to develop relations and establish brand loyalty.

Some of the ways to keep an audience engaged and invested in a brand include responding to comments, asking questions, and compelling user-generated content.

Creation Infoways believes firmly in engagement and provides strategies to increase not just interactions but also build a community around your brand.

They turn your followers into loyal customers by enabling meaningful connections with your followers, thereby building a community around your brand hence improving your brand’s overall success on social media.

Creation Infoways helps you create a winning brand strategy that works well alongside the objectives and goals set for your business.

Creation Infoways’ team will see to it that you get every aspect of a social media platform right from visuals and messaging to building the essence of your brand most perfectly.

Conclusion

Having a sensibly structured social media marketing strategy is pivotal for a brand desiring to make it big in the online space. It is a process from understanding the algorithms to leveraging analytics and, at the same time posting at the right times in a detailed manner.

Trust Infoways to create an impact on your social media. We create growth and deliver returns. Your brand, with these strategies in place and also partnering with the right agency, can succeed in the digital world for a long time.

By Satya Narayan

Sourced from CREATION INFOWAYS

By Kristen Wiley

Let’s dig into the difference between influencer gifting and paid collaborations?

Both represent ways for brands to get products into the hands of content creators faster.

To kick things off, let’s quickly define both concepts:

Influencer gifting is when brands send products to content creators in exchange for promotional social posts.

Paid collaborations (AKA sponsorships) refer to influencers posting about brands in exchange for free product(s) and financial compensation.

These strategies are similar. But they involve different commitments for brands and creators.

Which approach is “best,” though? Below are the benefits and requirements for brands considering gifting versus paid collaborations.

Influencer Gifting Basics & Best Practices

No big surprises here! “Gifting” simply means sending free products to creators.

As a brand, your goal is to earn a shout-out from influencers in exchange for products.

You don’t have to look hard to find #gifted products across Instagram and TikTok. Gifting campaigns are big among CPG brands looking to earn reviews and user-generated content.

Source: @hippiepippiereviews

Unlike paid collabs, gifting campaigns rarely involve contracts or commitments for creators.

And whether your brand gets a shout out or review is at the influencer’s discretion.

Here’s a snapshot of the benefits of gifting campaigns for brands and creators alike:

The key to making a gifting collaboration work? Sending the right products to the right people.

What do we mean by that, though? Think of working with influencers as a value exchange. If your brand’s gift wanted to be viewed as valuable, you need to…

• Gift products that are worth posting.  Unpaid collaborations won’t feel “lesser” if your product is relevant to the influencer and their audience. For example, a skincare kit is a natural fit for a makeup influencer versus a fitness creator.
• Send products with a “cool” factor. Bonus points if your product can “wow” viewers on camera. Not to mention you’re less likely to get ghosted. The easier a creator can integrate a product into their existing content, the better.
• Bundle products to boost the value of your gift. When we talk about “value exchange,” consider the literal price tag of your product. The greater the value, the more likely you are to earn great content. Consider how PR packages are popular because they make it easy to bundle your products. They also provide a comprehensive sample of what you offer.

“Value” is in the eye of the beholder. This highlights the importance of finding the right creators.

Again, micro-influencers and small creators know how to authentically promote products.  Overly promotional posts are a turn-off to their audiences. That’s also why gifting collaborations involve less direction from brands to creators.

Consider that balancing creative freedom with brand requirements is a challenge for 50% of creators. Translation? Brands can’t ask too much of creators for gift-only collaborations.

Rules and Guidelines for Gifting Collaborations

Now, onto the rules!

The FTC has specific guidelines for gifted products and influencer marketing.

The short of it? Influencers must differentiate between promotional posts and organic posts about products they like. This applies to gifted products with no other form of compensation.

There are a few ways that creators can do this according to the FTC:

• Including hashtags like #gifted to disclose partnerships
• Using clear language (“I was gifted this product by…”)
• Explicitly stating (in a caption or video) that a brand sent them a product to review

Source: @simply_quyen

The major social platforms pretty much follow the FTC’s lead.  Gifted posts fall under the umbrella of “branded content” on Instagram and TikTok.

According to Instagram themselves, brands should “clearly” disclose gifted partnerships. Many creators will outright say they were gifted a product in their post captions. Others might tag the brand and use a #gifted hashtag. TikTok’s branded content policy outlines similar rules.

There’s no one-size-fits-all way to disclose gifted collaborations. This is actually good news for brands and creators, though. Gifted posts don’t have to sound rigid or needlessly promotional. If you need more evidence, check out our examples of influencer gifting that highlight how.

The takeaway? Influencers and brands can get creative while still playing by the rules. Many skincare brands have their own branded #gifted hashtags for creators promoting products. Below is an example from Supergoop.

Remember that it’s up to you to establish these requirements with creators. This is why brands should find influencers who already know the rules for promoting products.

Note on Affiliate Links: You might be tempted to provide influencers an affiliate link or promo code along with free product for their followers to take advantage of. Still, you must disclose this sort of partnership as well. Consumers must be aware that although products were given for free – if they make a purchase, the influencer will be making a profit.

Paid Influencer Collaboration Basics & Best Practices

Paid collaboration between brands and influencers involves financial compensation beyond free products.

These collabs are popular for brands targeting specific creators with large audiences.

Think of paid collab posts like traditional ads. The difference is that influencers can inject some much-needed creativity into their posts. It’s well-documented that creator-based ads perform better on TikTok and Instagram than non-creator ads.

Consider that influencer ads themselves can also serve as their own form of paid collaboration even when featuring gifted products. For example, Spark Ads on TikTok are unique as creators can earn pay-outs for their posts via TikTok Shop or get compensated for their Spark Ad Codes.

Partnership Ads (formerly “Branded Content Ads”) are a popular form of paid collaboration on Instagram right now, too. These ads take organic creator content and transform it into promotional content. These posts contain the “paid partnership” label on Instagram (see below).

Source: @cozyrosati

Beyond budget, the key difference between gifting and paid collaboration is creative direction.

With most paid collabs, brands call the shots when it comes to what influencers say in a post.

Sponsored content involves a detailed creative brief with explicit instructions and talking points.  On the flip side, gifted posts let creators freestyle and share unfiltered thoughts.

Instructions can remove some of the personality from your sponsored content. This again highlights the importance of creative freedom. That said, skilled creators can strike a brilliant balance between personality and promotion.

Source: @jennaphipps

Rules and Guidelines for Paid Collaborations

The FTC has guidelines for product endorsements and monetary compensation on social media.

Here’s a five-word summary: when in doubt, disclose it.

Again, Instagram and TikTok have similar policies for paid collaborations and influencer gifting. Both are considered “branded content.” For sponsored posts, creators must take steps such as:

• Including disclosures like #ad or #sponsored in their post captions
• Using the “Paid partnership” tag on platforms like Instagram

Failing to do so isn’t worth the potential backlash and fallout (think: fines and suspensions).

Despite their similarities, note that not all disclosure hashtags are the same. For example, #ad implies that a post’s language and endorsement are approved by a brand prior to posting. Meanwhile, the #gifted tag is more of a general label.

The FTC is crystal clear that disclosures are the responsibility of brands and influencers (hint: not social platforms). On that note, applying a “sponsored” or “paid partnership” label isn’t considered a disclosure by default. According to the FTC:

“Just because a platform offers a feature like that is no guarantee it’s an effective way for influencers to disclose their material connection to a brand.”

And that’s why we still see the #ad disclosure in paid collaboration posts.

Source: @lauragolay

Gifting vs. Paid Collaborations: Which is “Best?”

The short answer? It depends!

Whether you’re sending free products or compensating creators with cash, both strategies are effective at boosting influencer ROI. It’s all about creating an equitable value exchange.

The most important piece of the puzzle, though?

Sending your product to relevant influencers at scale.

Brands can’t get significant awareness and better social search rankings with just a handful of gifted posts. To maximize your influencer marketing ROI in terms of time and budget, a high volume of content is crucial.

But paying individual influencers for hundreds of posts isn’t realistic for brands in-house.

That’s where Statusphere can help. Our micro-influencer marketing platform matches brands with creators from our vetted influencer network using 250+ first-party data points. We only match brands with creators that actively want to post about their products.

Since you only partner with creators from our network, content is guaranteed and scalable. Our platform has already generated 75,000+ authentic posts on behalf of 400+ consumer brands. We specialize in helping brands scale gifted collabs and paid campaigns with smaller creators.

Want to learn more about our software? Get in touch with one of our experts to see how we can streamline your influencer marketing efforts with guaranteed content at scale.

By Kristen Wiley

Sourced from STATUSPHERE

By Jodie Cook

LinkedIn has over 1 billion users from 200 countries. 16.2% use it daily. 49 million people look for jobs there every week. LinkedIn is where the money’s at. But when you’re a busy founder, you don’t have time to mess around. Writing posts takes ages and you have other things to do.

ChatGPT can help. Here’s how to make it write LinkedIn posts just like you in five simple steps. Copy, paste and edit the square brackets in ChatGPT, and keep the same chat window open so the context carries through. Be proud to publish every time.

Make it sound like you

Your posts should sound like you wrote them. Not a robot. ChatGPT needs to get your style. How you talk. What words you use. Head to LinkedIn, look at your analytics and find your top performing posts of all time, then give ChatGPT those as examples so it can copy your vibe.

“Your task will be to write my LinkedIn posts. First read these posts I wrote. Tell me how I write and create a style guide to use in the new posts. Make the style guide include what kind of words I use, my sentence length, my tone and style and structure. Include what makes my writing unique. [Include example posts]”

Read what it says. If it’s right, move on. If not, give it more posts or explain what it got wrong.

Pick your topics

Your goal is to reserve a space in someone’s head for the thing that you do. Especially on LinkedIn. If a connection thinks of someone else first, you’ve lost the game. To achieve this, stick to what you know, and do it consistently. Keep going until people see you as the expert, and then don’t stop. Pick three or four main things you’ll post about, which become your pillars. Your followers will know what to expect from you and this matters for showing up online.

“Now, give me 10 ideas for LinkedIn posts about these topics: [list your content pillars, based on the topic you want to own and be known for]. Present the ideas using one sentence for each one and make them punchy.”

Look at the ideas and choose the best ones. Take them forward using the next few prompts.

Get the post

Good instructions make good posts. Bad ones make rubbish. Get your instructions right and ChatGPT will pump out killer content. Spend time on this bit because it pays off.

“Let’s go forward with idea [select the idea you want to go forward with first]. Use my writing style that we just described. Start the post with a hook, which should be a short, sharp, punchy line that grabs attention with my target audience but should not be a question. Then add a rehook, a short line that comes after the hook, that sets up the post and signposts the rest of the post. The main part of the post should fill a knowledge gap in my target audience, so I should help them do something in distinct steps, adding value with each one. Write new sentences on new lines, with line breaks. The penultimate line should be a compelling statement that strongly states one of my audience’s strong beliefs back to them. The final line should invite engagement on my post, inviting people to comment. Make sure the answer to this question is something they would be proud to share. Before you write this post, ask me questions about my target audience. Then ask for a personal story to incorporate in the post.”

Make it better

First drafts are never perfect. That’s fine. Read what ChatGPT writes. Then make it better. This is where okay posts become great ones. The ones people remember and share.

“Change this post to make it more [specify what you’d like changing, for example chatty, professional, simple, punchy]. Do not use these words [include the words used in the post that you wouldn’t use in real life]. Also don’t [anything else you’ve spotted that you don’t like]. Now give me the post without the section titles.”

Keep re-prompting until you love it. The more you tell ChatGPT, the better it gets at writing like you.

Double check

ChatGPT forgets things. Chances are, with this journey of prompting you’ve just undertaken, it’s gone away from your original style guide. So here’s where you double check. Get ChatGPT to mark its own homework by comparing the draft post with its original instructions.

“Now review this draft and refine it to better match my style. Shorten any sentences that are longer than [specify, for example ten words], and simplify any complex language, including [specify sentences that are too complex]. Replace any words that don’t sound like me with ones I would use. The part that I think doesn’t flow well is [specify that here if applicable], so rewrite it to sound more natural. Add any final touches to make the post engaging and authentic. Once refined, give me the final version ready to post.”

Now ask it to repeat this process for the other ideas you liked. Give ChatGPT the rest of the numbers, one by one, until you have a month’s worth of content ready to go.

“Now let’s learn from this process and repeat it to create post idea [number]. Ask me questions before creating the post in the same style.”

Level up your LinkedIn with AI power: ChatGPT prompts to grow

Getting ChatGPT to write your LinkedIn posts saves time. But it’s more than that. It helps you post quality stuff that people want to read. Stuff that grows your brand. Make ChatGPT analyse your style, select your topics, then write the perfect prompt. Make it better and double check.

Tonnes of LinkedIn content could be five prompts away. Try these today and watch your likes and comments go through the roof.

Feature Image Credit: Getty

By Jodie Cook

Follow me on LinkedIn. Check out my website or some of my other work here.

Founder of Coachvox AI – create an AI version of you. Forbes 30 under 30 class of 2017. Post-exit entrepreneur and author of Ten Year Career. Competitive powerlifter and digital nomad.

Sourced from Forbes

By Jennifer Jay Palumbo

Of all the professions potentially impacted by ChatGPT, few face more existential threats than human writers. From having their content lifted to training AI to lose freelance gigs outright to algorithms, writers are understandably anxious about what the future holds.

On the flip side, you’ve got companies eager to wield ChatGPT like a budget-cutting lightsaber. According to a Resume Builder report, 58% of businesses using ChatGPT rely on it for copywriting—and 48% of those companies have used AI to replace employees.

For businesses, it sounds like a win: ChatGPT is affordable (even under its paid plans) and cranks out content faster than you can say, “meeting adjourned.” But the truth is, turning to AI over hiring a real, live human writer comes with risks that should give any business leader serious pause.

Herein lies the crux of the ChatGPT problem. Sure, you’re getting content quickly and on the cheap, but spoiler alert: quality suffers. We’ve all seen it before—what you save in dollars, you’ll pay for in reputation. And no one wants their brand’s content to look like the knock-off version of a luxury product.

Using ChatGPT to churn out content is like showing up to a potluck with a store-bought cake and passing it off as homemade. It’ll get the job done in a pinch, but when it comes to building long-term trust and credibility? Not so much.

ChatGPT’s Quirks: From Biases to Blunders

Let’s talk about ChatGPT’s shortcomings. It’s like that well-meaning intern who’s eager but always gets something wrong. The AI is prone to hiccups ranging from unintentional biases (hello, issues with racism, sexism, and more) to factual inaccuracies that can make your brand look like it skipped a few steps in research. (Digital Trends profiled these little AI missteps if you need a laugh—or a reminder to double-check your sources.)

Then, there’s the plagiarism problem. While ChatGPT can generate new content, it’s still pattern-matching based on the information it’s been trained on. This can lead to something dangerously close to existing copyrighted material, which is a great way to land in legal hot water. Nobody wants to deal with lawsuits over blog posts or the PR nightmare of being accused of stealing ideas from a competitor.

Martina Chisholm, Vice President of Marketing at Merit Financial Advisors, puts it perfectly: “At Merit, we use ChatGPT strategically—not as a substitute for human creativity, but as a tool to enhance our content. ChatGPT helps with brainstorming, outlining, and refining ideas, but the human touch ensures our brand’s voice and identity stay intact.”

Exactly. A human writer’s accountability—knowing their reputation and livelihood are on the line—adds a layer of quality control that AI simply can’t match.

Oh, and in case you missed it, ChatGPT spent part of February 2024 spitting out gibberish. Even the worst writers rarely turn in nonsense (though I’ve met a few close calls).

Data Risks and Privacy Nightmares

Let’s not forget about privacy. With employees feeding business data into ChatGPT for various tasks, sensitive information could end up in the AI’s brain (for lack of a better term). And while ChatGPT’s memory isn’t perfect, the last thing you want is your proprietary info swirling around in an AI’s training data. If you value confidentiality (and we assume you do), this is an area to tread carefully.

To avoid an oops-worthy situation, businesses need clear policies on AI use, setting boundaries on what info gets shared, and running audits on ChatGPT’s output. And hey, a little plagiarism-checking software couldn’t hurt either.

Plus, with AI regulations always evolving, staying on top of data protection laws is a must. The last thing your business needs is an embarrassing (and costly) misstep because someone was too chatty with ChatGPT.

Defining Quality in the Age of AI

At the heart of the debate is a question of quality. Are you satisfied with content that’s passable, cheap, and efficient? Or are you aiming for something that makes your brand stand out, something memorable, something human?

As Vox’s Sigal Samuel points out, if the internet becomes an endless echo chamber of ChatGPT-generated content, the AI will eventually start feeding off its own work. Think about that for a second—an infinite loop of regurgitated writing that kills originality and creativity. The worst-case scenario? The internet has become one big, bland blog with all the personality of a cold bowl of oatmeal.

Even if your business isn’t producing the next great American novel, originality matters. Whether it’s a blog post, product description, or marketing email, that spark of creativity is what separates you from the pack. In a crowded marketplace, having a unique voice is your secret sauce, your competitive edge. And it’s not something an algorithm can replicate—at least not yet.

ChatGPT: A Tool, Not a Takeover

In the end, it’s about making smart choices. Sure, ChatGPT can crank out content, and in some cases, it’s a useful tool to have in the mix. However, businesses that lean too heavily on AI run the risk of sounding robotic (literally) and losing the personal touch that connects with customers.

Writing is a craft—a skill that takes time to hone and effort to master. If we settle for “good enough,” we risk losing what makes our brands, our voices, and our messages special. So, while ChatGPT is here to stay, human writers aren’t going anywhere. In fact, investing in good writing might just become your business’s best-kept secret weapon in a world of AI-generated everything.

After all, when everything starts to sound the same, it’s the brands with a beating heart behind the words that customers will remember.

Feature Image Credit: getty

By Jennifer Jay Palumbo

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.

Jennifer Jay Palumbo is an award-winning writer and journalist with twenty-five years of experience in crafting impactful and engaging content. Specializing in topics around working mothers and neurodivergence, she brings a unique perspective as the mother of a neurodivergent child. Read More….

Sourced from Forbes

By Dominique Harroch

In today’s digital landscape the right approach to small business marketing combines advanced technology, data-driven insights, and effective digital platforms. Here’s a comprehensive guide to small business marketing to companies navigate the current marketing trends and tools that can drive business success.

Key marketing tools for small businesses

Following is a summary of 11 key marketing tools that small and growing businesses should consider when leveraging owned, earned and paid media:

1. An optimized small business website

A high-performing website is crucial for marketing today. An optimized site increases your page rank on Google and other search engines, and in today’s world, fewer than 1% of searches go to the second page of a search. Key elements of an effective small business site include:

• Memorable domain name: Choose a name that reflects your business and is easy to recall.
• User-friendly design: Ensure your site is visually appealing and intuitive. Sites should have a clear structure, intuitive navigation and information that is easy to access.
• Search engine optimization (SEO): Implement SEO best practices to rank higher in search engine results.
• Mobile optimization: Since over 55% of global web traffic comes from mobile devices, you’ll want to ensure your site is mobile-friendly.
• Valuable content: Regularly update your site with engaging content like blogs and articles that address your audience’s interests and needs.
• Fast loading times: Optimize page speeds to improve user experience and SEO rankings.
• Secure hosting: Use reputable hosting services to protect your site’s data and performance.

Additionally, integrating tools like Google Analytics (now called GA4) and Google Search Console (GSC) can provide valuable insights into your site’s performance and user behaviour.

2. Paid search engine marketing (SEM)

Paid search engine marketing, in which you pay if a keyword is clicked on that drives traffic to your website, remains a powerful tool for driving targeted traffic. Platforms like Google Ads and Bing Ads allow you to:

• Bid on keywords: Use tools like Google keyword planner to select high-value keywords relevant to your business.
• Control costs: Set daily and monthly budgets, and adjust bids based on performance.
• Analyse performance: Track key metrics to assess and refine your campaigns.

3. Paid listings and display ads

Paid listings on platforms like Yelp, Facebook, and Pinterest can boost visibility. Use Google’s Display Network to target ads based on user interests and behaviour. This approach allows you to:

• Choose ad formats: Use banners, text ads, or video ads to capture attention.
• Track return on investment (ROI): Monitor clicks and conversions to measure effectiveness. Track your costs, record and monitor revenue, and record all expenses. Make sure to measure lead generation numbers, customer acquisition, and sales metrics as valuable insights into your marketing effectiveness.
• Testing: By experimenting with different ad copy, targeting options, and formats, businesses can identify what resonates most with their audience, refine their strategies, and ultimately improve click-through rates and conversions. This can include A/B testing, target audience variations, ad copy variations, call-to-action (CTA) testing or visual elements where you test different images or videos to determine which visual elements attract more attention and engagement.

4. Content marketing

Content marketing remains a cornerstone of effective digital strategies. Key tactics include:

• Blogging: Regularly post optimized content to drive organic traffic. Nine out of ten marketers use blogs as part of their content strategy.
• Guest posting: Publish articles on popular platforms such as Medium and AllBusiness.com to enhance your reach and SEO. Strive to create “evergreen” articles, which are designed to remain relevant and valuable over a long period of time, regardless of current events or trends. Unlike timely articles that focus on current news or trends, evergreen content addresses topics that have enduring interest and utility.
• Video content: In 2023, individuals spent an average of 17 hours a week watching videos online. Utilize platforms like YouTube and TikTok to engage your audience.
• Content platforms: Leverage content recommendation platforms like Outbrain to expand your content’s reach.

5. Social media marketing

Social media is a powerful tool for engaging with your audience. Focus on platforms such as:

• Facebook: Effective for broad audience reach and targeted ads.
• Instagram: Ideal for visual content and influencer partnerships.
• LinkedIn: Best for B2B marketing and professional networking.
• TikTok: Useful for viral video content and younger demographics.

With over 5 billion global social media users and growing, effective social media marketing can significantly enhance your brand’s visibility and engagement. To be effective, you must regularly post interesting content to obtain and keep followers.

6. Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing involves collaborating with individuals who have a significant and engaged following on social media platforms like Facebook, TikTok and Instagram to promote products or services. These influencers, who can range from celebrities to niche content creators, leverage their credibility and relationship with their audience to drive brand awareness and influence purchasing decisions.

The impact of influencer marketing on broader marketing efforts can be profound, as it allows brands to tap into authentic, targeted communities that are often more receptive to recommendations from trusted (or at least known) voices.

This form of marketing can enhance brand credibility, expand reach, and generate higher engagement rates compared to traditional advertising. As consumers increasingly seek personalized and relatable content, influencer marketing has become a powerful tool for connecting with audiences in a meaningful way.

7. Online business directories

It’s important for business owners to list their companies in prominent and reputable business directories. Often these listings are free, but even if you must pay a small fee, it can be worth it.

The benefits include

• Exposure to potential clients and customers.
• Boosted SEO through backlinks.
• Improved online presence and brand awareness.
• Increased credibility for your business.
• Low-cost or free marketing.

The following is a list of top business directories to consider listing your business:

• AllBusiness.com
• Better Business Bureau
• Facebook Page
• Google Business Profile
• LinkedIn
• Superpages
• Bing Places for Business

8. Radio marketing

While less prominent today, radio can still be effective. Many people are in their cars during peak commute hours. To maximize radio advertising:

• Targeted placement: Choose stations and time slots that align with your target audience.
• Engaging content: Create memorable and concise ads.
• Consider your market: Are you a B2C company (business to consumer) or B2B company (business to business)? Is your market local (like a neighbourhood restaurant), national (such as selling payroll services), or international (such as selling unique clothing to multiple markets)?

The cost-effectiveness of radio compared to TV makes it a viable option for more localized campaigns.

9. Press releases

Press releases are valuable for announcing significant business updates. Ensure your release is:

• Newsworthy: Focus on unique and timely information.
• Well-structured: Include a strong headline, key details, and contact information.
• Multimedia: Incorporate multimedia elements like images and videos to increase engagement.

10. Email marketing

Email marketing remains effective when executed correctly. Best practices include:

• Segmenting: Personalize content based on customer preferences and behavior. Use data to segment your lists and target markets.
• Offering engaging content: Provide valuable information, special offers, and updates.
• Optimization: Use A/B testing to refine subject lines and content.
• Using AI-driven tools: These can help automate and personalize email campaigns, improving engagement rates.

11. Direct mail marketing

Despite the digital age, direct mail still works for certain audiences. To optimize direct mail:

• Use targeted lists: Use well-researched mailing lists to improve ROI.
• Implement creative designs: Ensure your mail piece stands out and is easy to read.
• Track mailings: Monitor responses and effectiveness.

More tips to enhance your marketing campaigns

Here are some additional tips to optimize your marketing campaigns:

• Segment: Segment your target market to a specific audience. Segmentation can be done with respect to age, gender, income level, education, geography, purchase stage or brand loyalty, and more.
• Business lists: Consider using high quality business lists such as Dun and Bradstreet, Experian Business, ZoomInfo or InfoUSA. These lists can be used in multiple channels as well, maximizing the value of the lists.
• Track real time: Track your marketing campaigns in real-time to get immediate insights, make quick adjustments, and understand what is working or not.
• Key metrics: Track the key metrics in your campaigns, such as click-through rate, engagement rate, conversion rate, sales, revenue, customer acquisition cost, market share, and churn rate.
• Software and AI: Use software and artificial intelligence (AI) tools for social media management, content creation and testing of alternative ads.
• Budget: Allocate your budget wisely. Assess the performance of different marketing channels and allocate your budget to the ones that deliver the highest ROI. Continuously review and adjust your spending to focus on the most effective strategies.
• Keep current: Stay updated with trends. Keep up with the latest marketing trends and technologies. Experiment with new platforms, tools, or strategies to stay ahead of the competition and reach your audience in innovative ways. Keep up to date with experts by seeking articles from reputable business sources such as AllBusiness.com.
• Promote across channels: Share earned media coverage on your website, social media platforms, and email newsletters. For instance, if a major publication writes about your product, feature this article prominently on your homepage or social media profiles.
• Showcase social proof: Use earned media as a form of social proof by highlighting positive reviews, testimonials, or features from reputable sources. This can build credibility and trust with potential customers.
• Strengthen relationships with media: Build and maintain good relationships with journalists and influencers. This can lead to more favourable coverage in the future and expand your media network.
• Repurpose content: Convert mentions and reviews into additional content, such as blog posts, case studies, and infographics. For example, if your company was featured in a popular tech blog, you could create a detailed blog post about the experience and its impact.

Ready to enhance your small business marketing strategy?

Developing a comprehensive and modern small business marketing strategy requires leveraging a mix of traditional and digital techniques. By integrating artificial intelligence tools, optimizing SEO, utilizing effective SEM strategies, and harnessing the power of social media, you can create a dynamic and effective marketing approach. Start by experimenting with different strategies, tracking your results, and refining your approach based on performance data.

Feature Image Credit: Getty

By Dominique Harroch

Dominique Harroch has acted as a Chief of Staff or Operations Leader for multiple companies where she leveraged her extensive experience in operations management, strategic planning, and team leadership to drive organizational success. Her background spans over two decades in operations leadership, event planning at her own startup, and marketing at various financial and retail companies. She can be reached via LinkedIn.

Sourced from Forbes

Creating polished, eye-catching presentations doesn’t always have to be a time-consuming task anymore. It shouldn’t feel like an all-night design marathon. However, many professionals struggle with spending hours creating an effective presentation. An effective presentation is not just about the slides but also about the content within it. So, what if you could generate a professional business slide deck in less time than it takes to grab a coffee? There are these AI-powered presentation tools that you can use to create stunning, professional-quality slides in seconds—no design expertise required.

You can now prepare a business sales pitch or a school project. These AI tools handle everything from content generation to design. You’ll be left with more time to focus on what matters: delivering your message confidently.

Why Choose AI Tools to Create Presentations?

• Speed: These AI-powered tools can cut presentation creation time from hours to minutes.
• Customization: Each platform offers ways to personalize slides, from branding to interactive elements.
• Analytics: Some platforms even provide engagement tracking, offering insights to refine your content.
• Collaboration: Many tools support real-time teamwork, making it easy to work with others remotely.

Ready to move on from the boring work and get results in minutes? Here are 9 websites that allow you to create presentations in just 60 seconds. They will give you more time to focus on the message—not the design.

1. Decktopus:^_*

Decktopus is a powerful AI presentation tool. It can handle everything from research to copywriting. Decktopus allows businesses to focus on delivering your message. It has a drag-and-drop interface that makes it incredibly easy to customize templates.

• AI-powered copywriting, research, and image generation.
• Drag-and-drop editor for easy customization.
• Includes a presentation coach to improve delivery.

Try now!

2. SlidesAI:^_*

SlidesAI can turn any text into a fully formatted, stunning, professional-quality Google Slides presentation. It’s the perfect AI presentation tool for those who need slides but don’t want to spend hours on them.

• Google Slides add-on for fast slide creation.
• Automatically generates slides from pasted text.
• It supports multiple languages.

Try Now!

3. PopAi:^_*

PopAi allows you to create standout presentations by pulling data from different online and user-generated content. It can be your personal or business workspace for creating more than just slides.

• AI-assisted creation of PowerPoints, flowcharts, and graphics.
• Customizable templates for many uses.
• Suitable for education and professional needs.

Try now!

4. SlideSpeak:^_*

SlideSpeak lets you create stunning, professional-quality business presentations by simply uploading a Word or PDF document. It uses AI to summarize and convert your documents into ready-to-go slides.

• Upload Word, PDF, or PowerPoint files for AI conversion.
• It also offers ChatGPT-powered summaries.
• The AI tool also supports PPTX, Word, and PDF uploads.

Try now!

5. Gamma:

Gamma helps you quickly create not only presentations but also websites and documents. It is powered by advanced AI that allows you to visualize complex ideas effortlessly.

• It allows you to generate presentations, websites, and documents.
• Built-in interactive features like charts and videos.
• Analytics tools to track engagement.

Try now!

6. Beautiful AI:

This platform lives up to its name by turning ordinary slides into visual chef-d’oeuvre. Beautiful AI does all the heavy lifting, allowing you to focus on your ideas.

• Smart templates for fast slide creation.
• Automatically applies design principles.
• There are tons of pre-built slides to choose from.

Try now!

7. Tome:

Tome is perfect for teams needing fast, polished, stunning, professional-quality presentations. With Tome, AI personalizes sales decks based on your company’s data, making it easier to focus on closing deals.

• AI-powered presentation personalization.
• It integrates with tools like Salesforce for data-backed presentations.
• Real-time collaboration features.

Try now!

8. Sendsteps:

Sendsteps focuses on making presentations more interactive and engaging. Its AI-powered design handles the visuals, content, and even speaker notes for you.

• AI-generated content, design, and interactive features.
• Multiple presentation creation methods (start from scratch, upload docs, etc.).
• Real-time engagement tracking and speaker notes.

Try now!

9. Presentations.AI:

Presentations.AI combines the power of ChatGPT with a design assistant to generate stunning, professional slides in minutes. This AI tool can also cover infographics or timelines.

• AI-powered design suggestions for unique styles.
• Seamless PowerPoint export.
• It can support multiple languages and real-time collaboration.

Try now!

Conclusion:

Traditionally, creating business presentations has always been a slow, labour-intensive task, but it is not anymore. These AI-powered platforms do the heavy lifting, from content generation to design. You can use them for your business, sales, and marketing to impress clients or education.

There’s an AI-powered presentation tool for everyone on this list that can help you save time while still delivering high-quality results. 60 seconds! It only takes 60 seconds or less to turn a simple idea into a stunning presentation. It’s time to wow your audience with your presentations, which didn’t take days to prepare but only took seconds.

By Nishant N

Sourced from AI Tools Club

By Sana Uqaili

ChatGPT has been around for over six months, and while the initial excitement of having a “robot assistant” may have faded, it continues to surprise with new use cases.

In this post, we’ll explore some effective ways to leverage ChatGPT for SEO, digital marketing, and management tasks, making your workflows more efficient and impactful.

1. Keyword Research with ChatGPT

While ChatGPT isn’t the best standalone keyword research tool, it can still play a crucial role in the process.

Standard keyword tools often give everyone the same results, increasing competition for those keywords.

However, ChatGPT can help you think outside the box by suggesting unconventional seed keywords.

For example, if you’re researching keywords for a golf website, you can ask ChatGPT to generate a list of related terms that are less obvious, helping you uncover untapped opportunities.

You can then input these keywords into traditional tools like Ahrefs or Keywords Explorer to find easy-to-rank topics.

This method has helped me find keywords with over 35,000 monthly searches that competitors haven’t yet capitalized on.

Combining ChatGPT’s creative output with a robust keyword tool can give you an edge in finding less competitive but highly valuable topics.

And if you’re looking to put your entire content strategy on autopilot, Expert Writer AI is the perfect tool to streamline your keyword research, blog writing, and affiliate marketing efforts all in one go.

Click here to visit Expert Writer AI and subscribe to its waiting list, which will make you eligible to get its early bird discount on launch.

2. Short-Form Copywriting Made Easy

One of the best uses of ChatGPT is for short-form copywriting, like creating email subject lines, meta descriptions, or ad copy.

While the tool is decent out of the box, I’ve found that refining the prompts produces even better results.

Start by setting the tone or voice you want the copy to have.

For instance, you might tell ChatGPT to write in the voice of a specific persona or with a particular tone, like humorous or formal.

You can also ask ChatGPT to generate multiple variations, giving you more options to choose from.

Here’s a personal example: When writing ad copy for a new product launch, I asked ChatGPT to generate five different versions of a Facebook ad.

This gave me a variety of angles to work with and sparked new ideas that I hadn’t thought of initially.

To take it a step further, you can use Expert Writer AI to automate your content strategy and blogging process, ensuring high-quality, optimized content without the manual effort.

Click here to visit Expert Writer AI and subscribe to its waiting list, which will make you eligible to get its early bird discount on launch.

3. Using ChatGPT as a Query Builder

For marketers who use advanced tools like Ahrefs or Web Explorer, ChatGPT can help create complex search queries that save time and find valuable opportunities.

By teaching ChatGPT specific search operators and combining them creatively, you can discover potential backlink opportunities or unlinked brand mentions.

For example, you can instruct ChatGPT to construct a query that finds mentions of your brand across the web that aren’t currently linking to your site.

This is a great way to identify opportunities to reach out and build more backlinks, ultimately improving your site’s authority and search engine ranking.

4. The Free Consultation Trick

One of my favorite ways to use ChatGPT is what I call the “free consultation.”

It works just like those free consultations businesses offer when you’re about to hire them for a service.

You can ask ChatGPT for advice on a wide range of topics, from podcasting to SEO strategies, and get actionable responses instantly.

For example, when I wanted to start a podcast but didn’t know how to differentiate it from others, I asked ChatGPT for creative suggestions.

It helped me come up with unique ideas, such as interviewing small business owners instead of just SEO experts.

The best part? This advice comes without the high price tag that often comes with professional consultations.

Even if you don’t follow every suggestion ChatGPT provides, it’s a great way to get your creative gears turning.

You’ll often leave these “consultations” with new insights and strategies you hadn’t considered.

5. Creating Long-Form Content with ChatGPT

Initially, ChatGPT wasn’t great at creating long-form content because the results often felt generic and boilerplate.

However, with GPT-4 and a well-defined workflow, the tool can now produce a decent first draft of long-form content.

There are two key factors that will make ChatGPT effective at writing longer content.

First, you need to choose the right topic — one that doesn’t require deep expertise.

For example, topics like “how to take a screenshot on a Mac” are ideal because they are straightforward and don’t require specialized knowledge.

Second, providing a detailed outline ensures that the structure and flow of the content meet your standards.

By giving ChatGPT an outline with bullet points, subheadings, and key details, you’re able to steer the content in the right direction.

The AI then becomes more of a tool that helps you flesh out ideas, rather than doing all the work for you.

Once ChatGPT provides a first draft, you can edit, add multimedia, and refine the tone to ensure the content meets your audience’s expectations.

6. Automating Email Replies with ChatGPT

One of the most time-saving uses of ChatGPT is for responding to detailed emails.

Instead of spending 20 minutes crafting a thoughtful response, you can provide ChatGPT with a rough outline and let it do the heavy lifting.

For example, when replying to a candidate who asked multiple questions about a job role, I gave ChatGPT a brief outline of what I wanted to say.

The AI created a professional yet casual response that sounded natural and saved me a ton of time. I even had ChatGPT adjust the tone to match my style, making the email sound more authentic and less corporate.

Final Thoughts

As AI continues to evolve, we’re discovering new ways to use tools like ChatGPT in our daily workflows.

Whether it’s conducting keyword research, writing ad copy, or responding to emails, ChatGPT offers solutions that make tasks faster and more efficient.

And if you’re looking to automate your content creation and marketing strategy, Expert Writer AI is the perfect solution for setting everything on autopilot.

Click here to visit Expert Writer AI and subscribe to its waiting list, which will make you eligible to get its early bird discount on launch.

With the right combination of AI tools and a bit of creativity, you can take your digital marketing game to the next level.

Stay tuned for more tips and tutorials, and start leveraging AI to streamline your workflow!

Feature Image Credit: Dastmyer SEO AI Image Creator

By Sana Uqaili

A content strategist and SEO specialist who can get your website ranked on the first page of Google in a matter of weeks! Visit dastmyerseo.com for more info.

Sourced from Medium

By Pankhuri Malhotra

Companies are increasingly highlighting their support for diversity, but that can backfire if consumers sense tokenism, a recent analysis from my team found.

I’m an assistant professor of marketing who specializes in digital platforms and consumer behaviour. My recent research focuses on DEI initiatives by brands on social media. I’m specifically interested in how brands use influencers and minority representation.

An influencer is someone who has built a large following on social media and can affect the opinions or behaviours of their audience. Influencer marketing is when brands partner with these people to promote their products or services to the influencers’ online followers.

For an example of influencer marketing, consider this post from the influencer Thamarr Guerrier promoting Old Navy:

Influencer marketing has become one of the main channels for brands and consumers to interact, and minority representation among influencers is one way a company can display its commitment to DEI.

To understand how consumers have been responding to this trend, my colleagues Amy Pei and Keran Zhao and I collected data from the platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Our unique dataset included sponsored content from about 150 brands between 2018 and 2022, as well as details about influencers and reactions from consumers.

We found that brands with either very low or very high levels of minority representation among influencers experienced higher consumer engagement. Meanwhile, brands with moderate levels of minority representation saw a dip in engagement. These effects were particularly pronounced for large companies and those that demonstrated a prior vocal commitment to DEI initiatives.

In other words, we found a U-shaped relationship: Low levels are accepted, intermediate levels may backfire, and high levels are well received. We believe this may stem from consumer perceptions of tokenism at intermediate levels.

In contrast, we found that high minority representation convinces consumers of a brand’s genuine commitment and effort.

Why it matters

When brands showcase their support for diversity initiatives on social media, it doesn’t always win over consumers. In fact, DEI policies have been a source of controversy for many brands, including Chick-fil-A, Disney and Bud Light.

Since DEI initiatives from brands often provoke mixed reactions from consumers, it’s important to understand why. Our research offers a clue.

DEI is a sensitive issue, and consumers value genuine commitment. Our work suggests that brands – especially larger ones – should avoid taking moderate stances and instead adopt a clear position.

We also found that customers had stronger reactions to brands’ diversity efforts when those brands had previously expressed strong support for DEI. That suggests brands should be cautious about excessive public signalling if they don’t plan to back it up with action.

What still isn’t known

More research is needed to understand how consumers respond to diversity messaging from brands. For example, previous work has shown that consumer boycotts are often short-lived. But the Bud Light boycott, sparked by the use of a trans influencer to promote the brand, lasted for eight months.

Several things could explain the discrepancy, including political polarization among Bud Light’s consumer base and the fact that there are many light beers on the market.

Another key factor appears to have been the visibility of consumption: People often drink beer in social settings, which allowed boycotting consumers to publicly signal their stance, further strengthening the movement. These and other factors warrant more investigation.

Feature Image Credit: Xavier Lorenzo/Getty Images

By Pankhuri Malhotra

Sourced from The Conversation

By Gili Malinsky

‘There’s a misperception that it’s easy’

‘It’s just constant, Monday through Sunday’

‘We’ve literally been on our toes for nine years’

‘You can imagine the racism that my partner and I experience’

‘Do something you enjoy doing, even if no one’s watching’

Feature Image Credit: Carlos Barquero | Moment | Getty Images

By Gili Malinsky

Sourced from CNBC make it