Business Marketing

AI content platform Jasper raises $125M at a $1.5B valuation • TechCrunch

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Jasper’s valuation is $1.7 billion. It’s $1.5 billion; we regret the error.

As the enthusiasm around AI image and text generators grows, Jasper, a startup developing what it describes as an “AI content” platform, has raised $125 million at a $1.5 billion valuation. The tranche is the company’s first, remarkably, and comes as Jasper is in the process of acquiring AI startup Outwrite, a grammar and style checker with more than a million users worldwide.

CEO Dave Rogenmoser tells TechCrunch the funding will be put toward building out Jasper’s core products, improving the customer experience and bringing Jasper’s technology to more apps. Led by Insight Partners with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, IVP, Foundation Capital, Founders Circle Capital, Coatue and HubSpot Ventures, it’ll also support Jasper’s ongoing effort to fold the Outwrite brand under its own, he said, and unify the two companies ‘ offerings in 2023.

“To build a market leading company in generative AI we need the appropriate infrastructure — that’s what we’ll raise [new] capital for,” Rogenmoser told TechCrunch in an email interview. “We want to build a world-class business, [and] to do that we need capital and highly strategic partners.”

Rogenmoser launched Jasper early last year with JP Morgan and Chris Hull, who together largely bootstrapped the company. Rogenmoser is a Y Combinator alum, having co-founded Proof, a startup that used algorithms to customize businesses’ websites. Morgan and Hull — who have backgrounds in business-to-business marketing and process automation — also helped to co-launch Proof, whose technology laid the groundwork for Jasper.

“I’m a marketer by trade and have long been interested in AI and saw how it was becoming more tangible and accessible — moving from theory and academia into a transformative, applied technology that could help people,” Rogenmoser said. “With the advent of [OpenAI’s] GPT-3, we saw an opportunity to launch an AI content platform that could help businesses and professional creators brainstorm and do their work more quickly and efficiently.”

AI content platform Jasper raises 5M at a .5B valuation • TechCrunch

Image Credits: Jasper

Jasper leverages AI to generate content for blog articles, social media posts, website copy and more. Using the platform, customers can describe in natural language what they want Jasper to write, whether a keyword-rich piece designed to rank well in search engines or existing content repurposed with additional context.

Plenty of startups also do this — Copy.ai, WriteSonic, Peppertype, Wordtune and Simplified to name a few. In fact, TechCrunch recently wrote a survey of the market for AI-powered, copy-generating adtech vendors, which is robust. Copysmith last April secured $10 million in financing for its AI-powered content generation platform, while Copy.ai closed a $10 million round in October.

Rogenmoser claims that Jasper’s language models — trained on 10% of the web and fine-tuned for “customer specificity” — set it apart. Among other apps and services, they power Jasper’s browser extension for Chrome that delivers contextual content recommendations across platforms including Google Docs, Gmail, Notion and Hubspot.

“The folks that will win at generative AI will be the ones that have the best feedback loops,” he said. “We’re committed to building the best feedback to AI loop.”

Jasper’s other differentiator, Rogenmoser says, is Jasper Art, a recently launched AI art-generating system. As with systems such as DALL-E 2, Jasper Art turns prompts into images, letting users adjust aspects like the medium (eg, “Canvas,” “Pastel”), art style (“Van Gogh”) and mood.

Image Credits: Jasper

While a number of free and paid alternatives to Jasper Art exist (see Stable Diffusion, Pixelz.ai and Midjourney, to name a few) Rogenmoser pitches it as an art-generating system specifically designed for marketing applications, like creating copyright-free stock photos . He says that one early adopter, Mongoose Media, is using Jasper Art to generate flat lays and backgrounds “at scale” around product images for its designers.

Of course, like other AI text-to-image systems, Jasper Art has limitations. An FAQ on the product page notes that the system, which has a content filter to attempt to detect “sensitive” or “unsafe” images, such as those depicting violence, might contain biases that lead it to generate images reinforcing negative stereotypes (like CEOs who are mostly white and male).

Under the terms of Jasper Art’s license, customers also don’t have the exclusive right to use generated images. The system’s generations are free for anyone to repurpose and remix — perhaps an attempt by Jasper to mitigate future intellectual property and fair use challenges. Systems like Jasper are often trained on billions of images from around the web, some of which are copyrighted, leading image hosts like Getty Images to ban AI-generated art for fear of sparking legal battles.

Rogenmoser acknowledged that there’s “much to be learned” about boundaries around AI content generation tools and what regulation might look like in the future.

“The major challenge that the AI generation industry faces is around ethics in regard to data and consumer acceptance,” he said. “While we are in constant awe of the power of our technology, we are viscerally aware of the responsibility that assigns us. We are committed to remaining accountable for the power of technology but we also acknowledge that our control is limited.”

Image Credits: Jasper

The controversies haven’t scared marketers away, who appear eager to embrace AI technologies for text and image generation. According to a 2021 survey by Phrasee, 63% of marketers would consider investing in AI to generate and optimize ad copy. It’s an admittedly biased finding — Phrasee sells AI-powered copy generation software. But vendor-neutral analytics firm Statista reports that 87% of current AI adopters are already using, or considering using, AI for sales forecasting and improving their email marketing.

According to Rogenmoser, Jasper has more than 70,000 customers and generated $45 million in revenue last year. The company expects to end 2022 with over double that revenue — $75 million — buoyed by the buzz around AI for adtech and martech.

“We are a hypergrowth company that is also focused on profitability,” Rogenmoser said. “The pandemic has accelerated this business. As organizations look for ways to find efficiencies within teams, AI generation is the natural choice to augment creators and teams.”

Added Insight Partners’ Jeff Horing in an emailed statement: “It’s not often that you see a shift as significant as generative AI, and Jasper is positioned to be a platform to transform the way businesses develop content and convey ideas. The company has built an enormous community around AI in such a short time, and we see new use cases shared every day, including in the enterprise. We look forward to partnering with the Jasper team as they continue to grow and expand on their vision.”

SCSU track and field and cross country coach resigns

St. Cloud State women’s track and field and cross country coach Sam Kettenhofen has resigned.

Kettenhofen’s decision, effective immediately, was announced by the school in a press release. Kettenhofen did not respond to requests for comment. He had been with the Huskies for seven seasons.

“The team has been informed of the decision, and the process of searching for his replacement will start immediately,” the release reads.

A spokesperson for the school declined a request for further comments.

During his career at SCSU, Kettenhofen coached 12 All-Americans, 19 NCAA Qualifiers, 12 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference champions and 41 All-NSIC athletes. Additionally, 198 Huskies earned academic all-conference distinctions.

Kettenhofen joined the coaching staff at SCSU in 2013 after graduating from Minnesota with a double major in Human Resource Development and Business Marketing education. He participated in several track and field events for the Golden Gophers.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: SCSU track and field and cross country coach Sam Kettenhofen resigns

Raspberry Walnut Salad with Chicken

My favorite Raspberry Walnut Salad with Chicken made with leafy greens, fresh raspberries, shredded chicken, chopped walnuts, and sliced red onions all tossed with a creamy raspberry vinaigrette!

This salad truly has all my favorite components! Sweet and tart raspberries, leafy greens, tender shredded chicken, savory red onions, crunchy walnuts and drizzled with the most delicious raspberry vinaigrette! So delicious and super simple to throw together.

You can easily customize this salad to your liking as well. Sprinkle in a little goat cheese or feta cheese, swap out the raspberries for strawberries, blueberries or other fruit of your choice, add in some avocado slices or dried cranberries, and you could even substitute the chopped walnuts for pecans, almonds or cashews.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Mixed greens – I used a mixture of arugula, baby kale and fresh baby spinach leaves, but feel free to use whatever leafy green lettuce you prefer.
Chicken – I love making this with rotisserie chicken because it’s quick, easy and adds a boost of protein to this salad! You could also use cubed chicken breasts, leftover shredded chicken or even canned chicken would work.
Raspberries – raspberries are loaded with Vitamin C and antioxidants, but they also taste incredible in this salad. You could also use strawberries, blueberries or even chopped apples or pears.
Red onions – adds a nice savory flavor to the salad and I cut the onion into thin slices
Walnuts – these add a nice crunch to the salad, but you can also use chopped pecans, almonds or cashews
Raspberry Vinaigrette – made with a combination of raspberries, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey, shallots and salt/pepper

Easy Raspberry Vinaigrette

I absolutely love the flavor and creaminess in this super simple raspberry walnut vinaigrette! Not only does this dressing add a beautiful vibrant color to your salad, but it is easily made with just a few simple ingredients – raspberries, red wine vinegar, a little balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey (or maple syrup), shallots and salt / pepper.

I like to make this right in my blender (or food processor) and it comes together in just minutes. You can use fresh or frozen raspberries for this as well! I always try to make my own salad dressings right at home because I typically already have all the ingredients on hand in my pantry or fridge, it’s budget-friendly and honestly just tastes so much better than the bottled stuff from the store.

Can this Salad be Prepped in Advance?

Absolutely! In fact I love prepping everything in advance so that I can easily throw this salad together for an easy lunch or as a delicious side dish with my dinner. In order for the lettuce to stay fresh and prevent wilting, I like to store everything in separate containers until I’m ready to assemble and toss together.

Wash and store the raspberries in a sealed container in the fridge and thinly slice the red onion storing in a sealed baggy or container.
Shred some cooked rotisserie chicken (or use any other left over chicken you may have on hand) and store separately in the fridge.
Blend together the ingredients for the raspberry vinaigrette and store in a sealed mason jar in the fridge. Just before serving, let the dressing sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes to let the oil become liquid again and give the dressing a good shake or whisk to mix everything together. The vinaigrette will last up to a week in the fridge.

More Salad Recipes You’ll Love

Hope you all enjoy this Raspberry Walnut Salad with Chicken and if you love this recipe as much as we do, please leave me a five-star rating below and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using the hashtag #eatyourselfskinny! I love seeing all your delicious recreations!

Prep Time: 15mins
Total Time: 15mins

Ingredients

For the Salad:

6 cups mixed greens (I used baby spinach and arugula mix)
2 cups shredded chicken (I used rotisserie)
1 cup raspberries
1/2 cup red onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

For the Raspberry Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cracked black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients for the raspberry vinaigrette in a blender and process until smooth.
To make the salad, toss together the mixed greens, shredded chicken, raspberries, red onions and walnuts in a large bowl. Drizzle the raspberry vinaigrette over the top of the salad and give it a good toss or drizzle it over individual portions when serving. Season with additional cracked black pepper, if desired, and enjoy!

Nutrition Facts:

Serving Size: 1/6th of salad
Calories: 280
Sugar: 8.6 g
Sodium: 134.2 mg
Fats: 18.9 g
Saturated Fat: 3.3 g
Carbohydrates: 13.4 g
Fibers: 3.2 g
Proteins: 14.8 g

* Please note that all nutrition information is just estimates. Values will vary among brands, so we encourage you to calculate these on your own for the most accurate results.

Rainbow Orzo Salad – Eat Yourself Skinny

This Rainbow Orzo Salad makes the perfect summer side dish! Loaded with colorful veggies, fresh herbs and tender orzo pasta, all tossed together with a delicious lemon herb dressing and easily made in just minutes!

If you are looking for a fresh and easy summer side dish, then look no further! This Rainbow Orzo Salad is full of colorful veggies, fresh herbs, and tender orzo pasta all tossed in the most delicious lemon herb dressing! This orzo pasta salad is one of my absolute favorite go-to dishes in the warmer months and is one I love making for a crowd. The veggies add such a nice crunch to this salad and the orzo soaks up all that delicious lemon flavor from the dressing as it marinates. Such a great side dish when grilling chicken, fish and steak or you could even enjoy this all on its own for lunch.

This entire meal can easily be made in under 30 minutes and the most time consuming part is honestly all of the chopping. I really like to finely chop all the veggies as I think it makes the salad look so much better. This recipe uses so much delicious summer produce and is easily customizable to your liking.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Orzo pasta – I love the light taste of orzo in this salad, but feel free to use any type of small pasta
Veggies – I used a combination of red bell pepper, orange bell pepper, cucumber, red onion, and fresh corn, but you can also use tomatoes, zucchini, or other veggies
Fresh herbs – a delicious combination of fresh parsley and fresh basil
Sea salt + ground pepper – for seasoning
Lemon Herb Dressing – see recipe below!

How to Make Rainbow Orzo Salad

One of the many reasons I make this Rainbow Orzo Salad so much is because of how simple it is to throw together! Here’s how I make it in just 5 easy steps:

Chop your veggies and herbs. This might be the most time-consuming part, but hey play that podcast or blast some music – I promise it’s worth all the chopping! I like to try to finely chop all the veggies because I think the salad just looks better visually and is more enjoyable to eat. You’ll also want to chop the fresh basil and parsley as well.
Cook the orzo. Bring your water to a boil, sprinkle in some salt, and cook the orzo according to the package directions until al dente. Make sure to stir ever so often to prevent the orzo from clumping. Drain the orzo in a colander and run cold water over it until cooled.
Make the dressing. While the orzo is cooking, you can whip up this dressing! Simply whisk together the olive oil, fresh lemon juice, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic, oregano and salt/pepper in a jar or bowl and set aside until ready to use. Seriously SO good and is a dressing I have used for so many different meals! It honestly deserves its own post.
Toss the salad. Mix together the cooked orzo, chopped veggies and fresh herbs in a large bowl and drizzle the whole thing with the lemon herb dressing. Give it a good toss, season with additional salt and pepper as needed. Serve immediately or marinate for a few hours before serving (I highly recommend this!)
Marinate. Cover the orzo salad and place it in the fridge allowing the flavors to marinate for a few hours or even overnight. Serve and enjoy!

Homemade Lemon Herb Dressing

I can’t tell you how much I love this dressing. Bright lemony flavour, tangy Dijon mustard, delicious garlic and fresh herbs really make this the perfect dressing for this orzo salad because it tastes amazing and quickly gets absorbed by all the pasta and veggies! SO. MUCH. FLAVORS. Here’s what you’ll need:

Olive oil – I like to use a good olive oil that doesn’t have to be expensive, just make sure it’s cold-pressed and organic for the most flavor (in my opinion)
Lemons – I just love the bright, fresh flavor fresh lemon juice brings to this dressing. Feel free to add a little bit of the zest too for even more lemon flavor!
Red wine vinegar – this adds a nice tangy flavor that goes perfect with the olive oil and lemon juice, but feel free to use apple cider vinegar or white vinegar if that’s what you have on hand
Dijon mustard – this adds a little zip and helps to emulsify the dressing
Garlic – I always like to use fresh garlic in my salad dressings, but a 1/4 teaspoon of dried minced garlic or garlic powder will work if that’s all you have
Seasonings – a delicious combination of dried oregano, salt and pepper

Prepping and Storage

The great thing about this rainbow orzo salad is that it tastes great warm OR cold and will last up to 3 to 4 days in your fridge. Just make sure to store any leftovers in a sealed, airtight container in the refrigerator. You can easily prepare this orzo pasta salad ahead of time by chopping up all your veggies and making the salad dressing up to a day before making. I promise you, this salad tastes even better on the second day!

If you do make this orzo salad recipe ahead of time, make sure to reserve a little bit of dressing to toss right before serving. The noodles and veggies will soak up a ton of the dressing (which is great for flavor!!), but you’ll want to freshen it up with more dressing when it’s ready to serve.

Substitutions & Variations

If you don’t have any orzo on hand, feel free to use any other type of pasta in a small shape or you could swap it with quinoa, rice or farro.
You can also customize this salad to your liking by using a variety of different vegetables such as zucchini, grape or cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, broccoli, etc. and you could also mix in some chopped greens such as spinach, kale or arugula.
Sprinkle in some feta cheese or goat cheese for a boost of flavor and to make this orzo salad creamier.
Add in some protein such as shredded chicken, salmon, and shrimp or keep this salad vegetarian and add in chickpeas, white beans, pine nuts or other chopped nuts.
Switch up the dressings with whatever you like best! This balsamic dressing would taste amazing in this salad or even a creamier tahini dressing.

More Summer Salads You’ll Love

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

For the orzo salad:

1 1/2 cups uncooked orzo pasta
1 teaspoon salt
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 orange bell pepper, finely chopped
1 english cucumber, finely chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 cup corn, fresh or frozen
1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

For the Lemon Herb Dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice (half a lemon)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and sprinkle in a teaspoon of salt. Cook the orzo according to the package directions, until al dente. Make sure to stir the orzo every few minutes to prevent it from clumping. Drain the orzo in a colander and run cold water over it until cooled.
While the orzo is cooking, whisk together the olive oil, fresh lemon juice, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic, oregano and salt/pepper in a jar or bowl and set aside until ready to use.
In a large bowl, mix together the cooked orzo, finely chopped veggies and herbs and drizzle with the lemon herb dressing, mix well until all combined. Season with additional salt and pepper, as needed.
Serve immediately or cover and marinate for a few hours before serving or overnight. I highly recommend marinating as the pasta and veggies soak up the lemony dressing making the salad really flavourful. Serve and enjoy!

Nutrition Facts:

Serving Size: 1/6th of recipe
Calories: 250
Sugar: 2.8 g
Sodium: 308.9 mg
Fats: 7.1g
Saturated Fat: 1.1 g
Carbohydrates: 8.2 g
Fibers: 1.4 g
Proteins: 1.2 g

* Please note that all nutrition information is just estimates. Values will vary among brands, so we encourage you to calculate these on your own for the most accurate results.

Marketing Your Business Doesn’t Have to Be Expensive

This is the concept of putting in money to play a game or sport. In the business world, it refers to an initial financial investment to start and grow the business.

“I think that everything has to be grassroots first,” Harrison says. “If you take that vantage point, to run everything through community first, I think you will build an ecosystem of people who will buy into your brand and into your story.”

Carolina Furukrona, panelist and founder of artisanal lifestyle boutique NOVA BOSSA in DC, spent over $20,000 on photography in her first year of business and hired a PR consultant. But found that she could do most of the work herself using free tools and applications like Canva.

For fellow panelist, CEO, and founder of TCapri Spirits, Tiffany Capri Hainesworth, the misconception was needing to hire someone to do public relations or PR for her tequila brand.

The powerful alternative for her was word of mouth. She knew she had a great product and a unique story that powered her ability to reach more customers.

“You don’t need someone to do that for you in the beginning. I agree with Tiffany. You are the brand. It’s your point of view. You should be doing, for the first year, your own social media as a small business owner.”
CAROLINA FURUKRONA, FOUNDER OF NOVA BOSSA

Free Tactics to Try

Panelists gave several free tips for owners looking to market their businesses, such as knowing your customer, working with influencers, growing a network, and creating demand online.

Harrison used his network from high school basketball, the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, and his local community to create his “ecosystem.”

“Most of my friends or people in my ecosystem are like business cards for me. They get around people just like I do,” he says.

His background in product placement led him to think of influencers as a way to get his products placed and known within their expansive networks.

Hainesworth uses the review section on her business’s website and the reviews from the Total Wine and Liquor website to promote her brand.

“I take every constructive criticism very, very seriously,” Hainesworth says. “And we post the good reviews back onto our social media.”

Although Hainesworth takes reviews, both positive and negative, into consideration, she doesn’t make every change the reviewers want.

“You have to believe in yourself, and you have to believe that whatever you launch is going to be a good product,” she says.

“You know that when it launches, people are going to give you good reviews. You can take that review and put it on your social media — Instagram, Facebook — and you rave about the review and thank your customers for giving you a good review about your earthshaking product.”
TIFFANY CAPRI HAINESWORTH, CEO AND FOUNDER OF TCAPRI SPIRIT

Using Unique Experiences for Marketing

Businesses with retail spaces have a unique opportunity to work with local organizations. Furukrona’s store is in the first high-end Latin market in Union Market in DC, La Cosecha.

She used her previous experiences working in the event planning industry and with embassies to create a cultural festival hosted in the market’s space.

“What we started doing was approaching embassies to do cultural festivals with our collection drops,” she said. From this, they got 14,000 people to attend the festival at La Cosecha during the pandemic.

One of the best parts about this partnership for Furukrona was the access and free promotion this gave her business.

“In the press release, we had the embassy’s logo, our logo, and we got on the embassy’s list, which they sent to all of their people,” she said. “They usually don’t turn over their list, but having those logos with our logo brings credibility as well.”

The store and the market have hosted similar events for Guatemalan Independence Day, and with Trinidad and Tobago.

“I didn’t spend any money on it — it was just effort,” says Furukrona.

Across the panelists, being at the core of their business’s marketing helped them reach goals and customers.

Harrison says finding alignment and walking in purpose, which goes hand in hand with marketing, leads customers to businesses. And that’s a sign of a successful business.

How Can Small Local Service Businesses Use AI To Improve Their Digital Marketing?

When many of us hear how AI will change the world – particularly digital marketing – our thoughts (and occasionally fears) drift towards how big organizations will use machines to do the work of legions of copywriters, designers, and other content creators.

Large corporations with equally large customer bases and competitively driven content need are looking to sophisticated AI systems to generate content, and process and analyze data to stay ahead.

But the opportunities presented by AI are not just for the big guys.

In fact, small local businesses with fewer resources and often less time can certainly benefit from some of the innovative time and cost savings AI solutions offer.

One particularly challenging aspect of running a small business these days is keeping up with the often overwhelming demands of digital marketing, which can be a full-time job on its own.

Maintaining a rich, current, relevant digital presence and enabling increasingly savvy customers to engage with your business via multiple channels is expected and required for businesses hoping to grow.

Again, how does a small business owner keep up with increasing demands in an area they may not be comfortable with?

Enter AI as the virtual digital marketing assistant.

How Can AI Support Small Business Marketing?

AI can take many forms, but when it comes to marketing applications, the current popular application is generative AI.

AI engines, like ChatGPT, are called large language models, which are effectively AI algorithms that have been trained on massive sets of data or content to understand, summarize, and generate new content when prompted.

As such, AI can quickly and effectively produce content on virtually any topic covered in the data set it’s been trained on.

Website, Blog, And Social Content

The first natural application of AI writing tools for small businesses is creating educational, informative, or otherwise helpful content your website visitors, social followers, and search engines can consume.

Content is still king in terms of establishing online authority, and one way to stand out from your competition is to create more, better content your audience wants to read, like, and share.

We’ve established AI can generate content on any topic you desire, and for most small local businesses, their customer’s needs are relatively consistent.

The key to obtaining quality, compelling AI-generated content is the quality of the prompt it is provided.

A well-structured request can produce a blog post, how-to article, FAQ section, web page, or social media post, which may only require small changes and personalization to be ready for your audience.

If not, you can re-prompt the AI for a better version, and over time, it will continue to learn and produce better, more appropriate content.

However, to be clear, the step of reviewing and editing the content to ensure it is unique should not be skipped.

AI is known as “hallucinating,” which is a fancy way of saying AI has a habit of being inaccurate on occasion, and so all work must be checked for accuracy.

It’s also vitally important to ensure the end product is humanized, as sometimes the text can sound awkward or formal. You should also make sure the content both reflects your brand, and is your own by adding your unique signature – whether by inserting your anecdotal viewpoint, tone, or links to other relevant content you’ve produced or curated.

Direct Customer Communications

In addition to the content businesses create to be shared en masse via sites or social, there are direct-to-consumer campaigns designed to promote, educate or inform.

While these may be short, in the form of emails or SMS messages, there is still time required to develop campaign ideas and deliver the resulting content to the target audience. AI can help with both stages of the process.

First, AI can be asked to provide a list of topics or ideas upon which a campaign may be based.

For example, I asked ChatGPT to “Provide me with a list of promotions for a small local plumbing company might run to grow revenue…”

To which the AI virtual marketing assistant quickly revised with this bridged list of suggestions:

“Certainly! Here are some promotions that a small local plumbing company can run to grow revenue:

Seasonal Maintenance Package: Offer a discounted package for seasonal plumbing maintenance services, such as drain cleaning, water heater inspection, or leak detection. Promote this package during specific times of the year when homeowners typically focus on home maintenance.
New Customer Discount
Loyalty Rewards Program
Bundle Packages
Refer-a-Friend Program
Limited-Time Offers
Social Media Exclusive Deals
Senior Citizen or Military Discounts
Maintenance Plan Subscriptions
Partner Discounts

Remember to advertise your promotions through various channels, including your website, social media, local advertising, and direct mail, to ensure maximum visibility and reach. Monitor the effectiveness of each promotion and adjust your strategies based on customer response and revenue growth.”

Then AI can be called upon again to suggest the messaging itself. A well-structured prompt for a marketing message can take any one or all of the following into account:

Message type: Promotion, announcement, invite, greeting, thank you, educational, informational, etc.
Services or Products to be mentioned: For appropriate message types.
Specific words to be included: Highlighted offers, discounts, specials, etc.
Specific words to exclude: Competitors’ names, unwanted alternative product references.
Demographic targeting information: Gender, age, marital status, etc.
Writing tone: Conversational, friendly, informative, professional, welcoming, witty, etc.
Writing perspective: First or third person.

As noted, the more detailed the prompt provided to the AI, the more accurate and effective the generated response.

SEO And Paid Search

AI is at the heart of SEO, so far as AI algorithms have been powering Google and other search engines for years.

So, why not leverage the same technology to save a few steps in creating the structured content the search engines are looking for?

For those small business owners or employees with the time and knowledge to take website matters into their own hands, generative AI for SEO can be used to do keyword and content research, create page titles, meta descriptions, or more advanced aspects of on-site optimization.

Not surprisingly, AI is already built into many paid ad platforms and is foundational to services like Google Ads, with content automatically being recommended or created based on existing content and/or past performance.

Advertisers, big and small, benefit from the combined knowledge of each other’s campaigns.

Website Support

Website chatbots have been commonplace for some time now. Still, AI is opening the door to a new level of chatbot, which will be able to more seamlessly interact with your website visitors and, more precisely, extract the information they are seeking.

Just as AI LLMs are trained to scour and interpret large volumes of content across the web, they can also be trained to catalog your small corner, which is your website containing all the important details about your products, services, and business practices.

If site visitors run into roadblocks or ask questions the bot has not been trained on or does not have the necessary content to provide an answer for, smart systems will enable customers to forward their questions by other channels such as SMS or email.

Future Thinking

AI-generated text-based content is just the tip of the iceberg, as we are already similarly seeing photo-realistic images being produced by systems like DALL-E2 and Midjourney based on plain language prompts, while full-scale video isn’t far behind.

Here too, the potential to create compelling business content is real.

Beyond content, AI offers the promise of automating the personalization and optimization of content – so the right content is provided to the right people at the right time, which has long been Google’s modus operandi.

Except now, it won’t just be Google and the search engines that can deliver this level of customized content. Open-source AI solutions are opening this door for everyone.

Solutions like predictive analytics will enable small business marketers to stay ahead of the game, building on and automating those tactics which have worked before and ignoring those which have not.

But… AI Is Just A Tool

Now, as much potential as AI has to offer in terms of saving time in content creation, it should by no means be seen as a full replacement for human writers or editors.

Because AI-generated content is based on content that has already been created, there is certainly a risk of a great deal of sameness being produced as some creators publish this content verbatim.

A recent article in the Washington Post rightly points out:

“Experts say that even advanced AI doesn’t match the writing skills of a human: It lacks personal voice and style, and it often churns out wrong, nonsensical or biased answers. But for many companies, the cost-cutting is worth a drop in quality.”

This is not what your audience or Google wants to hear. It will become increasingly important to take what AI offers and build upon it, adding your own unique voice, perspective, and anecdotal spin.

Google remains committed to its EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) principles as primary content ranking factors. EEAT is what small businesses need to add to what AI owners can provide as a starting point.

In conclusion

AI-powered digital marketing offers tremendous opportunities for small local businesses to improve their online presence by producing rich, relevant content, enhancing customer experience, and generating more leads.

However, to reap the benefits of this revolutionary technology, businesses need to understand their challenges, set measurable goals, develop strategies, and continuously monitor and optimize their performance.

More resources:

Featured Image: Gearstd/Shutterstock

Small Business Marketing Ideas (For Any Budget)

For one week each spring, “shopping small” means big business.

Small Business Week, happening April 30 through May 6 in 2023, is a prime opportunity for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to raise brand awareness about their products or services—and bring customers in the door.

Doing this, however, requires a little outside-the-box thinking. Giving your marketing efforts a local twist is one way to get the word out.

Here’s a list of SMB marketing strategies designed with local businesses in mind.

What is Small Business Week?

Small Business Week is all about highlighting the resilience of local retailers, restaurants, service providers, and more. It’s a 50-year-old tradition of recognizing “the critical contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners,”¹ and it creates an opportunity to introduce smaller brands to new customers—or strengthen relationships with existing ones.

In short: Every small business has a story, and Small Business Week is a chance to tell you.

Five ways to bring your small business marketing ideas to life

Small business promotional ideas should be engaging without breaking the bank. Here are five budget-friendly strategies to help turn your small business advertising ideas into real-world customer conversions.

1. SEO

Organic search engine optimization (SEO) helps ensure that your business is visible when customers search for related products and services online. Start by analyzing your existing search engine ranking and the keywords that are currently generating the most traffic to your site—along with those of your competitors. Optimizing your website for greater exposure on those search terms can drive more visits during Small Business Week and beyond. If you’re stuck in an SEO rut, there’s always the option of boosting your presence with paid media or paid search ads.

2. Local search

Making sure your brick-and-mortar store shows up in localized search results is crucial. Whether customers are searching for “cat collars in Eastport Maine” or “dog grooming Chicago,” it’s important that your business pops up on the first page. Try adding local and regional search terms to the About Us section of your site, or consider partnering with other local businesses to get backlinks and boost your page ranking.²

3.Digital audio

No list of small business advertising strategies would be complete without digital audio. Given that US adults now spend more time with digital audio daily than they do on social networks or watching video content on their smartphones,³ it’s a promising avenue for reaching potential shoppers ahead of Small Business Week.

4. Social media

Social remains a go-to destination for small business brands. Promoting your local business by posting photos taken on-site can entice customers to visit in person—but don’t forget to tell your larger brand story. Sharing historical facts and information about how your business contributes to the local community or posting photos and stories about staff can help humanize your brand, as well as build loyalty and trust among followers.

5. Email marketing

If you already have an email list, use it to let existing customers know about your Small Business Week sales, in-store promotions, free product offers, and local events. You can even consider running a contest for the occasion and collecting email addresses as entries. Then, follow up with compelling and location-relevant content—including links to multimedia or blog posts.

How Spotify can level up your local ad campaigns

With Spotify Ad Studio, small business advertisers can start a campaign for as little as $250. This gives you access to our intuitive self-serve ads manager, which includes robust targeting tools. Ad Studio makes it simple for SMBs to create ads likely to reach and resonate with the audiences they care about most.

Research shows that Spotify audio ads have 19% more brand impact compared to all other forms of media,4 which makes digital audio a smart choice for small business owners and local businesses. Ads heard on Spotify are also recalled at a rate that’s five times greater than a model based on chance.⁵

Digital audio advertising ideas for your small business could include podcast ads designed to help boost your brand or timely, event-specific ads targeted to niche audiences. If you’re looking for Small Business Week ideas to help you market your SMB this year, don’t miss the opportunity to incorporate digital audio in your campaign.

Ready to launch a campaign? Ad Studio is a great place to start.

Groundbreaking New Book by Prolific Author Bo Bennett: A Deep Dive into AI-Driven Business Marketing – Written by AI

BOSTON, June 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Bo Bennett, founder of BookMarketing.pro and acclaimed author of over a dozen books, including the bestseller “Logically Fallacious,” announced the release of his latest book “Artificial Intelligence, Real Profits: Mastering ChatGPT-4 for Business Marketing.” Notably, this book is a testament to the revolutionary power of AI, as Bennett wrote it almost exclusively with artificial intelligence, even crafting the marketing materials and the audiobook in his voice using AI technology.

Bennett’s background spans programming and technology, and he holds a PhD in Social Psychology. His diverse background and deep understanding of technology, human behavior, and self-publishing have uniquely positioned him to explore AI’s potential to transform business marketing. Bennett has used AI for various aspects of writing and marketing his new book, including creating the book description, keywords, selecting the categories, and even writing this press release.

“Artificial Intelligence, Real Profits” is a comprehensive guide designed to demystify AI-driven business marketing, providing actionable techniques and real-life examples. It aims to help entrepreneurs and marketers leverage the power of AI to maximize their profits and success. It’s not just about AI but about leveraging AI in a way that augments human creativity and productivity, as Bennett has demonstrated in creating this book.

Bennett demonstrates how AI can be a powerful tool, even transforming the publishing industry more profoundly than the internet has. “AI is going to change the publishing industry more than the Internet has. Mark my words,” said Bennett.

In this groundbreaking book, Bennett employed AI to assist in creating the topics and, through carefully crafted prompts, got the AI to write the book he envisioned. This innovative approach makes “Artificial Intelligence, Real Profits” stand out among other books in the field. “As an industry professional and a prolific author, it not only blows my mind that I created this book, all marketing materials, and audiobook (in my own voice) in about 8 hours, but that with the help of AI, this is probably better than anything I have written on my own,” Bennett added. “After all, who is more qualified to write about AI than AI?”

Bennett’s primary goal with this release is not just to sell more books, but to raise awareness about AI’s transformative potential in the publishing industry and to inspire other authors to explore the possibilities. He encourages readers to read the book and the media to contact him for interviews.

Company / Source: BookMarketing.pro
Contact Person Name: Bo Bennett
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 1 978 522 6530
Website/URL: https://www.BookMarketing.pro/

About Bo Bennett: Bo Bennett is the founder of BookMarketing.pro, a business that has been helping self-published authors for over a decade. He is also the author of over a dozen books, including the bestseller “Logically Fallacious.” His latest book, “Artificial Intelligence, Real Profits: Mastering ChatGPT-4 for Business Marketing,” explores the revolutionary potential of AI in business marketing and the publishing industry.

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SOURCE BookMarketing. pro