Now in its second week, some of the Twitter punditry have been likening the launch of ChatGPT to "splitting the atom" and claiming that "Google is done".
My first analysis concluded that ChatGPT is a new tool for the writer's toolbox, but not a replacement for writers, and with that in mind, I was curious to go beyond the hype as a humble B2B tech content marketer and find some practical applications for my day-to-day work.
Here is an incomplete list of ways that content marketers and copywriters can utilize the technology, even for the complex subject matter we come across in B2B tech.
1. Brainstorm content ideas
If you are stuck for ideas and need a sparring partner, ChatGPT could be very handy. I prompted it for content ideas for an online fraud management solution, and the answer was a quite comprehensive list of angles you could take to creating content for such a solution:
Here are some possible content ideas for an online fraud management solution:
1. Introducing your online fraud management solution and explaining its key features and benefits.
2. Discussing common types of online fraud and how your solution can help protect against them.
3. Sharing case studies or success stories of businesses that have used your solution to effectively manage online fraud.
4. Providing tips and best practices for businesses to reduce the risk of online fraud.
5. Highlighting the importance of having an online fraud management solution, particularly for businesses that conduct a lot of transactions online.
6. Offering a free trial or demo of your solution, so businesses can see for themselves how it works.
7. Providing resources, such as articles and blog posts, that can help businesses learn more about online fraud and how to prevent it.
8. Offering customer support and assistance to businesses that have questions or need help using your solution.
Of course, these are just suggestions, and you may want to tailor your content to the specific needs and interests of your target audience.
Not bad!
2. Provide inspiration for headlines
If you are stuck for headline inspiration, ChatGPT can at least provide some ideas. Example — write a punchy blog post headline for how B2B tech copywriters can use ChatGPT:
Maximize your b2b tech copywriting with ChatGPT: How AI can boost your content and drive results
A little generic, but it's a starting point that you can play with.
3. Write automated email sequences
Writing email sequences following a signup or download can be repetitive and a little sames-y — exactly the type of content where ChatGPT can give you a head start. When prompted to write a welcome onboarding email for a B2B SaaS platform, its answer was:
Dear valued customer,
Welcome to our b2b SaaS platform! We are excited to have you on board and are dedicated to providing you with the tools and support you need to succeed.
Our platform is designed to help businesses like yours streamline and automate your operations, saving you time and resources. With our intuitive interface and comprehensive support materials, you'll be up and running in no time.
We also offer personalized training and support to ensure that you and your team get the most out of our platform. If you have any questions or need assistance, don't hesitate to reach out to our dedicated support team.
We are committed to your success and look forward to helping you achieve your business goals.
Sincerely,
[Your company]
Once again, kind of generic, but a decent starting point.
4. Create glossary definitions and FAQs
If you have a glossary or FAQ "What is..." questions on your website, you may be able to use ChatGPT to quickly generate definitions and answers that give you a solid starting point for real answers. For example, define GDPR for a website glossary:
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a regulation in European Union (EU) law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the EU. It also addresses the export of personal data outside the EU. The GDPR aims to give individuals control over their personal data and to simplify the regulatory environment for international business by unifying the regulation within the EU.
For some websites, this is probably all you need. However if one of your company's areas of expertise is privacy legislation, it will probably need more work. Bear in mind the more you niche down, the less chance the response you receive will be accurate or complete.
5. Quickly come up with interview questions
You're suddenly put in a situation where you have fifteen minutes to interview a product manager about the latest launch. You prompt "questions to ask a B2B tech product manager when writing a product announcement" into ChatGPT, and get this very helpful response:
1. What are the key features and benefits of this product?
2. What makes this product stand out from its competitors?
3. How will this product help our customers solve their business challenges?
4. What resources are available to help our customers get up and running with this product?
5. What partnerships have been formed to ensure a successful launch?
6. What kind of support does this product require?
7. What are the long-term goals for this product?
8. What is the estimated release date for this product?
9. What feedback has been gathered from customers and industry experts during the product development process?
10. How will this product be marketed to our target audience?
6. Summarize long-form copy
Sometimes you need to write something longer than the brief requires to make sure you get all the nuance. Other times, you need to summarize certain topics to submit to third parties. Whatever the case, it appears ChatGPT could offer a shortcut to get there. I copy-pasted this Guardian article and asked it to summarize:
ChatGPT is a new text-generating AI tool created by the team behind GPT-3. It has been designed to be used in a chat-focused interface, making it easier to have a back-and-forth conversation with the AI. It also has new safety tools built into it, which prevent it from providing instructions for lawlessness or information about events that have happened since it was trained. It is capable of answering questions that would be difficult for a search engine and can generate large amounts of text that is clear, plausible and generally bland.
Note: it does avoid some of the more critical points of the linked article, which is interesting in its own right....
7. Research key points of an article
In this use case it is much like Googling, perhaps a little faster but more opaque in terms of sources. I prompted it to explain how open banking works in the EU and UK.
Open banking is a secure way for customers to share their financial data with banks and other approved third parties.
The purpose of open banking is to make it easier for customers to access their financial data and to make it easier for them to access certain services, such as comparison services and payment initiation services.
In the EU and UK, open banking is a set of regulations and standards that have been implemented to provide customers with greater control over their financial data. These regulations and standards are based on the Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2). This directive requires banks to provide customers with access to their financial data and to allow approved third-party providers to access customer data with customer permission and provide services based on that data.
Open banking in the EU and UK is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Banks and third-party providers must be accredited by the FCA in order to be allowed to provide open banking services. Banks and third-party providers must also comply with the strong customer authentication and data security requirements set out in PSD2.
Open banking has the potential to make the banking system more efficient and customer-friendly, and to open up the banking market to more competition and innovation.
Quite comprehensive in this case, but as you niche down it is HIGHLY advisable to use other sources to validate the claims you see in ChatGPT.
8. Creating outlines for articles
I gave it the obvious request: "I need an outline for an article that explains how writers can use ChatGPT":
Sure, here is a possible outline for an article that explains how writers can use ChatGPT:
1. Introduction: explain what ChatGPT is and why it can be useful for writers.
2. Describe the main features of ChatGPT and how it works.
3. Discuss some practical examples of how writers can use ChatGPT to improve their writing process, such as generating ideas, brainstorming, and editing.
4. Provide some tips and best practices for using ChatGPT effectively, such as using it in combination with other tools, training it on specific topics, and using it to experiment with different writing styles.
Conclude by summarizing the benefits of using ChatGPT for writers and encouraging them to try it out.
Optional: include a section with additional resources and links for writers who want to learn more about ChatGPT and how to use it.
Damn, maybe I should have followed its advice and done this step first....
Using ChatGPT is like playing with fire: fun and useful, but you can get burnt
While these use cases are all quite exciting in their different ways, there are some important limitations to keep in mind.
For example, the data it is trained on is only up to the end of 2021, and it doesn't provide any source link to verify the claims it makes. So beware of claims it makes about niche expert subject matter and anything current! Furthermore, it is not really ideal to help with formatted content, although you could conceivably use it to get inspiration for different website page blocks or sections in a brochure.
But aside from these important qualifications, there is a lot of potential for ChatGPT and its future iterations to speed up, improve, and even validate the content you are already creating.
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