How To Use AI For Small Business Marketing

In the past, small businesses had to make important marketing decisions based on guesses and work with very limited resources.

But now, AI technology has changed the game!

With AI, even the smallest companies can go head-to-head with big corporations. You can open up a world of new opportunities to supercharge your marketing efforts — with ChatGPT, a brand new funnel builder we created, chatbots, and lots of other tools.

In this article, we’ll dive into the various ways AI can transform your marketing strategies. You’ll discover practical tips and insights on how to leverage AI to boost your business growth, optimize your marketing campaigns, and achieve a higher return on your investment.

Let’s dive in!

1. Creating and Optimizing Marketing Funnels

Marketing funnels are a series of steps designed to guide potential customers through the buying journey, from initial awareness to final purchase.

These steps can include multiple pages or steps that guide people where you want them to go.

One of the simplest marketing funnels is the squeeze page funnel. It has only two steps — the page for snagging an email address and then the “Thank You” page.

Here’s an example…

Of course, you can create much more complicated and sophisticated funnels (that’s what we help people do at C lickFunnels!)

Like this Webinar funnel for example…

It really just depends on what you’re trying to do… get emails, make sales, book calls, or something else.

Now you used to have to create all of this on your own. You’d have to write the copy, create the designs, map out the funnel, and everything else. It took weeks or months.

But now you can do 90% of the work with AI 🙂

In fact, at ClickFunnels, we created an AI funnel builder that will ask you some questions and spit out a functional funnel.

The benefits?

No Prior Experience Required: If you’re new to digital marketing, setting up a sales funnel can feel overwhelming. The ClickFunnels Smart Funnel Builder provides step-by-step guidance, making it easy for anyone to create a professional funnel without needing extensive marketing knowledge.
Time-Saving: Traditionally, creating a sales funnel involves multiple steps, such as designing pages, writing copy, and setting up integrations. This process can be time-consuming and complex. The Smart AI Funnel Builder automates these tasks, allowing you to create a fully functional funnel in under 15 minutes.
Cost-Efficiency: With the Smart Funnel Builder, you get high-quality copywriting and design services included. This means you don’t need to hire additional professionals, saving you significant costs while still ensuring your funnel is effective and visually appealing.

Want to see how it works?

Let’s walk through it together!

Go here and you can start building your AI funnel for free.

As I walk you through this, I’m going to imagine that I’m building a squeeze page for a fitness coach who’s offering a guide to his target audience: busy executives.

I’m going to select the “Optin Funnel” — same as the Squeeze Page Funnel. This will allow me to offer a gift to my target market in exchange for their email list. And once they’re on my email list, I can reach out to them whenever I want to for free!

Then I’ll choose a brand color palette…

…and image style…

… and finally, I’ll provide some details about my offer and the style of copy that I want. The more information and details you provide the AI with here, the better job it’ll do of creating a sales funnel for you that makes sense.

Then watch the quick video from Russell if you’re new to ClickFunnels. After that, you can either create a ClickFunnels account for free or login to your existing account.

Once you do, you’ll be able to access your complete AI-built funnel.

You can edit each page, delete, or even add more pages/steps to the funnel. It’s fully customizable but now you have an almost complete funnel that will need only a few tweaks (or none at all!).

Try Our AI Funnel Builder For FREE Here!

2. Website Copy Using AI Writing Tools

Copywriting is a critical component of marketing. Words have the power to persuade potential customers to make a purchase.

However, writing effective copy is a skill that not everyone possesses. Crafting compelling and convincing messages requires expertise and creativity, making it a daunting task for many small business owners.

Now, AI can act as your personal copywriter.

While AI won’t generate copy out of thin air, it can significantly simplify the process once you provide it with detailed information about your product and ideal customer profile (ICP). By doing so, AI tools can offer a variety of copy options, saving you time and effort in the brainstorming process.

Creating Headlines With AI Writing Tools

Using AI writing tools like ChatGPT or Claude, you can generate captivating headlines by giving AI-specific prompts.

For Example:

“You are an expert copywriter hired to promote a new [product or service] that offers [unique selling point]. Create headlines that showcase this USP and make it irresistible to the target audience.”

Additionally, you can guide the AI in creating compelling headlines. Here are some effective headline formulas:

[Number] [Adjective] Ways to [Achieve Desired Result] That [Unexpected Benefit or Consequence]
How [Unusual or Surprising Tactic] Can Help You [Achieve Desired Outcome] in [Specific Timeframe]
The [Adjective] Guide to [Mastering Complex Skill or Topic] for [Target Audience]
[Number] [Profession or Industry] Secrets That Will [Benefit or Transform] Your [Aspect of Life]
Why [Common Belief or Practice] is [Surprisingly Counterproductive], and What to Do Instead
The [Timeframe] Challenge: [Number] Steps to [Achieving Ambitious Goal] While [Overcoming Obstacle]

When using AI to write a headline, it’s important to provide context about your target audience, product, unique selling point, and where you will use the headline.

For instance, to create a headline for a lead magnet landing page offering accounting tips for small businesses, you could use the following prompt:

“Use this headline formula to create a headline for my landing page which offers a free PDF of 5 accounting tips for small businesses’ – [Number] [Adjective] Ways to [Achieve Desired Result] That [Unexpected Benefit or Consequence].”

An example response could be:

“5 Simple Ways to Optimize Your Accounting That Save Time and Boost Profits”

By leveraging AI writing tools, you can streamline the copywriting process, generate a variety of effective headlines, and focus on other critical aspects of your business.

Features and Benefits Section

You can also use it to create the “Features and Benefits” section of your landing page or emails…

For Example…

“Imagine you are writing a features and benefits section for a [product or service] that caters to [target audience]. Identify 8 unique features that address the specific needs and challenges of this audience. For each feature, highlight how it makes their lives easier, more efficient, or more enjoyable. Use relatable examples and scenarios to illustrate the benefits.”

We used it to create features and benefits for a salon run for kids & asked AI to give us the information in a table. Here’s what it produced.

For Product Descriptions

Have an e-commerce store or sell courses or eBooks? You could also use AI to write your product descriptions.

Here’s a prompt to get you started.

Write a product description page for a [product type]. It needs to appeal to [audience type]. I want to highlight [features list].

You can also use special tools like copy.ai, or writesonic. They have built-in fields where you enter your data and it will generate content for you.

This is what we did.

We can further chat with it to create more content…

Copywriting used to take hours or days. But now it’s a lot quicker with AI. Keep in mind that you won’t get great copy right out of the gate… but with some tweaking and editing, it can make the copywriting process a lot faster.

3. Content Idea Generation and Social Media Posts

One of the most challenging aspects of managing social media is consistently coming up with fresh and engaging ideas. This is essential for standing out, but with all the tasks on your plate, there simply isn’t enough time to brainstorm daily.

Thankfully, AI can assist you with ideation and execution, saving you time and effort.

Generating Social Media Post Ideas With AI

AI can be a valuable tool for generating social media content ideas. By providing specific prompts, you can get a tailored list of post ideas that suit your business needs. Here’s an example prompt:

“Act as a social media manager. You’re running a coffee shop in London that caters to young professionals who are remote workers. Create a list of 10 ideas for social media posts to educate, inform, or entertain our target audience.”

Of course, not everything that the AI spits out is going to be worth your time. So how do you know which ideas are actually… good?

Three ways…

Assess whether the post idea aligns with your brand’s identity, values, and target audience.
Evaluate the feasibility of executing the post idea within your available resources, time, and budget.
Assess whether the idea provides value to your audience, such as educating, entertaining, or inspiring them. Choose a mix of three for your week-long or month-long planning. Don’t just stick to one type.

Let’s create a template of that prompt for ya…

You are a social media manager for [Business Type] in [Location] that caters to [Target Audience]. Create a list of 10 ideas for social media posts to educate, inform, or entertain your target audience.

And if that’s not getting you the results you want, here are some more prompt ideas…

As a social media coordinator for a small [Service-based Business e.g. salon, repair shop, etc.] catering to [Target Demographic e.g. families, professionals, etc.] in [Location], provide 10 creative social media post concepts that educate customers about your offerings, share helpful tips related to your industry, and encourage interactions.
You are a social media manager for a small [Business Type e.g. restaurant, boutique, etc.] in [Location]. Create a list of 10 social media post ideas that will engage your local customer base, showcase your products/services, and build brand awareness in the community.
You manage social media for a small [Product-based Business e.g. bakery, craft store, etc.] targeting [Target Demographic] in [Location]. List out 10 unique social media post ideas that give a behind-the-scenes look at your business, promote new product launches, and run engaging campaigns or contests to boost sales.

Writing Social Media Posts With AI

AI can also help in writing social media posts: from the ideas we get in the first phase of the process, choose one and ask AI to create content around it.

For Example:

“From the social media post ideas you gave me, I want to go ahead with creating Coffee Trivia idea (Engage your audience with fun coffee trivia questions or facts about the history and origins of different coffee beans and brewing methods.)
Tell me 3 coffee trivias that are interesting. Don’t give me technical trivias that my audience — young professionals — can’t understand. They’re not coffee experts.”

Here was the output…

That was a more detailed prompt. You can see an example of output when you use a simpler prompt. It’s important to keep in mind that if you want to talk to your target audience specifically, make your prompt as detailed as possible.

Let’s add some more details to the prompt so we talk to the right audience.

“I run a small coffee shop that uses an organic, fair-trade roast from Ethiopia. Our coffees have different notes you can choose from. Could you write an Instagram caption promoting our 10% off deal for International Coffee Day? Our target audience is young professionals who work remotely. Use a friendly tone.”

See how much better that result is?

When using AI, the magic happens in the details and information provided — give it as much information as you would give to an actual copywriter and you’ll get better results.

Try Our AI Funnel Builder For FREE Here!

4. Chatbots for 24/7 Customer Support

Even if you own a small business, you probably have a website. And if that website is getting a consistent flow of traffic, then you might be able to benefit from a chatbot to add 24/7 customer support or sales.

AI chatbots are super sophisticated now. They can even provide product recommendations or upsells.

For example, we asked Kayak for recommendations for a family holiday in Europe and it recommended Prague.

But we wanted to be more specific this time, so we asked for only beach cities…

Pretty cool, huh?

It’s easy to see how you could use this to your advantage — guiding customers through product features and benefits, or pointing them in the right direction.

Peloton is doing this as well…

The advantages are numerous…

24/7 availability — serve customers anytime
Cost-effective — you already have the content, just need to feed it
Scalable — can do the work of hundreds of humans at a time
Highly personal — leading to better customer interaction, and more business

5. Create Videos to Boost Engagement

People are watching more video content than ever before. In fact, YouTube is one of the biggest search engines on the planet!

In the awareness stage, engaging videos can capture attention and introduce your brand to potential customers.

During the consideration stage, informative videos can educate and build trust by demonstrating the benefits and features of your products or services.

At the decision stage, testimonial and case study videos can provide social proof and persuade prospects to choose your brand.

Finally, in the retention stage, instructional or behind-the-scenes videos can keep customers engaged and loyal by offering additional value and fostering a deeper connection with your brand.

And now you can create videos with AI!

For example, an e-commerce website can create product demo videos by writing scripts that outline the key features and benefits of each product, letting AI generate visually appealing videos that enhance the shopping experience…

Or you could write the script and let any of the ‘stock’ voices or faces that come with Synthesia do the voice & video for you. Share these as ads, on your social media, or with your sales prospects.

What’s not to like?

You get a diverse range of content without the need for hiring voice actors or on-screen talent.
By using AI-generated voices and faces that align with your target audience, you can create more relatable and personalized video content for your website, fostering a stronger connection with your visitors and increasing the likelihood of conversions.