It’s Marketing and Branding Month here at Inman. As we enter a competitive spring selling season, let’s examine which tried-and-true tactics and cutting-edge innovations are getting deals done in today’s market. We’ll also be recognizing the industry’s marketing and branding leaders with Inman’s Marketing All-Star Awards.
AI tools just keep getting better and better. However, with the rapid pace of development, the key is to find the tools that are currently most effective. This article shares five AI tools that can help your business grow right now.
AnswerThePublic.com
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to rank the most common questions your ideal client has? How much more focused could your messaging and content be with that information? Well, it is possible, and AnswerThePublic.com is the solution.
Understanding what people are searching for via search engines such as Google can be accomplished by typing a keyword like “[your city] real estate” in the search bar and seeing what popular suggested autocomplete searches appear. But this can be time-consuming, and it doesn’t give a full picture of what people are truly desiring. AnswerThePublic.com takes this to a higher level.
Once you enter your keyword, it provides every useful phrase or question people are searching around your keyword. It also provides color coding for each search term, breaking them down by highly searched, average searched and lowest searched. It also includes the CPM (cost per mile), which is the amount digital advertisers are paying for 1,000 impressions.
These details provide agents with a goldmine of content ideas that are rooted in providing buyers and sellers with the information they are searching for the most. This is the tool for you if you want to increase your content engagement and the effectiveness of your messaging.
Manychat.com
Manychat.com is one of the best tools I’ve found to increase engagement on social media. If you’ve ever seen a social media post with a video that says, “Type [a specific word] in the comments below, and I’ll send you [whatever the poster will send]” and wondered how they automated that process, it was Manychat.
This tool creates a flow for automated responses that creates efficiency, helps you grow your following and provides you with a lead capture component as well. The first time I used this tool in one of my Instagram Reels I saw a 2,000+ percent increase over my average engagement.
The crucial aspect was my utilization of it to achieve three essential features, resulting in that outcome. Below is a detailed breakdown of what I did and how you can employ this tool and strategy yourself.
First, I used a green screen video of my article from last week, in which I wrote about 15 Instagram accounts agents can learn from. If you aren’t sure how to use the green screen video, check out this article, where I explained it.
In the video, I said if you’d like to see details on these 15 accounts, just comment “Instagram” in the comments section, and I will DM you their details. I used Manychat to automatically DM anyone who used the word “Instagram” in the comments section of the post with the details on the accounts highlighted in the article, automating the process of delivery for the desired information.
I also automated a reply to anyone who commented “Instagram” with a reply comment that said, “Just sent it to your DM!” The reply to their comment accomplishes two main objectives. The first is to make sure they check their DM for the details. The second is that it acts as another source of engagement for the post.
The prompting of these comments tips the algorithm off that this Reel has engagement, which fuels it being shared with others. Automating a response to the comment compounds the engagement, which in turn shows the algorithm that this is a popular post.
Locally, you could do this with a blog post you write for your website or a LinkedIn blog post with the background of the green screen video.
Topics that might do well include:
- 3 great restaurants for date night in [your city]
- 5 most popular neighborhoods in [your city]
- 5 go-to service providers everybody in [your city] should know about
If you mention specific businesses or service providers, invite them to be collaborators for the Reel, or at a minimum, tag them. This will increase engagement as well.
If you want to see the post where I used this tool in the past few weeks to have my most successful Instagram post ever so that you can model one like it on your account, you can check it out here.
Captions for talking videos
The Captions app helps you create studio-quality videos in just a few steps. A few of the features it includes are captions generated from your video’s audio, eye contact correction and easy-to-use video editing features.
If you’ve ever wondered how to add eye-popping captions to your short-form videos, this is the solution. You have the ability to choose your font or color or utilize one of their many templates.
The AI Eye Contact feature gives you the ability to make sure your eyes are looking into the camera, which ensures you are able to connect with the viewer.
An example of this would be reading a script when you are providing a local market update. After looking at your script instead of the camera, simply drop your video into Captions, and apply the eye contact feature. Their AI technology will quickly adjust your eyes where they are looking directly into the camera.
If you need to trim your video or cut out portions of the video, that is easily accomplished by utilizing the app’s video editor feature as well. If you’re looking for an AI-enabled app to help your videos pop, this is the one for you.
ChatGPT mobile app
I utilized the ChatGPT desktop model for months before I added the mobile app version. At this point, it is the most used app on my phone. I utilize it to write SEO-optimized social media post descriptions, to write effective text and email responses, and to generate social media post ideas on the run. The convenience of having the app readily available on my phone has dramatically increased my efficiency.
GPTE.ai
The previous four tools have specific functions, but whatever it is that you wish to do, there is an AI tool that can help. Identifying the tool that can effectively address your specific problem is one of the major hurdles. That is where GPTE.ai comes in.
GPTE is a search-based directory of over 5,000 AI tools, and it is completely free. You can simply punch in the area you need assistance with, and it will provide you with a list of AI tools that can provide you with the solution you need. This is the best tool I’ve found for someone who isn’t sure if there is an AI tool that can help them.
The age of AI has just begun, and the use of these tools will change our businesses and our world. I hope this article encourages you to step out of your comfort zone and test these tools for yourself. There is another level of efficiency for your business, and AI can help you reach it.