If you’re a business or marketing professional, can AI tools help you do your job a bit faster or better? According to Paul Fabretti, a communications leader with more than 20 years of experience, the answer is, unequivocally, yes.
“Anyone who can find ways to introduce AI technology into their everyday work will be at a major advantage in the workplace and job market,” says Fabretti, who's taught UWPCE’s course Generative AI for Business. “At a basic level, you’re making yourself more valuable; at a higher level, you’re changing and improving how you accomplish your work.”
Read on to find out about 10 marketing and business tasks you might be able to make easier using AI. Plus, learn which UW courses, specializations and certificates can prepare you to be a go-to AI pro in your workplace.
A cautionary note: There are dozens of generative AI-powered tools in the market, including both free and paid options. You’ll even find some AI tools specifically designed to assist you in your marketing and business development. Remember, as powerful as AI tools can be, they also can often produce false or biased information. Always vet any text or images created by AI for accuracy or bias and check for any copyright or trademark issues before publishing.
Expert Insights: AI in Marketing & Business
10 Tasks Made Easier With AI
1. Develop a New Product or Feature
AI tools can be helpful for brainstorming ideas for new products or features based on a simple text prompt. Or consider asking your favorite AI tool to come up with creative product names, descriptions, taglines or slogans. Compile the output and iterate on the best ones to find something that resonates with you.
▸ Explore This: UW Specialization in Product Marketing
2. Create a Company or Brand Logo
Need a logo for your new company, product or brand? Look for AI tools that specialize in this kind of task. You can input elements of your creative brief, such as details about brand values and target audience, and then sort through the different logo options that the tool generates to inspire your next attention-getting design.
▸ Explore This: Visual Design for Digital Media (course)
3. Produce a Newsletter
Professional marketers often create catchy, original newsletter content to engage customers as part of an overall digital marketing strategy. Used responsibly, a generative AI tool can come up with copy ideas for you about specific products or topics based on your detailed prompts. For better results, include instructions around tone and audience, such as “use humor that would appeal to a Gen Z audience.” (Remember to review and edit AI suggestions to ensure your copy is error-free and unique to you.)
▸ Explore This: Generative AI for Business (course); UW Certificate in Editing
4. Write a Marketing Plan
You can use generative AI to draft a high-level marketing plan for your business or product. In your prompts, include a product description, target audience, estimated budget and the specific marketing strategies you’d like to pursue.
▸Explore This: UW Specialization in Product Marketing
5. Create Social Media Posts
Most large language models use publicly available internet content, including social posts, as part of their training data. So, why not consider asking your AI tool to help produce ideas for social media posts about your latest product or initiative? Build a prompt that includes instructions about content, tone and length, tailored for the social platforms you intend to use. (Remember to review and edit the results before you post.)
▸Explore This: UW Specialization in Social Media Marketing
6. Analyze Customer Feedback
You might find it challenging to mine customer feedback from surveys, emails, social media and other channels. But understanding your consumers and their behavior is key if you want to develop actionable insights that can help you achieve your business goals. AI tools can help analyze the feedback for you and surface recurring themes or issues your business needs to address. (Remember: Never put proprietary content or confidential customer info into an AI tool unless you have cleared it with your company’s legal and IT departments.)
▸Explore This: Marketing Foundations (course)
7. Generate Graphics and Images
There are AI tools on the market that can produce stunning graphics and images based on descriptive text prompts. This makes it easier to produce ideas for unique visuals you can develop for advertising, websites, product packaging and more. (Always check generated images closely for errors ― they’re common.)
▸Explore This: Visual Design for Digital Media (course)
8. Draft a Business Proposal
AI tools can help you organize your great business ideas into a compelling written proposal. Start with some general ideas about what you envision for your business, then prompt your AI tool to help you write a business proposal document that’s free of jargon and in the right tone for your intended audience. Refine your prompts for some ideas about how to make data-driven decisions about your business goals.
▸ Explore This: Generative AI for Business (course); Business Writing: Reports, Proposals & Documents (course)
9. Craft Compelling Emails
Need help creating concise email copy that strikes just the right tone? Your AI tool of choice will quickly generate 10 (or 50, or 100) different ideas on any theme or subject you provide. Leverage your AI tool to ensure flawless grammar, proper punctuation and clear key messages.
▸ Explore This: Business Writing Foundations (course); UW Certificate in Editing
10. Compile Market Research
Need to analyze the potential market for your new product? Prompt your AI tool to generate a thorough market research report that considers target audiences, market demand, competitor analysis, marketing and pricing strategy, and more.
▸ Explore This: UW Specialization in Product Marketing; UW Specialization in AI Product Management
Keep Learning
Want to get started using AI tools in your everyday work? We’ve got you covered. UW Professional & Continuing Education (UWPCE) offers a range of courses, certificates and specializations that can help you acquire the AI skills you need.
Or, check out our full range of programs in Marketing, Communication & Design or Business & Leadership to find the programs that are right for you.