Leveraging AI for the Modern Agency with Jason Swenk

“Will we be sent the recording?” 

Some variation of this question is typed into the chatbox of every webinar. But how often do you actually have time to go back and (re)watch? 

How can automation make your agency more efficient and productive? Download “Agency Marketing Through Automation” to find out.

We’re all guilty of the same wishful thinking. That’s why we’ve combed through the content to present you the most compelling tools and takeaways from our latest interactive live event, Leveraging AI for the Modern Agency with Jason Swenk.

List of agency AI tools 

The session was divided into three sections: a presentation from our featured speaker, an interactive show and tell, and a live Q&A.

When attendees were invited to share AI tools and strategies they are currently using, here’s what they mentioned:

• ChatGPT with plugins: Attendees discussed the pros and cons of paying to upgrade to a ChatGPT Plus subscription. One benefit that emerged was the ability to install plugins—they’re add-ons akin to Google Chrome extensions that increase the language model’s capabilities. 
• Vendasta’s AI tools: For Vendasta partners, powerful AI capabilities are built directly into the platform (so there’s no need for plugins or add-ons). Automate workflows, generate social media campaigns, send emails, and provide scalable digital services, all easy and streamlined.
  
• TextFX: Google’s set of tools help inject creativity and playfulness into the writing process. From finding similes to creating scenes, there’s some unique ways to get the juices flowing.  
• Copy.ai: This generative language model is an AI copywriter focused on content creation. It’s handy for creating meta descriptions, blog intros, titles, emails, and more.
• Adobe’s Generative Fill: Turn simple text commands into visual edits and tweak images in Photoshop by using Adobe Firefly’s AI. You could also use it for video!
  
• Claude.ai: Similar to ChatGPT, except trained on up-to-date real-time data so it is presumably more accurate on current events and topics.
• Grammarly: When people say “AI isn’t new,” they likely mean something like this: Grammarly has been using AI-enabled technology for over a decade to enhance your writing. These days, however, GrammarlyGO (a new, on-demand writing assistant powered by AI) is leading the charge. Step aside, Clippy.
  
• Midjourney: This visual tool uses AI to turn text descriptions into compelling images. Basically, it can take your written instructions and make pictures from them!
• QuillBot: Improve the clarity and tone of your writing with this paraphrasing and summarizing tool that helps with rewrites and edits.
• Bing AI: This isn’t your mother’s Bing. This new iteration has an advanced AI-powered search engine, AI image generator, chat interface, and more.

Digital marketing agencies and AI: Main takeaways

Feature speaker Jason Swenk discussed how agencies should be leveraging AI tools and strategies to close the gap with bigger competitors. Here are some of the biggest, most valuable takeaways from the session.

1. Smart agencies are using AI in more ways than you think.

When asked what they last used AI to do, attendees live on the call responded with:

• Compose emails
• Create blog content
• Put together proposals
• Make generative art in Photoshop
• Summarize an interview transcript 
• Analyze customer support call data
• Create client onboarding and training docs
• Generate custom images for an upcoming presentation

And this is just scratching the surface! It’s time to recognize that AI's versatility is transforming agency operations across the board. From streamlining content creation to enhancing data analysis and visual design, there is truly boundless potential.

2. Identify every area that AI is going to disrupt your business.

The wave of AI is not coming; it's already here. Being proactive rather than reactive is the key to ensuring your business is leveraging AI effectively. 

A great place to start is by conducting a comprehensive audit of your operations to pinpoint areas ripe for AI integration.

Make sure you consider tasks that are repetitive, data-intensive, or require pattern recognition—these are often the first candidates for AI optimization. Beyond the obvious, delve into customer interactions, product development, supply chain management, social media, and even talent acquisition.

Embrace the change, but do so with a clear understanding of its implications.

3. AI is not going to replace you; someone using AI will.

AI is a tool. It may be a tool that’s getting more sophisticated, but it’s still only as effective as its practitioner. 

That means it's high time to stop seeing AI as the threat, and look to the individual who’s strategically leveraging AI to outperform you as the real danger. 

Just like building a house with a hammer and a ladder pales in comparison to constructing one with modern construction equipment, using AI allows for better, faster, and more scalable results. Don’t fall for the misconception that AI works miracles on its own. In reality, it requires human expertise to achieve remarkable outcomes.

4. AI is not a “set it and forget it” solution.

While AI tools can make things lighter and more manageable, it’s not meant to do all of the lifting. At this point, I’m sure many of you can recognize AI-generated blogs and social media posts that received zero human touch. 

At the end of the day, effectively leveraging AI means recognizing that it demands refinement and experimentation so that it can adapt to your aims, evolve with your business, and deliver the best performance. 

It’s a dynamic partnership, where the technology allows you to super-charge your expertise—so don’t underestimate how the latter plays a vital role in your AI-assisted success. 

5. AI is about solving the biggest problems the fastest. 

AI is the ultimate accelerator.

It bears repeating: AI cannot solve every single problem. It does have quite a range, however, and its capabilities are growing every day—so it’s important to prioritize.

That means if you’re focused on noodling with AI to tackle low-impact issues, you’re wasting valuable time. Consider confronting a labyrinth of customer data analysis, a mountain of content creation, or the need to generate customized visuals for a crucial presentation. 

Stay focused on creating efficiencies are the most daunting tasks and challenges.

6. Big companies take longer to embrace innovation and change; your agency’s secret weapon is its adaptability and agility in adopting AI.

The accessibility of AI has democratized technology in a big way. Now, smaller digital marketing agencies can see their size as a competitive advantage when it comes to going toe-to-toe with larger corporations.

The big guys have layers of bureaucracy to sift through, complex decision-making structures, and have more at risk when integrating new technologies, which seriously slows them down.

In contrast, if your agency can be nimble, enable quicker feedback loops, implement real-time refinements, and integrate AI swifty and strategically? You’re ahead of the game in a big way. Your agency’s adaptability might just be its best asset.

7. The people that are going to win are the best prompt engineers.

This one ties back to AI needing to be guided by expert human hands. The secret sauce is not just in having access to the tool but in mastering the art of prop engineering. Think of it kind of like asking the perfect question to unlock the information you need—crafting the right prompts can lead to better insights, precise answers, increased efficiency, and overall higher quality.

It’s more than inputting questions. It’s about thinking strategically, understanding context, and refining your approach based on feedback. In other words, an extremely human skillset. 

As AI tools become even more accessible and ubiquitous, the distinction between ordinary users and those who can harness their full capability will lie in their prowess in prompt engineering.

Want to know where to start? Try:

• ChatGPT Splitter: This tool is designed to assist with prompt engineering by segmenting uploaded files into manageable chunks, streamlining the process of feeding content to ChatGPT so that it can understand context better.
• PromptPerfect: A tool to help with prompt engineering for both text and image models.
• Good old fashioned trial and error: Get creating with your prompts and keep a running document so you can compare, contrast, and iterate on.
•  

Leveraging AI for your agency: Q&A

Our engaged audience had lots of questions during our live event, and we wanted to make sure to document some of the answers for you.

How can AI help us with prospecting new clients and scraping databases? What tools are there?

Here’s a few ideas about how AI can help with prospecting and scraping databases.

• More efficient prospecting: Use AI to analyze large amounts of data to identify potential leads based on a predetermined criteria that fits your strategy. This reduces time and effort spent on unqualified prospects.
• Personalized outreach: No more cold outreach! Tailor your messages based on data points such as a prospect's industry, recent online activity, or engagement history, for warmer, more relevant and impactful outreach. 
• Database cleansing: It’s time for a satisfying deep clean. AI-powered tools can routinely sift through your databases to identify outdated or redundant information, so you’re always working with clean, accurate data.
• Predictive analysis: By analyzing past interactions and conversions, AI can predict which prospects are most likely to become clients, allowing you to prioritize your efforts.
• Automated data scraping: Instead of manually searching for and inputting data, AI tools can automate the scraping process, pulling relevant data from various online sources and populating your database.

Tools to look into:

• Vendasta’s AI-powered sales CRM: Built-in sales intelligence tools like Snapshot Report scrapes the web to provide a report card of your prospect’s performance across a variety of channels. Plus, there’s a variety of personalized automations and integrations all working together for a seamless and efficient experience.
• Clearbit: An AI-driven tool that enriches CRM data, providing more insights into leads and customers.
• InsideView: Offers AI-driven market insights for targeted sales and marketing efforts.
• Seamless.AI: Provides real-time search to find business emails and build a list of leads.
• HubSpot's Predictive Lead Scoring: Utilizes machine learning to score the likelihood of leads converting to customers.
• Octoparse or Import.io: Tools for web scraping, allowing you to extract web data into your database.

Remember: It's essential to always ensure that your prospecting and data scraping practices are compliant with regulations like GDPR or CCPA! User privacy and data ethics are important.

How do we talk to our clients about leveraging AI? Some clients feel that the work product is not as valuable if they know AI was utilized?

This is a great question, because communicating your value to clients is essential in every situation. But add AI into the mix? Things could get a little trickier, as misconceptions and concerns abound. 

Here’s a structured approach to address this with clients and get them excited about AI:

• Put emphasis on the human-AI collaboration. Explain that while AI handles repetitive tasks and data analysis, the strategic, creative, and decision-making aspects remain firmly in your capable human hands.

• Develop a value proposition specific to AI. Whether you focus on how your use of AI diminishes human error, or that its next-level data analysis capabilities can help you uncover unique insights, frame AI as something that adds (rather than diminishes) value.

• Spotlight past successes. The proof is in the pudding, as they say. It’s important to have case studies or concrete examples of how AI has helped you achieve superior results, and why.

• Educate and demystify. As your client’s trusted guide, you’re in the perfect position to dispel apprehension due to a lack of understanding. Consider organizing workshops or informational sessions.

• Transparency is key when it comes to AI. Be upfront and create a dialogue around AI to build trust. After all, why would you be opaque about a tool that adds value? It implies there’s something “wrong” with what you’re doing.

• Encourage clients to provide feedback on AI-assisted deliverables. Over time, as they see the consistent quality and benefits firsthand, their trust and acceptance of AI tools will likely grow.

Tell us more about "use case" prompts! I am interested in creating an online research tool to measure experience gaps. Can AI help with this?

It absolutely can. First, let’s get everyone on the same page about what a “use case” prompt is.

A use case prompt essentially means a situation where a tool or solution is applied to address a specific problem. With ChatGPT, for example, a use case prompt guides the AI to generate content or provide insights that cater to a particular objective or situation.

To develop impactful use case prompts:

• Define the objective clearly: This will help keep prompts focused and actionable.

• Be as specific and detailed as possible: Vague prompts might yield general or irrelevant results.

• Use contextual information: For example, instead of asking the AI “how do I market a product?”. You might say “How do I market an eco-friendly cleaning product to millennials?” 

• Embrace iterative refinement: Test your prompts to see how AI responds, and then refine and adjust accordingly.

• Avoid leading prompts: Don’t frame prompts in a way that biases the AI’s response. Aim for neutrality.

• Use templates: If you’re developing prompts for recurring cases, create a template to allow for consistency and quicker prompt creation in the future.

• Balance brevity and completeness: Concision is key, but never if you’re sacrificing crucial details. Don’t sacrifice quality for brevity.

As for the next part, there's a lot that can go into creating an online research tool. With going into every little detail, here’s a general idea of the three key next steps:

1. Integrate the perfected prompts into your chosen AI system or platform.
2. Now it’s time to pilot test! Conduct a small-scale test with a select group of users to gauge the tool's efficacy and gather initial feedback.
3. Once deployed, monitor user interactions and feedback, making adjustments to enhance performance and user experience.

Scaleblazer Sessions

As you can probably tell, it was a juicy, jam-packed and collaborative session. In fact, it was the very first installment of Scaleblazer Sessions! 🔥

Scaleblazer Sessions is a live event content series for agencies that aims to break down the walls of the webinar format. That’s why every session will have a collaborative element and an incredible guest speaker.

So if monthly live thought leadership and community-building sessions on key topics around industry trends, topics, and problems sound interesting to you, make sure to register to be informed about our upcoming live content.

(I know everyone says this, but space is actually limited to 100 participants due to the collaborative nature of these events!). 

Hope to see you at our next session, scaleblazer!