AI for Small Business Marketing: Tips and Tools to Drive Growth

AI isn’t just for massive corporations. With affordable, easy-to-use tools now available, AI has gone mainstream. Anyone and everyone can (and should) explore how AI can transform their marketing strategy.

In this guide, we’ll explain the benefits of using AI for small business marketing, share tips to maximize its potential, and introduce you to AI tools designed specifically for small businesses. Whether you’re just starting with AI or looking to take your strategy to the next level, you’ll learn how to better use AI in your everyday marketing activities. 

How Can AI Benefit Your Small Business?

AI can save your small business time and money and improve the effectiveness of your marketing.

AI tools simplify complex marketing tasks, like responding to customer reviews, analyzing customer survey data, or managing your local listings. Here’s how AI can make a tangible difference in your life:

  • Save time: Automate low-lift, repetitive tasks like scheduling Facebook posts, generating an email, or responding to customer reviews.
  • Find insights: Analyze large amounts of customer data in the blink of an eye to find trends, patterns, and actionable insights.   
  • Create quickly: AI tools make professional-quality marketing materials accessible, even for non-writers or designers.
  • Cut costs: AI tools are often cost-effective compared to hiring full-time or freelance help to finish the same tasks.
  • Personalize interactions: AI can use customer data to create personalized messages that will be more effective than a traditional “Dear valued customer” style email, SMS message, or survey.

AI Pitfalls to Look Out For

While AI can help you market your small business in new and inventive ways, it’s definitely not a foolproof process. 

Here are some common pitfalls to watch for — and tips for how to avoid them:

  • Over-automation: Relying too heavily on AI can make your business feel impersonal. Instead, use AI to handle repetitive tasks, freeing up time for humans to do more creative work. For instance, have a professional draft two or three great responses to a bad review and then use AI to take those and apply them in specific instances, tailoring them to the specific complaints that the customer is making. 
  • Data quality issues: AI relies on good data to give you good results. Invest in platforms that source quality data from multiple repositories and ensure that the info you are feeding into the AI is current and relevant to your business. 
  • Unrealistic expectations: AI is powerful but not infallible. Hallucinations, or incorrect AI responses, do occur, and it’s important to always fact-check any outputs you’re relying upon with an expert before you send them off to clients.
  • Security concerns: If you’re working with sensitive data, make sure any tools you choose explicitly protect data up to standards that are relevant to your location (like the GDPR in the EU) or in your field (like HIPAA for healthcare companies). 

The 8 Best AI Tools for Small Business Marketing

Discover the top eight AI tools that can streamline your operations, enhance your marketing, and help your small business thrive. From helping you write more effective email ad campaigns to taking video production from days to minutes, these tools can help you market your business more efficiently than ever before. 

1. Chatmeter

Chatmeter is a comprehensive AI-driven reputation management platform designed to help businesses get more out of their websites, online listings, and social media accounts.

Chatmeter’s suite of tools automates review responses, monitors customer feedback in real-time, and more. With you no longer needing to do this all manually, you get back a ton of time — time that could be better spent on high-touch, high-value items that will win you new business.

Here’s how Chatmeter’s AI features can help you:

  • Sentiment analysis: Chatmeter’s AI evaluates customer reviews to detect positive and negative sentiments, helping you quickly identify what customers love and areas that need improvement.
  • Review response suggestions: Save time responding to reviews with AI-generated responses that maintain your brand’s unique tone while addressing customer feedback.
  • Local SEO optimization: Chatmeter’s AI audits your local listings to identify incomplete or inconsistent information and offers fixes to improve your visibility in local search results.
  • Social listening: Chatmeter monitors social media mentions and online conversations about your brand, delivering real-time insights into customer sentiment and trends.
  • Insights hub: AI aggregates and analyzes customer feedback from reviews, surveys, and social media and allows you to directly ask the AI questions about your customer base. 

Chatmeter offers flexible plans tailored to your business size and industry. Whether you’re a single-location business or a growing brand with multiple locations, Chatmeter provides scalable solutions to fit your budget. Learn more about Chatmeter’s plans and pricing here.

Explore these resources to see how you can get more leads and customers by transforming your brand’s online presence:

2. ChatGPT

ChatGPT is an AI-powered chatbot and content generator that can quickly write nearly anything you can think of, from marketing materials to new menu descriptions. It’s like having a virtual assistant that’s always on call.

However, ChatGPT is so much more than just writing copy. It can also help you analyze data, automate tasks, or even act as your own personal coach.

Here’s how ChatGPT can help your small business:

  • Write engaging marketing copy: Need catchy social media captions or compelling email content? ChatGPT can generate all kinds of copy in seconds.
  • Generate blog posts and articles: Outline, draft, or refine long-form content to save time and effort.
  • Craft responses to customers: From personalized emails to a sour post on Facebook, ChatGPT can help you quickly respond to customer needs without spending hours behind a keyboard. 
  • Brainstorm creative ideas: Ask ChatGPT to help you come up with new ideas through prompts like, “What are some ways to drum up business on the weekends?” or “Give me a list of ten successful ways to drive more internet traffic to my website.” ChatGPT can also help you organize these ideas and plan them out should you need that extra help.

ChatGPT offers both free and paid plans, with premium options starting at $20/month for faster response times and advanced features. Learn more about their pricing here.

Want to learn more about how ChatGPT can help your small business? Take a look at these resources below for more information:

3. Jasper

Jasper is an AI-powered writing assistant designed to help businesses create high-quality content at scale. 

Unlike the more general-purpose ChatGPT, Jasper is tailored specifically for writing content. It offers advanced writing features like built-in templates and knowledge repositories so it can write with your voice and internal information, making content that reflects your unique brand characteristics. 

Here’s how Jasper can help your small business:

  • Generate blog content effortlessly: Jasper has a blog-specific tool that will help you take your expert knowledge and turn it into a polished SEO-ready article in a matter of minutes. 
  • Polish your copy: Use Jasper to improve what you already have, essentially making it your very own editor and copyeditor.
  • Streamline ad creation: Jasper can be used to generate compelling ad copy optimized for social media, PPC campaigns, and more.
  • Multilingual support: With support for over 25 languages, Jasper helps businesses reach customers across international markets.

Pricing for Jasper starts at $39/month/seat, with plans that cater to both small businesses and large teams. Check out their pricing options here.

Curious about how Jasper can transform your marketing strategy? Explore these resources for tips and insights:

4. Canva

Canva is widely known as one of the most popular and easy-to-use design platforms. 

But what sets Canva apart for small business marketing is its growing suite of AI-powered tools that make design faster and more accessible than ever.

Here’s an overview of some of Canva’s most impressive AI features:

  • Magic Design: Upload an image or idea, and Canva’s AI automatically generates customizable templates, saving you hours of trial-and-error design work.
  • Magic Write: An AI writing tool embedded in Canva Docs that will help you generate headlines, social media captions, or descriptions directly within your designs.
  • Background remover: With a single click, Canva’s AI removes backgrounds from images, making product photos and marketing visuals look polished.
  • Resize with AI: Instantly resize your designs for various platforms (e.g., Instagram, Facebook, and email) while maintaining visual consistency.

Canva is free for basic use, but premium plans with advanced features, including most of their AI tools, start at $120/year/user. Explore Canva’s pricing options here.

If you’re interested in using Canva as part of your marketing strategy, take a look at some of these resources: 

5. Chatfuel

Chatfuel is a no-code platform that allows businesses to create AI-powered chatbots for platforms like Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Its AI agent, Fuely AI, can be embedded on your website or live on your social media accounts to speak to your customers 24/7 and offer natural dialogue, appointment booking, order placement, and more. 

Here are just some of the ways Chatfuel can help your small business:

  • Automate customer support: Fuely AI handles common inquiries, allowing your team to focus on more complex issues.
  • Enhance sales processes: The AI agent can recommend products and assist with orders, streamlining the sales funnel.
  • Seamless integration: Chatfuel integrates with platforms like Stripe, Shopify, Zapier, and Google Sheets, ensuring that your chatbot can access the information it needs wherever it lives on your tech stack. 
  • Multi-platform reach: Deploy chatbots across various channels to engage customers wherever they are.

Chatfuel offers a free trial, with business plans starting at $23.99 for 1,000 conversations per month. Enterprise solutions are available for larger needs. Explore Chatfuel’s pricing options here.

If you want to learn more about implementing Chatfuel in your business, take a look at these resources:

6. Grammarly

Grammarly is a popular writing assistant that helps users improve grammar, spelling, and style. For small businesses, its AI-powered features go beyond basic proofreading to elevate the professionalism and clarity of your communication, whether it’s emails, social media posts, or website content.

Here are a couple of ways you can use Grammarly’s AI tools to improve your small business marketing:

  • Advanced grammar and style suggestions: Grammarly actively helps you revise your writing so that it is clearer, more concise, and tailored to your audience.
  • Tone detection: The AI analyzes your writing’s tone (e.g., formal, friendly, or neutral) so that every email, social post, or blog post aligns with your brand’s tone and identity.
  • AI-powered rewrites: The tool can rephrase sentences for better readability or stronger impact, making it easier to refine your messaging.
  • Team collaboration features: Grammarly Business allows teams to collaborate seamlessly with consistent style guides, brand tone, and shared vocabularies.

Grammarly is free for basic use, with premium plans offering advanced AI tools starting at $12/month for individuals. For teams, Grammarly Business plans begin at $15/member/month. Check out their pricing here.

Want to get the most out of Grammarly for your business? Explore these resources:

7. Lumen5

Lumen5 is an AI video creation platform that transforms your ideas, blog posts, or text content into engaging videos. Its intuitive tools make professional video production accessible, helping small businesses stand out on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. 

Here’s how Lumen5’s AI features can help your small business:

  • Text-to-video creation: Simply input a blog post or script, and Lumen5’s AI will generate a video complete with animations, transitions, and visuals.
  • Content matching: The AI selects relevant images, video clips, and music from its vast library, aligning them with your text for a polished, professional look.
  • Brand customization: Create videos that reflect your brand’s identity by using custom logos, colors, and fonts.
  • Social media optimization: Automatically resize and format videos for platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, ensuring they’re ready to post.

Lumen5 offers a free plan for basic use, with premium options starting at $19/month for additional features and customization. Check out their pricing here.

Before you create your first video content, take a look at some of these expert resources: 

8. Reply

Reply is an AI-powered sales engagement platform designed to help small businesses automate and personalize their outreach efforts. Leveraging AI, Reply streamlines email campaigns, follow-ups, and customer communications, making it easier to connect with potential clients and nurture leads.

Here are some key features Reply can add to your arsenal:

  • Email sequence automation: Create and schedule multi-step email campaigns that automatically adjust based on how your customers are behaving. This means custom emails that will change based on what a customer buys, the feedback they give, and more.
  • AI-powered personalization: Craft personalized messages that resonate with your audience, increasing response rates.
  • Smart follow-ups: Automate follow-up messages and let AI decide the optimal timing and frequency for maximum engagement.
  • Detailed analytics: Track email performance, including open rates and replies, to refine your campaigns and focus on what works best.

Reply offers plans starting at $34.30/month, which include AI features for email marketing. Explore Reply’s pricing options here.

Want to learn more about how Reply can enhance your sales and outreach? Check out these resources:

See How Chatmeter’s AI Can Transform Your Business

Chatmeter’s AI-powered tools simplify the essential tasks that help small businesses grow, like responding to reviews, keeping local listings accurate, and analyzing customer feedback. These tools take the heavy lifting out of managing your online presence so you can focus on connecting with your customers and growing your business.

Try it for yourself with our interactive demo below, or schedule a live demo to see how Chatmeter can make a difference for your business.

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If you're interested in learning more about how Chatmeter can help you learn more about your customers, sign up for a free demo today. Or, to get a better idea of what we can offer you, take a look at our interactive demo below.
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