Can ChatGPT make a marketing workflow?

By Tom Swanson, Engagement Supervisor

Can ChatGPT make a advertising and marketing workflow?
To not bury the lead, the reply is: sorta.  As with nearly all the pieces on the earth it will depend on what you search.  In case you are on the lookout for deep, visualized workflows with clear roles/obligations all through, you might need to attend just a few years.  Nevertheless, if you need a pleasant template of steps to construct from, introduced in canned textual content, then put together to be delighted.

The train was not with out worth.  The largest take-away is that doing this actually helped me to grasp my very own wants/needs when it got here to a workflow.

First issues first, although, somewhat disclaimer it’s best to see much more usually: I’m not an AI professional.  Like most folks in advertising and marketing, I’m making an attempt to determine the place this new paradigm can be utilized, or a minimum of what has potential.  Over the previous few months I’ve been exploring advertising and marketing orchestration, and now I need to carry AI in.  Listed here are just a few background posts if that is your first orchestration rodeo:

1. What advertising and marketing orchestration is and why it issues
2. Needed instruments and tech for advertising and marketing orchestration
3. Fundamentals of selling orchestration

As soon as you’re on top of things on the basics, let’s dive in to AI.  There are some apparent matches for AI in advertising and marketing orchestration.  Listed here are just a few:

1. AI-enhanced challenge administration instruments can ease the pressure on PMs by managing communications, step-tracking, avoiding scheduling points, and figuring out wanted follow-ups.
2. AI imagery is nice for wireframing and/or sending reference materials to content material creators.
3. AI that may analyze knowledge units can assessment manufacturing timelines to establish bottlenecks and potential effectivity good points.

These are all easy, already obtainable makes use of.

The promise of AI, although, tends to be a lot broader, moving into the realm of “generative AI”.  So I began to marvel if I might plug in a selected set of circumstances and see if ChatGPT might construct a test-able workflow that I might implement.

That’s the place I landed right this moment.

The Setup

The aim on this was easy: have the AI develop a workflow that could possibly be carried out and examined.  As a secondary aim, I wished to see if the AI might function a conversational associate.  The concept being that it might assist immediate my mind to provide you with attention-grabbing concepts (this failed miserably).  So right here is the immediate I used:

“Be my associate in plotting out a workflow for my advertising and marketing crew. This workflow ought to outline how the advertising and marketing crew is orchestrated. How do campaigns and advertising and marketing applications get produced and launched? How ought to our crew, which incorporates planners (subteams: international and regional technique, built-in advertising and marketing, product advertising and marketing, and model), executors (subteams: copywriting, graphic design, net growth), and Third-party businesses (for content material creation and promoting operations) perform to seamlessly go from ideation to profitable execution?

I wrote the immediate this fashion as a result of it pulls in key stakeholders we’d usually see.  The challenges we frequently face with orchestration are the place hand-offs must happen and the way these groups work collectively in live performance.

The End result

The outcome was easy, if somewhat dry:

“Making a seamless workflow for a advertising and marketing crew, particularly one as advanced and numerous as yours, requires a well-thought-out technique that encourages collaboration, effectivity, and adaptability. Given the construction of your crew—comprising planners, executors, and third-party businesses—we are able to devise a workflow that bridges these teams successfully. Right here’s a proposed workflow, damaged down into phases, with an emphasis on integration, communication, and monitoring.

Stage 1: Ideation & Technique

1. Kick-off Assembly: Start with a kick-off assembly involving crew leads from every subteam (international and regional technique, built-in advertising and marketing, product advertising and marketing, model, copywriting, graphic design, net growth, and company representatives). The aim is to stipulate marketing campaign objectives, target market, funds, timelines, and key efficiency indicators (KPIs).
2. Ideation Classes: Conduct separate ideation periods inside the planner teams to brainstorm marketing campaign themes and methods. Use instruments like collaborative whiteboards (e.g., Miro or Trello) for brainstorming and thought assortment.
3. Technique Improvement: Planners synthesize concepts into concrete methods. International and regional methods ought to align with built-in advertising and marketing efforts, product advertising and marketing objectives, and model tips.

Stage 2: Planning & Design

1. Content material & Design Briefs: Develop detailed briefs for executors and businesses. These ought to embody marketing campaign aims, messaging, visible tips, and any particular content material or design necessities.
2. Collaborative Overview Classes: Arrange periods the place executors and chosen planners assessment the briefs collectively, permitting for instant suggestions and clarification, guaranteeing alignment earlier than manufacturing begins.
3. Approval Course of: Implement a streamlined approval course of utilizing challenge administration software program (e.g., Asana, Jira) the place briefs will be authorized by the required stakeholders earlier than shifting to execution.

Stage 3: Execution

1. Venture Administration Instrument Integration: Make the most of a challenge administration instrument to trace progress. Assign duties to crew members, set deadlines, and monitor progress. Instruments like Asana or Monday.com can facilitate this.
2. Weekly Verify-ins: Schedule weekly check-ins with all crew members to debate progress, tackle challenges, and alter timelines if mandatory.
3. High quality Management: Implement a top quality management step, the place accomplished work is reviewed by a small crew to make sure it meets the marketing campaign’s requirements and aims earlier than launch.

Stage 4: Launch & Optimization

1. Gentle Launch: Think about a mushy launch to a restricted viewers to collect preliminary suggestions and make changes.
2. Full Launch: Launch the marketing campaign throughout chosen channels, carefully monitored by the advertising and marketing crew and businesses.
3. Efficiency Overview Conferences: Schedule common efficiency assessment conferences to research marketing campaign outcomes in opposition to KPIs, utilizing analytics instruments to collect knowledge.

Stage 5: Suggestions & Iteration

1. Put up-Marketing campaign Overview: After the marketing campaign concludes, conduct a post-campaign assessment with all stakeholders to debate what labored, what didn’t, and classes discovered.
2. Suggestions Loop: Create a structured suggestions loop the place insights from the marketing campaign are documented and shared with all the crew to tell future campaigns.

Instruments and Practices for Seamless Workflow

• Communication: Use Slack or Microsoft Groups for day by day communication.
• Documentation: Google Drive or SharePoint for doc storage and sharing.
• Venture Administration: Asana, Jira, or Monday.com for activity task and monitoring.
• Artistic Collaboration: Miro or Trello for brainstorming and thought sharing.
• Analytics: Google Analytics, SEMrush, or related instruments for monitoring marketing campaign efficiency.

Collaborative Tradition

• Encourage open, ongoing communication throughout all groups and ranges.
• Foster a tradition of suggestions the place constructive criticism is welcomed and acted upon.
• Have fun successes collectively as a crew to construct camaraderie and inspire crew members.

By implementing this workflow, your advertising and marketing crew can function extra cohesively, with clear roles, obligations, and processes that streamline the journey from ideation to execution and past. It’s additionally essential to stay versatile and open to adjusting this workflow as your crew grows and evolves.”

In case you learn the entire thing, you’ll be able to see it’s a commonplace workflow.  The steps are clear, it gives instruments for key features, and even provides some tips about tradition.  There’s one catch: it is vitally generic.

This is similar workflow textual content you may simply discover on-line, which inserts given the supply materials.  It doesn’t pull in particular groups for many steps, nor does it outline the place key possession modifications and hand-offs happen.  Crucially, possession of every step isn’t even talked about.  Granted, I didn’t specify that till later variations, however even nonetheless it struggled.

A be aware on the AI being conversational: it missed this totally.  It simply ignored that a part of the immediate outright.  Once I requested to be extra conversational, it gave me this dumpster fireplace:

“Received it, let’s strategy this extra conversationally. Guaranteeing everybody wanted is on the kick-off generally is a bit like herding cats, proper? Particularly with folks unfold throughout totally different roles and probably time zones. Right here’s a thought: What if we handled the kick-off invite like a mini-campaign itself?

Early Buzz: Begin dropping hints in common conferences or emails concerning the upcoming kick-off, highlighting its significance and the thrilling issues to be mentioned. Form of like a teaser trailer for a film. This could pique curiosity early on.

Private Contact: For key stakeholders, perhaps a fast, private message or name might make a distinction. It’s like saying, “Hey, your presence actually issues for this to succeed.” Do you assume this might enhance dedication?

Scheduling Wizardry: Discovering that good time slot is all the time difficult. Have you ever used instruments like Doodle or When2meet? They let folks vote on their obtainable occasions. It’s a democratic option to discover one of the best match for everybody. Is perhaps value a shot to keep away from the back-and-forth…”

Looks as if it simply added in some slang and some main questions.  Naturally, I then needed to ask it to do the identical factor as Christopher Walken:

“Early Buzz, Wow! — Think about, you begin spreading the phrase, casual-like. Drop hints. “We’re planning one thing massive, one thing thrilling.” Get them curious. It’s like… you’re the director of a blockbuster, and everybody’s ready for the premiere.

Private Contact? It’s Gold. — Now, you attain out, personally. To your key gamers. Give them a name, an e-mail, maybe a dramatic pause, after which, “I would like you at this assembly. It’s not the identical with out you.” They’ll really feel it, the significance, the urgency.

Scheduling? Make it a Scene. — Use these instruments, these… digital magicians. Doodle? When2meet? It’s like casting for the proper scene. Everybody will get a say, and bam, you’ve acquired a time that works for the celebrities of your present.”

Sufficient of that.  Again to work, wow!

Visualizing

What I used to be actually on the lookout for was a visualized workflow.  I wished to see if ChatGPT might go from a set of steps to a graphically represented, BPMN-friendly workflow.

Within the premium model, I’ve just a few plugins for this.  Specifically “Diagrams: Present Me” and “Diagrams” [note: couldn’t find a link to this one but its in the GPT plugin interface].  Each declare to allow ChatGPT to have the ability to craft workflows and fundamental visualizations.  So, I requested it to craft a workflow primarily based on the unique immediate and its response.  Here’s what I acquired in return:

It’s an attention-grabbing take, contemplating the request, however is approach off from the intent.  The colours are meaningless, the format is all mistaken.  I assumed the “Coordination” arrow on the left was significantly humorous because it’s use of arrows for groups vs. processes appears to be haphazard. The essential half is that this doesn’t outline what the steps are in every part and the way work strikes by the method.  It’s a easy checklist of phases with the groups concerned.

So I requested it to strive once more.  I didn’t give it every other context besides to easily give it one other go.  Here’s what I acquired:

This one simply doesn’t make any sense.  As with most issues ChatGPT, the extra you ask it to do the identical factor, the much less sensical it’s.  In case you are trying to tweak a workflow, you usually might want to restart the prompts and alter relying on what it has made thus far.

So, I acquired extra particular and requested “Are you able to give me one other workflow with every particular person step and which crew owns it clearly indicated?”  Right here is the outcome:

A lot better and extra helpful, but it surely nonetheless wants work.  The enhancements are that it has clearly outlined house owners and hand-offs.  I additionally like that it differentiates between executors, planners, and businesses.  Nevertheless, it’s a single linear stream.  What I wished was parallel flows with a transparent important path for the way work will get achieved.

I acknowledge that is asking loads since that is intuitive work that’s difficult even for a human.  Pushing for extra is a part of testing, and with this we’ve discovered some clear limitations round the way it visualizes.  That is what I might count on from the present iteration of AI, however I consider it isn’t too far off from having the ability to produce a stable workflow.

In my subsequent submit, I’ll discover how we are able to get much more particular with ChatGPT and what prompts to make use of to get the workflow to a spot the place it may be examined, if potential.  There aren’t all the time simple solutions to issues like workflows.  If something, seeing inaccurate ones helped me to get extra particular in understanding my very own wants.  That alone is well worth the time.

If you wish to chat advertising and marketing orchestration, workflows, or hear first-hand how the AI exploration goes, be happy to drop me a line: tom@heinzmarketing.com