8 AI Tools I've Tried as a Copywriter (Part 2)
🎵 "Together we're...unlimited!" (You and AI)
Happy Tuesday, and happy Substackversary to the Buhay Copywriter community! 🎂
That’s right - it’s been one year since I started this blog/newsletter. And I’m so glad you are here opening my emails, engaging with the posts, and sharing my little 💜 passion project 💜.
As a Filipino copywriter in the digital age, I stand on the shoulders of great writers and amazing creative directors. That’s why I started Buhay Copywriter - to pay it forward and give back to those starting their own writing, advertising, marketing, or creative careers.
Today’s post is another two-parter, the second half of last week’s AI tools overview. Last time, we covered an introduction to tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Grammarly, SEOSurf, SEMrush, TextFX by Google, and Hemingway.
Today, I’ll walk you through how you can best use your human-ness and AI’s…AI-ness, and show you some examples of how I use the artificial intelligence tools mentioned above.
The AI Sandwich by Kerry Harrison
I recently attended a webinar by Kerry Harrison where she talked about how to use AI for copywriting. There, she introduced a term called the “AI Sandwich.” It’s a three-step process that goes:
Step 1: Human intelligence - Apply what you know about strategy. Use your creative thinking. Do the dirty work of research. And start writing and rewriting AI prompts based on the strategy, creative work, and research you did.
Step 2: Artificial intelligence - Let AI work its magic!
Step 3: Human intelligence - Once you have the output from AI, it’s your turn to fine-tune the material. Check if it’s factual. See if it makes sense. Refine it further to address the client brief or your brand strategy. Make it resonate with human hearts and souls!
AI in Action
While discussing AI with my peers, I noticed that they tend to go to it to look for synonyms or other ways to articulate a phrase. But did you know that you can use AI for so much more? Personally, I use it to help with the following copywriting tasks:
Research - e.g. how to further improve my Substack, cities in a region where our brand is available
Brainstorming - e.g. content ideas given my blog’s top-performing posts
Articulating - e.g. synonyms, similar words beginning with a certain letter
Optimizing - e.g. content outlines
Editing - e.g. proofreading content
Here’s how I used the AI tools I discussed previously to do the 5 tasks mentioned above. (Note: I didn’t include SEOsurfer since I don’t have access to it via my personal account.)
Researching with AI
Prompt: What are 5 good websites for researching Filipino salaries?
ChatGPT generated exactly what was asked - 5 websites. Each came with a link and a short description. Pretty nice!
Gemini generated five different ways to get salary information - not just 5 websites. Very thorough, I think, and I appreciate that it went beyond the ask.
Copilot generated 5 websites, but not all were specific to the Philippines. There were no hyperlinks, I noticed. For me, the output of the first 2 tools was better.
TextFX, Grammarly, SEMrush, and Hemingway have no option to generate this kind of information.
My thoughts: I prefer Gemini for researching - it definitely has that Google edge.
Brainstorming with AI
Prompt: What are 3 social media post ideas that will help promote an article called “8 AI Tools I’ve Tried and What I Think of Them” on Facebook and LinkedIn?
ChatGPT generated three ideas for Facebook and three for LinkedIn. I like how comprehensive these were - a caption, emojis, hashtags even! The ideas were very rough and cliché, though, but that’s where human intelligence can come in.
Gemini’s results included exactly 3 posts and indicated if they could be used for Facebook, LinkedIn, or both. I like that there’s a “Pro tip” at the end. The output itself is also a bit more creative than what ChatGPT can do.
Copilot’s promotional post ideas are more of an overview or instructions for crafting the post. There were sample captions and emojis, but overall I find this more of a rough guide. As a seasoned copywriter, I don’t mind this - but a solopreneur in a creative rut might benefit from ChatGPT or Gemini’s ideas more.
TextFX, Grammarly, SEMrush, and Hemingway have no option to generate this kind of information.
My thoughts: Copilot is great for getting just though-starters, while ChatGPT does a lot of the heavy lifting for you. Then again, this is just brainstorming and the middle part of the AI sandwich - remember to refine after using any of these tools!
Articulating with AI
Prompt: What are other words for “upscale” that don’t include upgrade, elevate, level up
ChatGPT did a pretty good, straightforward job of coming up with synonyms in this instance. I have encountered getting results though where ChatGPT still gives you terms you told it to exclude.
Gemini segments its results, which can help you fine-tune and engineer your next prompts.
TextFX by Google has a bunch of different features that can help you find synonyms, describe a scenario, and more. The “Chain” tool creates a list of related words - useful for writing witty metaphors. The “Scene” tool helps you see the term in a new light. While I don’t use TextFX as much as other AI tools, it has its uses.
Copilot’s results are a bit more limited - a different, more detailed prompt might lead better results.
Grammarly, Hemingway, and SEMrush have no option to generate this kind of information.
My thoughts: Stuck finding the right word? Gemini and ChatGPT could help you the most. TextFX can come in handy, depending on the situation.
Optimizing with AI
Prompt: Optimize this outline for better SEO performance and improved open rate
Title: Does Being Woke Matter When Writing?
Points to discuss:
Examples of ads that rubbed others the wrong way (Belo’s post-pandemic ad, Kinse Anyos alcohol ad, EO’s ad that showed colorism against morenos), and those that showed being progressive (Nido’s ad showing separated parents, Bench cologne ad showing a queer teen)
Define “woke”; social justice, socially, environmentally conscious
Talk about Gen Z and their being more socially conscious and mindful of what brands do
The audience and their reception to intentional writing
The client and how aligned they are to the cause. Also consider being woke for the right reasons vs being woke for ambiguous (not yet set as public standard) reasons.
It also does help to be informed of the sociopolitical landscape to tweak your tonality as needed, especially in the Philippines, where there are conservative segments, and more progressive/liberal segments.
ChatGPT suggested using a definition as an introduction. Improvements are mostly sub-topics, which is okay. The conclusion suggested is a summary - not very actionable.
Gemini’s outline improvements include small hints and explanations of changes made, both for content and structure (e.g. subheadings, call-to-action). There are SEO/email marketing tips too, which is great!
Copilot issues more generic instructions for improving the outline. I like the tip to incorporate keywords, though!
TextFX, SEMrush, Grammarly, and Hemingway have no option to generate this kind of information. SEMrush can help with keyword research, though. Grammarly and Hemingway can optimize the draft afterwards.
My thoughts: Optimizing was limited to following the structure I’d mentioned in my prompt. No improvements were made, such as going from a macro (society) to micro (ads) perspective - something I thought of only in retrospect. All three had helpful tips, like using keywords or having an intriguing hook. Proof that human-created strategy matters!
Editing with AI
Prompt: Can you shorten this social caption while keeping it engaging:
(Sample caption: Have you heard of the human-AI sandwich? This technique makes sure you get the best of AI’s optimizing skills, and the best of what human insight and creativity can do. Find out more in this week’s Buhay Copywriter newsletter:)
ChatGPT’s caption is a bit too blah and straightforward for me, leaving no “intrigue” moment that will result in clicks.
Gemini’s version says it uses emojis (which aren’t visible, haha) but it’s punchy, for sure.
Copilot’s caption is actually quite nice, and the emoji is a great touch.
Grammarly does proofreading, and my caption passes the test!
Hemingway shows you the wordcount and readability of your text. Grade 6 is a pretty good score since this is a caption for material directed at professionals.
TextFX and SEMrush have no option to generate this kind of information.
My thoughts: Gemini and Copilot do a great job of suggesting improvements, and Grammarly comes in handy. Hemingway is more for long-form content, but it doesn’t hurt the material, either.
And that wraps up this week’s mini “demo” of AI tools that can help you craft compelling content.
Remember: AI can help you improve your work, get you out of a creative rut, or even speed up your processes - but it can’t replace you.
So if you’re a copywriter like me, go ahead and try out those tools. Consider it another tool in your belt. Remember: it’s up to you to make AI work for you - not the other way around.