These AI Instruments Upped My Productiveness, This is How

Benjamin Franklin as soon as stated, “Misplaced time isn’t discovered once more.” Whereas that isn’t precisely essentially the most optimistic quote, it’s sadly true. Till scientists work out time machines or immortality, we’re caught with adopting strategies to stay productive and higher use our time.

We are able to’t deny AI’s cultural renaissance. It has turn into part of on a regular basis workflows and conversations. HubSpot’s AI Proof & Positioning Report discovered that employees are most involved about dropping their jobs on account of AI, and the #1 cause they don’t use AI is as a result of they fear about turning into too reliant on it.

Whereas I perceive how unsettling it may possibly really feel to have a instrument that appears to do your job higher than you (the skilled), I’ve acknowledged that AI is definitely simply serving to me do my job higher and quicker.

Nonetheless skeptical? Learn on for extra knowledge from our AI Proof & Positioning Report and The HubSpot Weblog’s State of AI Report, which surveyed 1100 entrepreneurs.

Desk of Contents

AI instruments assist entrepreneurs rapidly sift by means of giant quantities of knowledge and current it much less complexly. I can attest that, as a marketer, AI instruments like ChatGPT and Grammarly have helped me streamline analysis, current textual content clearly and concisely, and enhance my skill to multitask throughout a number of campaigns.

Professionals who’ve carried out AI and automation into their workflow share that these instruments assist them get menial duties performed quicker, enhance the effectivity of their duties and targets, and unencumber time that might be higher spent on essentially the most important duties.

On this approach, AI is just not solely enhancing productiveness but additionally serving to to make your job extra pleasant.

Listed here are some survey outcomes from actual trade professionals who see the worth of AI of their every day workflows.

1. 75% of respondents both considerably agreed or strongly agreed that AI helped save time on guide duties.
2. AI instruments give advertising groups 12.5 hours again per week, which equates to 25-26 extra working days per 12 months. This permits entrepreneurs to concentrate on strategic duties, artistic work, and folks administration.
3. 84% of bloggers/SEOs state that AI and automation have impacted their search engine marketing technique.
4. 83% of entrepreneurs say that AI helps them create considerably extra content material than they might with out.
5. 85% of salespeople utilizing AI and automation say it makes their prospecting efforts simpler.
6. 72% of companies which have carried out AI instruments state that AI and automation make their workers extra productive.
7. 68% of enterprise leaders say that AI may also help their firm scale in a approach inconceivable with out it.
8. 53% of entrepreneurs who use generative AI to write down copy say they solely must make minor edits to the textual content afterward.

Whereas I particularly utilized them to my work as a author, I can verify that, as a marketer, I already use a few of the instruments beneath or would fortunately implement them in my day-to-day job at Nickelodeon. In any case, 35% of entrepreneurs say they already use AI and automation instruments every day.

Jasper is an AI instrument that helps write all types of enterprise-marketing-style content material, from press releases to web site touchdown pages to, sure, weblog posts. It’s the second-most fashionable AI instrument for advertising.

I used the “Model Voice” characteristic to hyperlink one in all my latest HubSpot weblog posts. This characteristic helps the instrument set up your “voice” so it may possibly finest match that when producing textual content.

Subsequent, I clicked “Create Content material” and toggled to “Create a weblog submit.” The submit you might be studying is finest served as a listicle, so I selected “Listicle” as my sort of submit. Jasper then requested me to fill within the subject, viewers, and description.

After filling on this fast data, I hit “Generate now.” Look ahead to your self how Jasper sprung to the take a look at.

I didn’t anticipate the submit to be able to ship after Jasper wrote it since AI content material is just not full sufficient to publish by itself about 96% of the time. I used to be appropriate in my pondering as a result of the submit was far too brief and a bit too stiff.

However that’s okay since solely 5% of entrepreneurs use generative AI to write down whole items of content material. Extra folks merely use it to spark inspiration (35%), create a top level view (33%), or get a number of paragraphs to broaden upon (25%).

What I Like

• The “Model Voice” characteristic permits you to add or hyperlink to your or your model’s writing samples so Jasper can pump out content material that meets your distinctive type. Many writers, like myself, are very protecting of our voices, so this characteristic made me really feel comfy and assured that the textual content may keep true to me.
• Your content material takes simply seconds to be written up. You merely must fill in some transient details about the content material, comparable to subject, audience, or name to motion, and Jasper will rapidly use that data to draft a comparable piece. My jaw dropped at how briskly the instrument pumped out a model — albeit shorter and fewer pleasant — of this very weblog submit.
• Jasper does an amazing job of staying throughout the standards you request. For my weblog submit, for instance, I listed the precise headline titles and variety of instruments I wished to include, and the instrument made positive to comply with these guardrails.
• You possibly can create a Marketing campaign to maintain all of your content material in a single place. If I have been utilizing this instrument for my job at Nickelodeon, I may set up social and print adverts, e mail newsletters, Instagram submit copy, and press releases for a similar new youngsters’ collection marketing campaign throughout the similar folder.

What Wants Enchancment

• Though I linked to a latest HubSpot weblog submit to assist set up my voice, the AI-generated submit was much less private, a lot shorter, and extra formal than my writing often is. The thought of “Model Voice” is sensible, however it could require a number of writing samples earlier than Jasper acknowledges your type.

Pricing

• Creator plan: $39/month ($468/12 months) – 1 person
• Professional plan: $59/month/seat ($708/12 months) – as much as 6 customers
• Marketing strategy: Should contact Jasper group for pricing.

2. Grammarly

Grammarly is a instrument I’ve been utilizing since school earlier than AI had a reputation. I’ve at all times been obsessive about phrases and grammar (very cool, I do know), so I turned equally as obsessive about a instrument that might enhance my writing in real-time.

I’ve the free Grammarly for Chrome extension, which affords ideas on varied writing-related points, together with correctness, tone ideas, full sentence rewrites, readability, engagement, and supply.

How loopy is that? You possibly can see how Grammarly can present reside suggestions when you sort. It’s an important instrument for content material creators of every kind. Regardless of how brief or lengthy your textual content is, having an AI co-creator trying over your shoulder like an AP English instructor is useful.

Why I Like It

• You possibly can obtain writing ideas as you go (like I do with the Grammarly extension), or in the event you’d somewhat sort up your textual content and acquire suggestions on the finish, you may add a doc or copy and paste a complete physique of textual content instantly into the Grammarly instrument.
• Grammarly analyzes your piece for the subject and argument and makes use of its “Enhance your influence” characteristic to counsel find out how to meet these targets. This elevates the instrument from a spelling and grammar checker to an end-to-end writing companion in seconds.
• The facility continues to be in your fingers as the author; whereas Grammarly affords suggestions on the whole lot from rephrasing a sophisticated sentence to choosing a extra substantial synonym, you make the final word resolution. I do know my writing finest, so I select to train my artistic liberty when Grammarly’s ideas are much less technical.
• College students and professionals alike can use the “Verify for plagiarism” characteristic to make sure you haven’t unintentionally borrowed some phrases from one other supply.
• The AI instrument can simply be built-in into different instruments, web sites, and apps, comparable to Microsoft Suite, Google Drive, iOS, Android, and even Hubspot, so you may guarantee your writing improves throughout all platforms.

What Wants Enchancment

• As a lot as I really like this instrument, I need to admit it may possibly generally be visually distracting. I’m always sifting by means of dozens of multi-colored, underlined phrases and phrases, which might turn into tedious.
• As is true for all AI instruments, Grammarly can’t be trusted to be 100% excellent. It’s at all times finest to make use of your experience as a author (or that of a trusted colleague or buddy) to provide your writing a once-over and guarantee Grammarly doesn’t miss an incorrect verb tense or pointless capitalization.

Pricing

• Free plan: $0
• Premium plan: $12/month, billed yearly (or $30/month, billed month-to-month)
• Marketing strategy: $15/month, billed yearly (or $25/month, billed month-to-month)

3. ChatGPT

We’ve all heard of it — one of many forerunners within the AI trade. In 2022, OpenAI developed ChatGPT, a chatbot and digital assistant, and it has rapidly turn into a trusted instrument for information, solutions, concepts, and help. You possibly can chat about varied matters, as seen from the urged prompts beneath.

53% of entrepreneurs who use AI instruments use chatbots. For this weblog submit, I used to be interested by what differentiates ChatGPT from different chatbots, so I requested.

As you may see, ChatGPT is exclusive as a result of it has information of a variety of topics and might perceive and talk in a human-like method. It’s made to converse, so that you don’t must formalize your writing, and it may possibly sometimes comprehend minor spelling and grammar errors, as I examined beneath:

Why I Like It

• ChatGPT affords priceless help to professionals. You possibly can prepare your ChatGPT to fulfill your particular skilled wants, comparable to conducting market analysis or discovering concepts for buyer surveys, by inputting your model tips into the “Customized Directions” characteristic, constructing templates for prompts, and extra.
• It simply integrates with different instruments and web sites, providing alternatives for personalization, AI-fueled conversations with customers, and environment friendly streamlining of knowledge and knowledge throughout platforms. I not too long ago used the Expedia app’s AI assistant, which has ChatGPT know-how, to plan a visit to Charleston.
• You possibly can depend on ChatGPT for a lot of use circumstances that will in any other case should be break up up throughout a number of AI instruments. I’ve used it to seek out out what sorts of influencers are hottest in worldwide markets, uncover synonyms for frequent phrases, and even discover ways to expend leftover produce in my fridge.

What Wants Enchancment

• ChatGPT can not be taught in real-time, so its information solely exists up till the final time it was up to date (at present January 2022). Which means a few of its data is perhaps barely outdated or not factual.
• Whereas it may possibly talk like a human, it’s not human. ChatGPT may generally miss the context for or misread your prompts or questions. It could additionally present biased or incorrect data, so its phrase can’t be relied on as legislation.

Pricing

• Free plan: $0
• Plus plan: $20/month
• Crew plan: $25/person/month, billed yearly (or $30/person/month, billed month-to-month)
• Enterprise plan: Should contact ChatGPT group for pricing.

4. Reclaim

“Reclaim” your time with Reclaim, an AI calendar scheduling app that optimizes your (and your group’s) schedules to extend private and group productiveness, all whereas prioritizing your work-life stability.

Reclaim boasts supplying you with again an additional work day each week, with 7.6 extra productive hours, which I do know I may actually use.

I accomplished a very good chunk of this submit on a rolling foundation however discovered myself a few days earlier than the due date with roughly 8 hours of writing left. I used Reclaim to assist me optimize my time round my morning exercises, Nickelodeon working hours, and night social plans to get my submit performed in time.

Reclaim additionally affords a wide range of skilled and private behavior templates to select from, and it’ll routinely match the behavior into your calendar for nonetheless lengthy and at no matter cadence you like.

My work calendar rapidly fills up with conferences, so I’d use Reclaim to arrange Focus Time all through my week to work on initiatives and Mindfulness breaks to make sure I take brief walks and time away from my display.

Entrepreneurs spend roughly 5 hours every day on guide, administrative, or operational duties. AI instruments like Reclaim may also help the common marketer save practically 2.5 hours every day on these duties and spend extra time on the issues that matter most.

Why I Like It

• It’s arduous to schedule time for private actions comparable to studying, exercising, or having a correct lunch through the workday. Reclaim encourages you to find time for these items and routinely provides these habits to your calendar.
• The “Sensible Conferences” characteristic analyzes your whole group’s schedules and finds the perfect time for recurring conferences, so that you don’t must manually search for calendars, e mail colleagues, and handle scheduling conflicts.
• The “Calendar Sync” characteristic helped me mix my Nickelodeon, HubSpot, and private calendars to maximise my time and effectively prioritize all my commitments.

What Wants Enchancment

• The app isn’t as user-friendly as different AI instruments I examined. It took a while for me to get acquainted with the assorted options and to determine one of the best ways to optimize Reclaim for my HubSpot Weblog writing wants.
• Reclaim works finest in a piece setting if all of your group members additionally use it. In any other case, you’re unable to train a few of the finest options, like “Sensible Conferences.”

Pricing

• Lite plan: $0 – 1 person
• Starter plan: $8/person/month – as much as 10 customers
• Marketing strategy: $12/person/month – as much as 100 customers
• Enterprise plan: $18/person/month – over 100 customers

5. ChatPDF

48% of entrepreneurs right this moment use generative AI instruments like ChatPDF to conduct analysis. ChatPDF has revolutionized the thought of “skimming” into an AI-powered machine. You merely add any PDF and look ahead to ChatPDF to soak up the knowledge.

Then, you might be dropped at a chat web page, the place you may ask any questions concerning the PDF. The chat characteristic is extremely useful for college kids and professors seeking to summarize prolonged instructional supplies.

Nonetheless, it additionally has countless prospects for professionals. Obtained a 50-slide presentation from a consumer that it is advisable to sift by means of by the morning? Or a 30-page report from a client survey that may present insights to your subsequent marketing campaign? ChatPDF has your again.

As you may see, ChatPDF helps you digest giant quantities of knowledge and select no matter knowledge factors and conclusions are mandatory to your work. I get pleasure from utilizing this instrument as a fact-checker or second set of eyes.

I learn by means of the HubSpot Weblog’s State of AI Report, a 33-page PDF, to analysis some key AI productiveness stats and knowledge. Then, I used ChatPDF to double-check my work and guarantee I included an important materials on this weblog submit.

Why I Like It

• This instrument is an ideal instance of how AI may also help us do our jobs higher with out really doing our jobs. ChatPDF doesn’t provide you with any new data; as a substitute, it helps you chop by means of the noise and get the precise knowledge you want.
• The instrument could be very straightforward to make use of. Its look is easy, which works effectively for one of these AI instrument. Even essentially the most technologically challenged particular person can work out ChatPDF.
• You possibly can add a PDF in any language. That is particularly useful for me, as I work in Worldwide Advertising and marketing. Slightly than asking my regional advertising groups to translate their PDFs into English earlier than sending them to me, I can settle for the unique format and summarize it myself.
• I admire that, somewhat than merely summarizing the contents of a PDF, this AI instrument introduces a chatbot characteristic. This fashion, you ask for exactly what you need, which works twofold — you aren’t slowed down by unneeded data and are compelled to have some semblance of the contents since you must know what to ask for. It prevents us from getting negligent with our work.

What Wants Enchancment

• The instrument has a really area of interest goal. Not like ChatGPT, which can be utilized for varied private {and professional} duties, ChatPDF has a restricted workflow. It does what it does effectively, however chances are you’ll not want to make use of it every day.

Pricing

• Free plan: $0
• Plus plan: $5/month
• Premium plan: $15/month

6. DreamStudio

Stability AI is the proprietor of a wide range of AI merchandise for text-to-image and video era. Entrepreneurs who use AI to generate written and visible content material save a median of greater than 3 hours per piece, so I used to be trying ahead to testing DreamStudio, the web-based app model of Secure Diffusion 3.

I’m not a pure artist or designer, however at Nickelodeon, I sometimes transient our artistic groups on a brand new collection (from primary characters to animation type to places), which they then use to tell the creation of the collection key artwork.

Instruments like DreamStudio would assist me rapidly visualize my advertising technique, which the artistic group may use as a diving off level.

I made a decision to check this instrument to generate a picture I may use inside this weblog submit (see How I Examined the Greatest AI Instruments for Work).

This immediate was an amazing instance of the capabilities of this text-to-image generator. I added varied prompts and filters to hone in on the precise sort of picture I wished.

Studying find out how to write robust prompts that information picture era is the simplest approach to make use of text-to-image generative instruments. Chatbots may also help with that by drafting a particular immediate to your desired picture, which might then be plugged into DreamStudio.

Why I Like It

• As I discussed, this can be a nice option to visually deliver your concepts to life. Like a written define earlier than a weblog submit, DreamStudio can give you a picture define that you should utilize as inspiration to your design or pictures work.
• You possibly can generate imagery to again up a pitch at work. If I had an thrilling concept for a Nickelodeon activation, I may use AI-generated imagery to deliver my concept to life and assist my group visualize it.
• Not all picture turbines have a “Adverse Immediate” characteristic, however it is extremely useful to share not solely what you wish to see but additionally what you wish to keep away from in your picture. You can even play with the facet ratio and the variety of photographs you obtain.
• Slightly than a month-to-month subscription, as with different AI instruments, DreamStudio permits you to purchase credit per picture, which affords extra flexibility.

What Wants Enchancment

• The photographs generated weren’t at all times correct. One of many occasions I examined my above immediate, the pictures on the laptop computer display resembled scenes from a fantasy film somewhat than AI-related imagery. Whereas promising, this instrument might take some trial and error to lock down precisely what you’re searching for.

Pricing

• 25 free credit
• $10/1,000 credit: Roughly 5,000 photographs