AI is a powerful new technology and we’re on board for the ride. Learn how we’re harnessing AI tools to enhance our marketing and creative work.

The promise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is dwarfed only by the uncertainty it presents—for creatives, agency leaders, and clients. At Ashworth Creative, we understand the importance of leveraging innovative tools to deliver the very best work possible for our clients. But we also understand the value of human ingenuity, creativity, and oversight. 

While AI has emerged as a powerful creative ally, revolutionizing various aspects of the marketing landscape, we remain enthusiastic—but cautious—about this new way of working. The bottom line is that we’re committed to crafting meaningful original content as we discover how various AI-powered tools add value to our daily operations. 

How we use AI

First, it’s important to clarify the difference between AI and machine learning. AI is the tech that gives machines and algorithms the power to do things that only humans used to be able to do. Machine learning is a branch of AI that uses data analysis, pattern recognition, and user feedback to constantly improve an app’s performance.

At Ashworth, there are two main ways we’re using AI tools and exploring the newest innovations in AI technology. Our approach includes:

• Using AI-enabled tools: AI-enabled tools use machine learning to automate tasks, predict outcomes, and improve decision-making. For example, tools like Sharpspring, an email automation platform, use AI to personalize content and segment audiences for more effective campaigns. Tools like Grammarly and Readable use AI to optimize written content for accuracy and readability.
• Using generative AI: Generative AI tools like Jasper and ChatGPT are trained on large data sets and are designed to create (e.g., generate) original content. They can create original content almost instantly which people can (and do) use without adding human oversight. We prefer to use these tools as creative assistants, helping with simple content ideation (e.g., blog headlines, meta descriptions) or enhancing more complex content like eBook outlines, articles, and video scripts.

How we don’t use AI 

There are some cases where AI just doesn’t work for us as a busy boutique marketing agency. We produce stunning, ADA-compliant, and responsive websites, compelling visuals and graphics, and create story-driven video content from the heart – a very human endeavor. 

Generating code, creating graphics and images, and generating video are where AI can fall flat and become quite obvious when it’s being used. In other words, there will always be the need for human-driven marketing that is tailored to a client’s specific needs. Though AI can act as a creative partner, we like to leave the tasks that rely on an emotive appeal to our talented marketing team. 

6 ways we’re innovating with AI at Ashworth

Balance is key when using any AI-enabled tool. Our goal at Ashworth Creative is always to use AI to optimize workflows while maintaining the creative integrity of our work. Here are some ways we’re working with AI right now.

1. Drafting and editing emails

AI tools enable us to streamline the process of editing and refining our internal and client emails. We use them to help us draft and edit emails by generating email text (with prompting). Tools like Coschedule Headline Analyzer and ChaptGPT help us quickly create variations of email subject lines and body text using generative AI. Other tools provide grammar and readability recommendations.

2. Outlining, editing, and SEO-optimizing *internal blog posts 

Our internal blog post topics are often inspired by questions and feedback from clients. Their inquiries help us address specific client needs and pain points (like how we’re addressing AI!) To expedite the content creation process, we use generative AI to build on our topic ideas. We also feed prompts (e.g., specific questions and content) into generative AI tools to expand on them. Tools like MarketMuse and Jasper also help us effectively optimize content for search engines.

This expedites the blog post creation process as it’s a way of combining research and content generation in one step. Each piece we write undergoes a rigorous editing process to ensure accuracy, originality, and compliance with our internal creative standards. 

*We know this is a great tool to use for blog posts for our own company, however, all our client blog posts are original human-written content that is rigorously edited and reviewed.

3. Checking for plagiarism and originality

Once we’re ready to publish a piece of content, we pass it through at least two plagiarism review applications to ensure it’s completely original. Even content that’s 100% human generated gets this level of scrutiny since it’s easy to “accidentally plagiarize” content that’s been covered extensively online.

We use tools like Copyscape and Quetext to ensure that content we produce for our clients is completely original. 

We’ve begun testing AI-detection tools to make sure that no matter how much generative AI is used to ideate and create content, the result is at least 90% human-created as identified by the tool. These tools are notoriously inaccurate, so we haven’t landed on one that is completely reliable, but Originality.ai is the most promising so far.

Finally, we evaluate all content for accuracy since Generative AI tools tend to “hallucinate” (make up facts, statistics, and stories). This is an essential part of our process. It’s what we mean when we say that AI – even generative AI – is just a tool that helps our human creators work faster and smarter. 

4. Social media campaign creation, launch, and management

Our clients often need to get a message, announcement, or response launched quickly based on something happening in real time. Social media ads and organic social posts are the best and quickest way to do this. 

AI helps us create engaging and effective social media ad campaigns on the fly by automating the process of creating headlines and ad text. AI tools also streamline the targeting, testing, and optimization of ad campaigns. Tools like Adobe Advertising Cloud and Kenshoo help us analyze data (like purchase history or website pageviews) to create campaigns that target specific audiences in real-time with creative content tailored for them.

This reduces the need for our team to work late at night and ensures the timely delivery of creative solutions when clients are in a pinch.

5. Reporting and analysis

Our team generates various performance/outcome reports for clients on a monthly, weekly, and sometimes daily basis. Most ad platforms have built-in reporting features and tools, but there are some cases where a more detailed report with specific criteria and calculations is needed. In these instances, we use an AI tool to help with customization by, for example, prompting it to generate a formula to calculate a system outcome from data we’ve added to Excel or Google Sheets. 

“When I am generating daily event reports for our clients, I have found using AI to ask for a formula to be extremely useful. I love using Google Sheets to organize all my data, but there are times when I need my report to display certain data that would take me hours to try and figure out myself. I use tools like ChatGPT to ask for a formula and in most cases I have major success. It’s not always perfect, but it definitely helps save time.” – Stephanie Faughnan, Event Marketing Associate & Project Manager at Ashworth Creative

ChatGPT can also create a complete spreadsheet with data provided to it and generate formulas based on the sheets it creates to explain how it arrived at its results.

6. On-the-fly video scripts 

On-site video shoots can present unexpected opportunities. This is exactly what happened on a recent video shoot when an executive suddenly became available while our crew was on location. AI has proven invaluable in these situations, allowing us to generate scripts in real time.

“Our familiarity with the client, in-depth knowledge of their brand, and closeness with the project allowed us to create an effective prompt to give the AI generator. We were able to take the script it produced and edit it to align even more with the client’s brand and the speaker’s personal tone. The script was written, edited, and loaded into the teleprompter before the executive was even brought into the room. This saved time on our end, but time and was cost efficient for the client as well, leading to higher client satisfaction overall.” – Jennifer King, Video Production Manager at Ashworth Creative

By using an AI generator to help our team swiftly produce a script, we can ensure that the person appearing on camera feels supported and prepared, maximizing the impact of their message.

Ready to Leverage Leading-Edge Marketing Expertise? 

At Ashworth Creative, we remain dedicated to leveraging the best of human creativity. By combining the unique insights and expertise of our team with the immense possibilities offered by AI, we’re delivering outstanding results for our clients.

Please reach out with questions or contact us to discuss ways that AI can benefit your specific marketing needs. We work with local Hudson Valley clients and global businesses across a variety of industries including healthcare, manufacturing, higher education, and construction. We’re excited to embark on this innovative journey together and help your brand thrive in the most creative way possible. 

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While we have come to enjoy working with AI tools, this post was written by humans – Our CEO Eve Ashworth and Jacqueline Dooley