GenAI: the tools and prompts your business needs

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    Ian Hawkins

    Page written by Ian Hawkins. Last reviewed on March 26, 2024. Next review due July 1, 2025.

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      Generative AI has been a big story – but what can it really do for your business?

      The big technology news in 2023 has been Generative AI (GenAI) – bots that are able to write text, produce realistic images and much more. Unlike many tech breakthroughs, GenAI is accessible: the tools are often free to try out from the comfort of your own desktop, and because the selling point is the natural language recognition, you don’t need any specialist knowledge to get started. 

      What is GenAI, and why should I use it?

      The promise of GenAI is that it can speed up and automate tasks that you would normally need a human to perform. And while every business has different needs, here’s Swoop’s pick of five tools you should check out: they could make a big difference to how you do things. 

      What AI tools should my business be using?

      Below those, you’ll also find our tips on how to get the most out of the AI tools you decide to start using.

      For content

      Do you find writing emails, social posts and other communications hard work? Jasper might be exactly what you’re looking for to take the weight off your shoulders. 

      Jasper can help automate the generation of written content, making it useful for any business that needs to produce articles, blog posts, and more.

      For video creation

      Video is the most powerful content you can produce: people like to see products in action or see the difference a service can make. Video is also the most labour-intensive, costly and difficult type of content to produce. 

      Wibbitz is an automated video creation platform. It comes with powerful editing tools and hundreds of templates that can produce professional results fast. Intuitive to use, this is a valuable tool for businesses looking to make video part of their content strategy.

      For managing social media

      Whatever your business does, you’ll want to post about it on social media. Unfortunately, managing your media channels is a full time job, and you’re busy running a business, right?

      Hootsuite incorporates AI features for social media management. It can help schedule posts, analyze performance, and suggest optimal posting times, improving your social media strategy.

      For email marketing

      You’ve set up your email marketing, spent hours crafting your newsletter – and nobody reads it. Frustrating: you know there are business opportunities in your email list, but how do you get more engagement? 

      Step forward Phrasee, an AI tool that uses natural language processing to generate compelling and effective email subject lines. It aims to improve email open rates and engagement.

      For chatbot

      Do customers fall through the gaps when there aren’t enough people to answer the phone? Perhaps a chatbot could pick up the slack. 

      Implementing a chatbot on your website or social media channels can enhance customer engagement by answering frequently asked questions, providing information, and even collecting leads. Platforms like Chatfuel or ManyChat allow you to create chatbots without extensive coding knowledge.

      How do you write a great prompt for GenAI?

      Writing good prompts for GenAI is crucial to getting the kind of responses you can actually use. The quality of the prompt greatly influences the output because the model generates responses based on the information and context provided in the prompt. 

      Here are our top tips for writing good prompts:

      Be clear and specific: the more specific you are, the more the model understand your intent and generates more accurate responses. Ambiguous or vague prompts might lead to less relevant outputs.

      Use contextual information: relevant context in the prompt helps the model understand the background or setting of the conversation. This can lead to more coherent and context-aware responses.

      Guide the output style: what is the end result for?  If you have a specific tone or style in mind for the response, you can guide the model by expressing that in the prompt. For example, you can ask the model to respond in a formal or informal tone.

      Manage Ambiguity: If there are multiple interpretations of a prompt, specifying your expectations can help the model produce the type of response you’re seeking. This is particularly important for avoiding misunderstandings.

      Keep improving: if the initial response is not exactly what you want, you can refine and iterate on the prompt to get closer to what you need. Experimenting with different prompts allows you to fine-tune the results – and learn for yourself what the bot needs to match your expectations. 

      GenAI can be a useful tool for your business – and like all tools, it will make the job easier but it won’t do everything for you. So it’s really worth checking around all the options available for the tasks you have, experiment with what is available and use tools that add value to your business rather than steal your time away from your core functions.

      Want to stay in the loop with all things AI as well as other useful tips to help grow your business? Sign up to Swoop’s newsletter and join the other 75,000+ SMEs keeping their finger on the pulse.

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      Written by

      Ian Hawkins

      Ian Hawkins is Head of Content at Swoop. As a freelance business journalist and filmmaker he has reported from Europe, Central and North America and Africa. His films and writing have appeared on BBC World, Reuters and CBS, and he has spoken at conferences on both sides of the Atlantic on subjects including data, cyber security, and entrepreneurialism.

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      At Swoop we want to make it easy for SMEs to understand the sometimes overwhelming world of business finance and insurance. Our goal is simple – to distill complex topics, unravel jargon, offer transparent and impartial information, and empower businesses to make smart financial decisions with confidence.

      Find out more about Swoop’s editorial principles by reading our editorial policy.

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