In the wake of ChatGPT’s release, a wave of more advanced (and paid) AI writing tools have flooded the market. In July, we looked at creative writing tools; in this second installment we’ll explore applications for digital marketing, social media, and promotional copy.
Two of the top AI marketing tools are Jasper and RyterAI. Jasper AI is a content and image generation tool built for marketers. It offers a range of templates and frameworks for sales conversions, blog content, social media campaigns, SEO optimization, Amazon product descriptions, and more. RyterAI is also a text generator designed for marketing.
Jasper is a robust application with a lot of bells and whistles. For any of its tools or templates, you can provide guidance to set a tone for the writing (sarcastic, upbeat, professional) and inform its generated copy with your own input, whether that’s minimal or highly detailed. The more detailed your input, of course, the higher quality the output. Some of the sales pitch formulas feel rigid and unnatural for how novels are typically pitched, and they read more like a straightforward product pitch (which, to be fair, is the design). I got better results when using the ad tools. Much of the copy read overly salesy and formulaic, but there were some strong lines too, and it was easier to revise the generated copy than start from scratch.
While Jasper’s formulas and templates help you produce the best results—because it guides you through the inputs needed for reliable output—I found Jasper’s Boss Mode a fun tool for social media content and blogging. Boss Mode allows you to sidestep the templates and command JasperAI to do just about anything. For example, you might ask it, “Write an introduction for a blog post about the best fantasy novels of 2023” or “draft social media copy to promote a YA dystopian novel” or “write Amazon ad copy for a dark fantasy series inspired by Greek mythology.” This gets results much faster, since template inputs aren’t required, but Jasper tends to fill in the blanks and extrapolate as needed to fit the command. I also found that prompting Boss Mode for social media copy (even TikTok) with a few key details about one of my novels got solid results. It took an acceptable amount of time to perfect the output and adjust the voice to make it perfectly postable.
It does take a while to become familiar with Jasper’s full set of tools. Those willing to invest even more time can train the AI to write in their personal style by inputting copy samples.
By comparison, RyterAI’s social media post template offers options only for Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, and “other.” That means it can’t create targeted content for popular channels like TikTok and Instagram, which left me wondering if the application can keep up with fast-changing social media trends. However, I found RyterAI a better tool for blog content. I used it for some hypothetical drafting and was pleasantly surprised with what it delivered. For a listicle post on top science fiction novels, “write a description of 1984” produced a solid three to five sentences that could hold up against any listicle.
Similarly, it didn’t take much to produce an outline of a completely decent article about the best science fiction and fantasy novels. But the titles it generated for this list were all classics written by white men (and in one redraft iteration, Mary Shelley). This is a common challenge for AI, but for this reason, I couldn’t see using this outline for my own content without being prepared to do significant heavy lifting.
Like any AI tool, Jasper and RyterAI require hands-on fact checking. A prompt to add Babel by RF Kuang to the top speculative fiction post delivered descriptions that were completely off base in both applications. Since AI relies on pre-existing content to draw from, it makes sense it tends to rely on the longstanding classics unless specifically prompted, and it doesn’t have the same depth of content to draw from for more recent top titles. In a separate prompt to create promotional copy for one of my own novels, RyterAI slipped in a line about me being a New York Times bestselling author, which, while flattering, is completely false. When working with any AI tool, don’t trust; verify.
Both of these applications are billed on a subscription model at similar pricing. Jasper is $49 a month for an individual user or $39 a month billed annually, with a seven-day free trial period. RyterAI is $29 a month for its standard, unlimited plan but has a free plan as well as a “saver” plan for $9 a month.
On days when I needed fresh ideas or some help to get everything done, I’d turn to Jasper over RyterAI. I found its outputs generally higher quality and its interface slightly easier to navigate. I also enjoyed that I could generate whatever I wanted from the same Boss Mode page.
Bottom line: Can AI help authors with marketing and promotion tasks? The short answer is yes. For a time-pressed author or someone who detests social media, these applications can help reduce some of the time and effort required for regular content generation. In my experience, the AI was at its best when used for the shortest form content, like social posts or digital ad copy, or when developing a first draft. If you provide it with pre-developed ideas and research, it can deliver decent results—though I’d hoped I would save much more time. Today, you get what you give with content generation results. For this reason, I didn’t find these tools worth the investment, but I work in communications and generally enjoy social media and author platform work.
Emily Wenstrom is a freelance writer and platforming expert and writes award-winning speculative fiction for teens and adults as E. J. Wenstrom.
E. J. Wenstrom believes in complicated heroes, horrifying monsters, purple hair dye and standing to the right on escalators so the left side can walk. She writes dark speculative fiction for adults and teens, including her new release, a young adult dystopian novel titled Departures (August 10, 2021). When she isn’t writing fiction, E. J. Wenstrom is a regular contributor to DIY MFA and BookRiot, and co-hosts the Fantasy+Girl Podcast. Learn more at her website.
