AI (a.k.a. Artificial intelligence) is everywhere. It powers virtual assistants (like Siri and Alexa), helps tailor online shopping experiences to suit your unique style and even enables your bank to catch and prevent potential fraudsters from accessing your accounts.
The world of social media marketing is no different. AI tools on social media allow business owners to fast-track content creation, level up customer service and even improve the accessibility of video content.
The stats say it all: the AI market on social media is predicted to reach upwards of $3,714.89 million by 2026. With such high levels of investment in AI, it’s no wonder the biggest social media platforms are doubling down on AI-driven tools and features.
Want to stay ahead of the curve? We’re rounding up five of the latest AI tools now available on Meta, YouTube, Pinterest and LinkedIn. Plus, get the inside scoop on the new AI-driven features set to be coming soon to your favorite social media apps.
Tool 1. Meta’s new AI chatbot personas
Chatbots are one of the most obvious ways to harness the power of AI on social media. While far from the first platform to do so, Meta is rolling out its own AI chatbots – with a twist.
Unlike other apps, Meta’s chatbots offer unique customization opportunities, allowing brands and businesses to set different personas and personalities for the way their chatbots communicate.
The first whispers of this news came back in July, with The Wall Street Journal reporting these ‘chatbot characters’ could be available as soon as this week.
The move comes as Meta pushes hard to re-engage a younger user base (which has been declining since as far back as 2012). While the feature is yet to be rolled out, insider reports show that up to 30 different personalities will be available (from a “sassy robot” to a “surfer dude” persona).
While we don’t expect the first iteration of Meta’s AI chatbot personas to be a winning formula, it does give us a glimpse into the capabilities of AI-driven tools, like chatbots. What we hope to see is the ability for businesses to truly customize their own chatbot personalities to align with their unique brand voice and positioning. Unfortunately, these cheesy characters and clique personas are unlikely to be the right fit for anyone using Meta’s apps for business.
🎯 Action plan: While we wait for Meta to release this new AI tool, now is the time to build chatbots into your social media strategy. From answering common customer questions to delivering out-of-hours customer service and even prompting clients to make a booking, it’s time to figure out how your brand will tap into the benefits of AI-driven chatbots on social media.
Tool 2. YouTube’s new suite of generative AI creator tools
Have you heard of a thing called generative AI? Essentially, GenAI is a type of AI that’s able to produce new text, images or other forms of content. ChatGPT is a form of generative AI that you’re probably already familiar with.
Now, the team at YouTube are empowering brands and creators to tap into a new suite of tools, powered by generative AI.
First up is “Dream Screen”, a new feature offering AI-generated backgrounds (both static images and videos) for your next YouTube Short video. Simply type in a text-based prompt and the tool will produce a creative background for your next bite-sized clip.
This move comes off the back of Snapchat, TikTok and even Instagram offering experimental new GenAI tools within their apps. Expect to see Dream Screen available on YouTube in 2024.
Plus, YouTube is testing out new ways to spark new ideas with the power of AI. Dubbed as a research tool, you’ll soon be able to input text-based suggestions and score prompts for fresh content ideas (including a complete downable video outline to get you started).
Action plan: Now is the time to master the art of briefing and prompting AI tools! Start experimenting with GenAI on social media by tapping into the tools already available, from custom stickers on Instagram Stories to generative AI avatars on TikTok.
Tool 3. Pinterest’s new personalization and recommendation tools
Didn’t make it to Pinterest’s 2023 Investor Day? Here’s what you need to know about the future of the platform, where the platform is investing its resources and what tools to expect from Pinterest in the months ahead.
AI was a big talking point, with Pinterest confirming they’ve expanded their AI-driven ad optimizations model by 100x. The result? Pinterest is better placed to serve the right ads to the right users on the platform.
Personalization isn’t just happening in Pinterest’s advertising space. By incorporating AI into a range of placements across the platforms (such as home feed recommendations), Pinterest has seen a +60% in the number of saves per monthly active user.
We’ve just seen Pinterest roll out new AI-driven filters (allowing users to tailor search results based on skin tone and even body type). On the horizon, Pinterest is launching new ways for users to discover their own style and topics they might be interested in (plus provide real-time feedback to the platform to further refine their search results and recommendations).
🎯 Action plan: It’s time to whip your Pinterest SEO strategy into shape! By injecting search-friendly keywords into your Boards and Pin descriptions, you’ll be best placed to stand out and be seen in the hyper-personalized Pinterest algorithm in 2024 (and beyond).
Tool 4. LinkedIn’s new generative AI tools
The team at LinkedIn have been busy rolling out AI-driven tools across all areas of the platform. From AI-generated profile summaries to AI drafting tools and post prompts, LinkedIn is heavily investing in generative AI (and with good reason).
AI is the perfect fit for a B2B social media platform like LinkedIn. From job applications to thought leadership content, AI empowers busy leaders to show up on the platform and create content with ease.
The latest AI tool from LinkedIn promises to change the game when it comes to searching for leads and information on the platform. By offering AI-assisted search options, users can input conversational prompts (such as “Find me marketing decision makers at LinkedIn on the U.S. East Coast”) and score more relevant search results.
This is a must-try tool for anyone running a B2B business or looking to connect with decision-makers in companies across the globe.
🎯 Action plan: Want to sharpen your AI skills? Take advantage of LinkedIn’s 10 most popular GenAI courses, which are currently available for free until December 15th 2023.
Tool 5. Meta’s new AI-driven advertising tools
Ahead of the holiday season, the Meta team have flagged a stack of must-try AI tools to harness across their apps.
If you’re planning on running paid social ad campaigns on Facebook or Instagram during the holidays, this new guide gives you a snapshot of the AI tools now available to use.
Our tip? Tap into the creative automation elements available through Meta’s Advantage+ suite, allowing you to fast-track the process of bringing ad creative to life.
With a few simple prompts, you’ll be able to use GenAI to design the imagery and assets to accompany your next ad campaign (and even customize this creative to suit a range of ad placements). Talk about the easiest way to produce best-practice ad creative!
🎯 Action plan: Try out Meta’s new Advantage+ creative with standard elements to see GenAI in action. This feature will instantly produce unique versions of your ad creative based on what Meta believes users are most likely to engage with.
Coming soon: Other AI-driven tools on the horizon
Psst… have you heard? There is a stack of exciting AI-driven updates and tools coming soon to your favorite apps, including:
• YouTube is teaming up with record labels (like Universal Music Group) to establish new rules around how AI-generated music will be handled on the platform, including monetization opportunities.
• Instagram is designing a new feature called Message Summary, which offers an AI-driven summary of recent DM conversations.
• Instagram is reportedly testing a new AI-generated comments feature, which may change the way users interact with each other on the platform.
Clearly, every social media platform is doubling down on AI-driven tools and features. This tells us that now is the time to be embracing tools (like generative AI) to speed up your content creation workflows, spark new ideas and automate the more manual aspects of managing your social media presence.
In fact, we’re here to help you take the stress and guesswork out of crafting your next social media caption with our new AI caption generator. Get ready to score captivating, attention-grabbing captions tailored to each social media platform in just a few seconds.
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