10 Must-Have AI Tools for Marketing Agencies

The business landscape is fast evolving with the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI). More than 80% of marketers worldwide already integrate some form of AI into their online marketing activities. Yes, the fourth industrial revolution is in full swing, bringing about human-machine interactions like we've never seen before. 

Now, the good does come with some risk. Not every tool touting AI capabilities delivers on its promise. When used without oversight, AI can cause more harm than good. 

But when implemented responsibly, AI tools can skyrocket productivity to unprecedented heights. Whether you've already begun experimenting with AI or are dipping your toes in, read on for ten game-changing AI tools your marketing agency needs today.

The Importance of Saving Time With AI Tools for Marketing

Your marketing agency just signed several new clients in addition to your existing ones. Everyone is thrilled about the new business until reality sinks in. Your team is overwhelmed trying to deliver quality work on tight deadlines across so many accounts. 

Stress levels rise as your staff burns the midnight oil, desperately trying to keep up. Still, projects fall through the cracks, and customers aren't happy about missed deadlines or declining quality. 

As a marketing agency, time is your most precious resource. Efficiency and effectiveness determine your capacity to take on new clients. With marketing continuing to evolve towards AI-powered solutions, refusing to adapt these tools puts you at risk of being left behind. 

If you snooze, you lose! 

Your competitors will soon be able to offer clients faster service for equal or lower prices. You may lose accounts that provide a large chunk of your revenue. Integrating artificial intelligence tools can streamline operations. It can free your team to focus on high-value strategy and creative work.

For example, AI-powered tools can assist with:

• Brainstorming session summaries
• First draft writing  
• Data analysis
• Customer relations 

AI allows you to scale your efforts exponentially while saving money. Hiring another customer service rep is far more expensive than implementing a chatbot, for instance.

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What to Look for When Choosing AI Marketing Tools  

Like any emerging technology (looking at you, crypto,) the AI market has its fair share of duds. You want to avoid falling victim to a subpar product, especially if you lack extensive knowledge of how AI works behind the scenes. You might not even realize the tool's making mistakes until a client jumps ship.

When researching AI tools for your marketing agency, consider the following decisive factors:

Use Case

Not all AI tools for marketing agencies rely on the same underlying technology. Some are LLMs (Large Language Models), while others use machine learning. Make sure you pick a tool that can actually do what you need it to do.

Ease of Use

AI itself is complex, with math, programming, and computer science all mixed together. Yet, tools meant for business applications should not be challenging to use day-to-day. Seek out an AI marketing solution with intuitive interfaces that easily integrate with your tech stack. Every team member should be able to leverage its capabilities, even those less tech-savvy. 

Price 

Of course, any new tool must fit within your budget constraints. You're running a business, after all. Many AI products run on a token-based pricing model. There are also some free AI tools for marketing that might work when you're starting out. But as a marketing agency, you'll likely need more power sooner than later.

Accuracy 

If the data that trains an AI is flawed, its output will be too. Prioritize tools with a proven track record of generating accurate, high-quality results. Read credible third-party reviews to help ascertain this.

Integration

How seamlessly does the tool integrate into your existing workflows? Smooth compatibility with the other programs your agency already uses is crucial for efficiency. Seek AI companies that offer turnkey integration or have APIs for simple linking.

Customer Support

Even the best software hits snags once in a while. When issues arise, quality customer support makes all the difference. Prioritize AI tools with support channels like phone, live chat, and email.

Bonus points if they have a robust online knowledge base or user community for troubleshooting and tips. Pro tip: test their support by posing as an interested customer. See how fast they get back to you and the quality of their responses.

Scalability

Can the AI tool scale with your agency as it grows? Changing your workflow midstream when you outgrow a tool is costly and disruptive. Ensure any tool you pick has ample headroom to handle increases in data volumes, tasks, and users.

Security 

Robust security is non-negotiable, especially when handling sensitive client data. Vet programs to confirm they implement top-tier measures like encryption, access controls, and data anonymization. 

For example, medical practices can't feed patient data into any AI tool, as doing so could violate HIPAA rules.

The Top AI Marketing Tools

By now, you have surely heard about ChatGPT. This revolutionary conversational AI took the world by storm in late 2022, reaching 1 million users in only five days. While it remains an excellent option for marketing, we'll skip it here since it needs no introduction. Feel free to read our blog post dedicated to ChatGPT for more insight. 

Instead, let's explore ten other vital AI tools your agency should consider integrating today.

1. Jasper AI  

At its core, marketing comes down to writing—lots of writing. Every word costs time (and maybe money), from chatting with clients to crafting snappy marketing copy. Producing persuasive copy takes skill, effort, and knowledge. That's why Jasper AI is such a game-changing tool for agencies.  

Jasper is essentially a souped-up version of ChatGPT, fine-tuned specifically for marketers' needs. The intuitive interface provides tailored recommendations for branding, ad campaigns, email marketing, and more based on the latest trends and performance analytics.

Jasper also offers templates for virtually any deliverable an agency might need to create. It can even mimic a brand's voice across content pieces for consistency. The time and cost savings here are massive.

2. Adobe Firefly

As a dominant force in creative software, it was only a matter of time before Adobe entered the AI arena. Create next-level graphic designs and engaging visual content with Adobe Firefly in minutes.  

It's kind of like DALL-E from OpenAI. But the real showstopper is Generative fill. You can select just part of an image and tell AI to swap it with anything you dream up.

For marketing agencies, these capabilities unlock endless possibilities for ideating and producing dynamic visual assets for clients faster than ever. Plus, it integrates seamlessly with the rest of the Adobe suite.

3. Sprout Social 

If your agency offers social media services, Sprout Social is a must-have. It's an all-in-one platform for scheduling posts and engaging with followers without breaking a sweat. The main highlight here is that it helps through automation and AI optimization.

Sprout's newly added AI tools help craft captions and tweets, recommend ideal posting times, and provide data-backed suggestions to improve engagement. 

Sprout Social also doubles as a social listening tool. Use the power of machine learning to gauge the conversation around a brand online. The intel is as good as gold, whether it's for you or a client.

4. Lately.ai 

While we're on the topic of social media, have you ever heard of repurposing content? It involves taking existing content like a blog post, ebook, or video and turning it into fresh social media posts. Repurposing allows you to reuse assets, saving tons of time and money.  

Lately.ai is an AI tool built for this specific purpose (repurposing). Provide this tool with any published content, and it handles the rest. You'll receive optimized, platform-specific social posts for you to review and schedule.

5. Grammarly GO

By now, Grammarly needs no introduction as everyone's favorite grammar and spelling checker. For years, Grammarly's AI capabilities have helped agencies catch writing errors and improve copy.  

Through its automated proofreader and vocabulary enhancement suggestions, it identifies grammar mistakes, tone issues, plagiarism risks, and more. 

Although the program was already quite advanced, they've added even more AI-powered features. The new Grammarly GO has AI-powered features like "Increase the Impact of Your Text" for next-level suggestions.

There is also an AI-powered generative section that can identify gaps in a draft and write entirely new text sections for you. 

6. Clearscope  

For agencies offering SEO services, Clearscope is a must-have AI tool. It automates vital optimization tasks like keyword research, content optimization, site audits, and more that used to require extensive manual effort.

Clearscope's AI will even review your copy once finished and provide an SEO score and improvement tips. The tool integrates with popular CMS platforms for easy implementation. 

7. Zapier

Zapier has helped agencies connect apps and automate workflows for years already. But now, they have integrated a powerful AI copilot to take it to the next level.  

This new capability lets you interact with Zapier in ways not possible before to streamline even the most convoluted processes. You can build custom integrations, automation, and workflows without any coding skills.  

Everything becomes quicker and easier with Zapier's new AI sidekick. 

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8. Synthesia.io  

Synthesia is one of the hottest new AI tools set to revolutionize marketing agencies. Through its proprietary technology, it aims to tackle resource-heavy video content creation.

The tool uses AI to generate ultra-realistic custom videos with human-like virtual presenters. These computer-generated hosts speak and move naturally in any language while lip-syncing the script.

Agencies can use Synthesia to produce videos tailored to any marketing campaign or purpose imaginable without extensive production resources. The possibilities for creating quality video content without costly delays are endless.

9. Midjourney  

Visuals are taking over digital marketing. Your clients are likely begging for more eye-catching content. But creating visuals takes time, skill, and resources. Or does it? Midjourney's AI image generator is considered the most advanced available today. It creates stunning photorealistic images of anything using only text prompts. 

For example, say a client wants lifestyle images set on a tropical beach for an Instagram campaign. Describe the desired scenes, and Midjourney manifests them in seconds.  

This tool empowers agencies to produce endless on-brand visual assets on demand instead of paying for stock images or contracting photographers.

10. Brevo

Following up with leads and closing deals often comes down to effective email marketing. You might remember SendInBlue, one of the top email marketing platforms of the mid-2000s. They've recently rebranded as Brevo and added some fantastic AI features.

Brevo provides the same exceptional deliverability and automation features that help agencies convert more leads into customers. But its newly added AI can also assist with crafting more compelling email copy and subject lines and optimizing send time.

For example, Brevo's AI will suggest the best individual send times based on each subscriber's past email opening activity. Meanwhile, its renowned automation features continue nurturing contacts through each campaign stage.

The Future Is AI-Powered

These examples only scratch the surface of how AI can transform marketing agencies. As technology continues to advance, new possibilities unfold daily. However, with great power comes great responsibility.

While integrating AI can skyrocket efficiency, productivity, and creativity, we must remain vigilant about its limitations. Always make sure to add a human touch to anything you deliver. 

To measure the impact on your key performance metrics with this newfound ally, benchmark against competitors with Varos' platform. Let us help you make sense of this new technology-driven era of marketing. 

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