For Maxwell Perry, incorporating new technology into his everyday workflow is second nature. So, when the 26-year-old founder of supplier Beantown Blankets (asi/39138) learned about ChatGPT and other AI tools, he was all in.

“After AI began to go more mainstream late last year, I started incorporating it in all my daily tasks, and it truly changed everything,” he says. “From recommending new keywords and LinkedIn post ideas, it evolved into becoming my go-to ideation tool when it came to presenting ideas to clients.”

At promo industry events at the beginning of the year, Perry was surprised to learn that very few of his peers were using ChatGPT, and some had never even heard of it. Of course, in the ensuing months, popular attention on generative AI has exploded – ASI Media devoted a week to AI in May – but many people aren’t realizing the full potential of the tools.

“Diving into ChatGPT and other AI tools can require a lot of backend knowledge to generate accurate and complete responses,” Perry says.

He decided to help “eliminate the learning curve” to aid distributors in reaping the benefits of ChatGPT without having to spend a ton of time optimizing their prompting techniques. Perry created PromoAI, a website that interfaces with ChatGPT and allows promo pros to enter one or two pieces of information – such as the promotional product and the intended client – and get a wealth of detailed advice in response.

Like many AI tools out there, Perry’s PromoAI is free, at least to start. The tool gives users 5,000 free words a month and offers premium plans for people who use it more often.

Whether distributors choose to use the PromoAI interface or decide to dive into ChatGPT on their own, Perry says it’s important to have fun and be willing to try out new ideas.

“I would really recommend everyone, no matter their position or age, just to play around with ChatGPT and the other tools available,” he says. “See what’s out there, and maybe you’ll generate some different ideas of how you could use it.”

Here are three of the ways Perry recommends distributors use ChatGPT to improve their business.

1

Improve your email skills.

You can ask generative AI tools to craft a cold email by inputting a list of the products you’d like to pitch, indicating the tone you’d like the writing to have, elaborating what the call to action should be, and adding a few keywords you’d like included in the email. You can also easily draft a follow-up email after a sales meeting by inputting a client’s name, the products discussed and a few key points from the meeting. Or if you’ve written an email and aren’t satisfied with how it sounds, you can paste your draft into ChatGPT, explain what your intent with it was and ask the AI to rewrite your message.

2

Take your social media to the next level.

ChatGPT could help you generate insightful comments for LinkedIn posts or come up with ideas on what you should be posting on your own feeds. You can use it to get novel ways to highlight your wares by inputting a particular product, its key features and benefits, a call to action, and including the tone you’d like the post to have – whether it’s exciting, friendly, urgent or something else.

3

Generate more creative product pitches.

AI can save you time at the ideation phase by helping you generate a slew of creative ideas quickly. They might not all be winners, but Perry says you’ll be surprised at how clever some of the suggestions will be. For instance, he adds, if you’re selling custom golf bags, you can ask ChatGPT or PromoAI for suggestions on activities to help differentiate a trade show booth you’re setting up. In less than a minute, you’ll have a handful of ideas to work with, including things like including a putting green or mini-golf challenge at your booth using branded golf balls and putting together a swag bag of prizes for the winners.

In the case of Beantown Blankets itself, Perry says he’s used ChatGPT to help him generate ideas for how brands can use the custom QR code included on every blanket. The code can go to any URL, he adds, but rather than just leave that open-ended, he likes to give three suggestions for how end-buyers can best employ the code. ChatGPT helps to produce ideas tailored to a specific client quickly and seamlessly. For example, he adds, for custom blankets going to a children’s hospital, AI suggested ideas like linking the QR code.to an online gallery of patient art.