If you work in marketing, you’ll no doubt have heard about ChatGPT, which launched earlier this year to great fanfare. This game-changing AI system generates content in a way that is almost human, and all at the touch of a button. It does so by scouring existing online data sources, which allows it to automatically produce copy, answer common questions, and support broader digital marketing efforts with ease.

Now, we don’t think AI will replace the value of human marketing – at least for now – but this powerful system can certainly help to bolster your Chinese digital marketing efforts if you use it correctly.

How do I use ChatGPT?

It couldn’t be easier. Simply register on the platform, create your account, and type in your question. The powerful AI will generate a response in a matter of seconds. This can provide a useful base for a blog, website copy, a customer Q&A and so forth.

It’s important to note, however, that there are some limitations. For example, ChatGPT warns that it may not generate 100% accurate information and that it can occasionally create biased content. It may also have limited knowledge of current global events, again, because it relies on a solid base of existing content to produce answers.

What can I use ChatGPT for?

Here are some ideas for using ChatGPT to support your Chinese digital marketing efforts:

1. For inspiration

It can get tricky to think of endless catchy titles, engaging introductions and fresh new ways of phrasing those key marketing messages. But ChatGPT can offer ideas for new phrasing by interrogating vast bodies of conversational data in seconds. If your marketing team is spending too much time trying to brainstorm exciting new angles for social media posts, ChatGPT can help you jump ahead and save time.

2. For content generation

ChatGPT can help you to generate content for blog posts, news articles, social media posts and email templates. This can be very useful when you need body content to develop to your own branded needs, especially for those longer pieces.

3. For better customer service

ChatGPT can also be incorporated into chatbot technology for your website, building its machine-learning capabilities to provide ready and tailored answers to your Chinese customers at any time of day. This helps you to deliver a fuller customer experience, without the difficulty of resourcing a team of customer service advisors around the clock.

4. To grow your website

ChatGPT can help you to shape your Chinese website by thinking about ideas for content, and by creating a shape and structure for content pages. For example, the system can offer answers to FAQs, which can help your content to rank more highly. It can also help you to research possible keywords.

One word of caution, however – Chinese customers engage with Chinese-language websites differently than in the West. This means that your Chinese website UX needs to be optimised accordingly. So use ChatGPT as a way of beginning your website work and to help generate content sections, and then work with your Chinese digital marketing agency partner to localise your site for your Chinese audience.

5. To generally free up time

Give ChatGPT a keyword or topic and it automatically generates high-quality content that can form the basis of any written marketing. This can help your marketing team to springboard past the basics and move towards the more creative, engaging and innovative aspects of your Chinese digital marketing campaigns, working with your Chinese digital marketing agency partner to unlock maximum benefits.

5. For translation

ChatGPT can also translate English content into Chinese. Again, this can be quick and helpful when dealing with large volumes of content requirements, but it’s essential that the finished result is checked and verified by a native Chinese language speaker, especially in China where censorship, cultural context and other subtle localisation factors come into play. Nothing would turn off a Chinese customer quicker than a bad (or even worse, insulting) translation.

So, should you use ChatGPT for your Chinese digital marketing?

In short, when used correctly, ChatGPT can be highly valuable for your brand. The tool isn’t going anywhere and as a machine-learning software, it will continually evolve and improve to sound as human as possible. It can be a great way to save time (and budget) by outsourcing some of your basic marketing legwork, and it can help to meet the sizeable content requirements that all modern brands have when operating commercially online.

How should you NOT use ChatGPT?

This type of AI can save time, money and stress, but it’s important to remember that it has key limitations. For example, it cannot write in a brand tone of voice, it may draw on controversial data sources that don’t pass Chinese censorship guidelines, and it may not always be accurate, particularly when relating to cutting-edge or emerging topics.

We also recommend that brands only use ChatGPT to augment their human content. Google has already said it will penalise rankings that solely rely on AI generation, and we expect to see Baidu take a similar stance (or potentially find a way of prioritising content generated by its own Ernie-bot system.)

Perhaps more fundamentally, people want to read content that other, human, people write. And when you’ve invested in a brand tone of voice that is values-driven and imbued with human values (warm, authoritative, helpful, fun, etc), it’s vital to commit to it. Without that investment – in accuracy and brand TOV – you risk eroding your brand and turning customers off.

In conclusion

We recommend two primary takeaways:

1. To use ChatGPT as a starting point for your content and then personalise it to your brand, with your target Chinese audience always in mind.

2. To work closely with a Chinese digital marketing agency to plan the best way to integrate ChatGPT and other AI and machine-learning tools into your Chinese digital marketing strategy.

By taking an intelligent, planned approach, you can define the instances in which ChatGPT (or alternative tools) can be used to add value to your Chinese digital marketing activity and unlock maximum value without any risk of switching off your demanding, intelligent Chinese customers. As ever, the fundamentals ring true. Marketing tools can save time, money and hassle, but they must sit within a successful marketing strategy, rather than becoming the strategy itself.

Find out more

To learn more about ChatGPT and how it can help to grow your brand’s success in the Chinese market, please contact Market Me China. Our team of Chinese digital marketing professionals are all Chinese language natives with years of experience in the market, working in industries that include education, e-Commerce, B2B and travel.