Social media mistakes happen. Typos. Awkward phrasing. Angry-tweeting at MasterChef Junior contestants before remembering they’re children.

But if you work in a regulated industry, mis-wording something can have bigger consequences than just embarrassment. We’re talking fines, disciplinary suspensions, referrals to state authorities, or even total bars from your industry. If you want to stay out of hot water, an AI-backed compliance tool like Proofpoint is key.

So how do you stay out of hot water and consistently stay engaged with your social media audience?

One option is to create a compliance officer role at your company. But large companies may find that just leads to employee content stuck in an approval bottleneck for ages. And if you’re a smaller company, you might not have the resources to make that position happen at all.

But there’s another option: Proofpoint.

If you’re at all compliance curious, the AI-powered Proofpoint Social review tool offers a quick, convenient, effective (and totally customizable) way for those in regulated industries to practice due diligence as they Tweet up a storm.

Never heard of Proofpoint Social before? Time for a crash course. Here’s everything you need to know about creating a system so that your sensitive-industry team can post TikTok after TikTok with confidence that they are not breaking any laws.

What is Proofpoint for social media?

Proofpoint Social is compliance software that integrates with Hootsuite to automatically review social media posts and ensure they’re compliant with your specific industry regulations or other restrictions before they are published.

Connect Proofpoint to some or all of your company’s social accounts, and set up specific conditions to trigger warnings. Every draft will run through a pre-review before publication, and reject anything that doesn’t pass muster. And it all happens in just a few seconds: no compliance bottlenecks here.

This automatic screening process adds a layer of compliance and security to your team’s social media activity — which in turn, should bring your whole crew confidence.

You don’t need to be in a regulated industry to take advantage of Proofpoint for social media, though. Proofpoint can also be customized to review posts for your brand’s own unique standards, style, or policies.

That could mean…

Ensuring employees don’t swear or post inappropriate content on behalf of your brand
Avoiding criticism of notable clients
Preventing posts that guarantee investment performance

Learn more about setting up Proofpoint here.

Why is Proofpoint for social media important?

If you work in an industry like finance or insurance, for example, your social posts have greater weight than @JoAverage. Casually recommending a stock pick or enthusiastically supporting NFTs can have real-life financial consequences for consumers. That’s why sectors like these have regulatory bodies to watch social channels closely for compliance — to keep everyone ethical and accountable.

Ultimately, having watchdogs is for the greater good of the community. They exist to protect consumers, and that’s a positive thing! But if you’re a wealth advisor, insurance adjustor, or financial counsellor, the pressure to make sure you don’t say the wrong thing might just turn you off social media altogether. Spontaneity and authenticity can be tough to achieve if you’re sweating about accidentally endorsing a hedge fund.

With software like Proofpoint, however, you can ensure your employees post social media content that is compliant with your industry while also avoiding the bottlenecks that come with having a compliance officer manually double-check every single one of your posts.

Benefits of having Proofpoint for social media

The AI-powered Proofpoint feature is designed to help companies in heavily regulated industries. So the biggest benefit, really, is keeping your team out of trouble.

You’ll avoid compliance violations

If you’re in an industry with regulations, Proofpoint can help you ensure all your social media content is playing by the rules.

For instance, if you’re a stockbroker, you can set up Proofpoint to review your social media to ensure you’re not breaking any of the regulations set out by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). That way, if you innocently compose a tweet about a cool new stock you just bought (an endorsement that’s definitely against FINRA policy), Proofpoint will catch this conflict of interest before it goes live to the public.

You’ll learn to correct common mistakes

For Hootsuite Enterprise customers, Proofpoint’s predictive compliance feature can help you catch mistakes as you’re writing them. (We live in the future, get used to it.)

Proofpoint’s AI will scan your text for violations in real time as you’re composing your social media posts and alert you in the moment. By correcting errors as you go, you’ll start to better internalize the restrictions, and the process will go even smoother in the future.

You can define your own rules for your content

The benefits of Proofpoint go beyond industries with regulatory bodies or sensitive matters. Any company with a social media policy can use Proofpoint to double-check the appropriateness of social content before it goes live.

For example, you could set up Proofpoint to flag instances of profanity so that your enthusiastic but foul-mouthed new account manager doesn’t celebrate your new product launch with a few F-bombs.

…or you can use pre-existing rules

For companies that are looking to adhere to regulations from governing bodies, Proofpoint offers a selection of preconfigured rules from acronym-and-rule-rich organizations like FINRA, NIPAA, SEC, FFIEC, and others. That means setup can be quick and easy.

Posts won’t be delayed

With predictive compliance, your posts will be updated and corrected in real-time, but Proofpoint’s standardized Hootsuite integration just takes a few seconds to accept or reject your posts. No more waiting around for Colleen, the Compliance Officer, to email you back with her notes on your proposed LinkedIn update.

You’ll have easy proof of attempted compliance in the event of an audit

Okay, this benefit isn’t super fun, but it’s important. If your industry regulator comes around looking for proof you’ve at least made an effort to be compliant, you’ll have all the documentation you need in one place. (We’ve heard horror stories of financial companies printing off years and years of emails to prove their Tweets were properly vetted. Don’t let it happen to you.)

What can you do with Proofpoint in Hootsuite?

It’s probably clear at this point just what a helpful tool Proofpoint Social can be, whatever industry you’re in — from the financial sector to healthcare…even to dollhouse-furniture manufacturing.

For those in more seriously regulated industries, using Proofpoint mitigates the risks associated with social media content; for industries with looser standards, it’s still incredibly helpful as an extra layer of protection against inappropriate content. Companies can use Proofpoint in Hootsuite to:

Check social media posts against standards set by industry regulator

If your business is required to follow a regulator’s specific set of rules, you can use one of Proofpoint Social’s preconfigured settings. Whether it’s FINRA or the FTC you’re aiming to please, this Hootsuite integration is ready to help. (Psst: Read more about social media and financial services here.)

Use predictive compliance to catch guideline violations as you’re writing them

No need to wait until you’ve penned the perfect Tweet only to find out that you’ve broken six different rules. Predictive compliance in Hootsuite will flag issues in real-time so you can correct on-the-go.

Encourage your team to confidently act as social media ambassadors for your brand

Good news: you don’t have to lay awake at night, fearful that one of your 2,000 financial advisors is going to accidentally post an Instagram Story that gets you a $2 million fine. Proofpoint sets checks and balances to keep inappropriate content offline so that you can trust your team to practice safe social selling.

Define your own rules about what is and isn’t appropriate for your content

You can use Proofpoint for more than just protecting your company against violations. Set up Hootsuite with your own unique social media guidelines to keep any and all social media users on the same page with tone and content

Automate your social media approval workflow

Not that we want to put anybody out of a job, but having Proofpoint review and approve social media content frees up the human beings in your office to do the fun, creative work — or tackle more serious compliance challenges. After all, compliance officers know the work never ends.

Ready to make social media approvals and industry compliance a breeze? Take Proofpoint for Hootsuite for a spin.

Save time managing your social media presence with Hootsuite. From a single dashboard you can publish and schedule posts, find relevant conversions, engage the audience, measure results, and more. Try it free today.

Get Started

The post Proofpoint for Social Media: What is It & Why You Need It appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.

Originally posted on October 5, 2023 @ 7:42 pm

I asked ChatGPT to write this article for me so I could take a nap. Sound familiar — and a bit scary? That seems to be the theme of every AI content creation “hack” on social media right now.

But AI isn’t coming for our jobs quite yet. Fellow writers, artists, marketers: don’t worry, we’re here to stay. AI can help us get more done, but we’re very much still needed for the heavy thinkin’.

AI content creation tools are constantly changing. This is the up-to-date guide you need to create more — faster and better than ever.

What are AI content creation tools?

AI content creation tools produce text-based or visual content using artificial intelligence (AI) technology based on written prompts.

Common examples of AI content creation tools include ChatGPT, Midjourney, JasperAI, and, of course, our very own OwlyWriter AI for writing knockout social media post captions in seconds. (More on that later.)

Who can benefit from AI content creation?

Social media marketers

Making multiple variations of short-form copy is where AI content creation tools shine. From headline variations, quotes for graphics and spotlight text, AI-powered writing tools can turn an existing piece of content into a dozen or more social posts, suggest ad copy, and more.

Combine this with an effective content curation and a UGC strategy, and you’ll have plenty of prime social content that requires very little input from a human. It makes A/B testing much easier, too.

Maximize your time even more by pairing your AI-created content with Hootsuite, which recommends the best time to post based on when your target audience is online. Create content in bulk, then schedule it for the most effective times — automatically.

Content creators and content marketers

AI-powered content creation tools aren’t here to replace you — but using AI, you can produce more content. Which means you can test more content to find out what your audience responds to the best and, ultimately, find success in your content strategy a lot faster.

AI content creation tools can also automate a lot of the repetitive tasks you do: Updating brand template graphics, repurposing content for different marketing channels, resizing visuals to each platform’s image specifications, and more.

Use that time savings to further develop your marketing strategy and spend your human time on high-level content, while AI takes care of the rest.

Customer service agents

Customer service agents are most valuable when helping customers with detailed or unique inquiries that require a human touch. Nobody wants to check on order status updates all day; it’s not a good use of their time or your dollars.

Instead, AI customer service tools like conversational chatbots can “talk” to your customers virtually to answer shipping inquiries, offer product recommendations, and handle other simple questions. As a bonus, they work 24/7.

When AI answers the mundane questions, service agents have more opportunities to use their specialized skills and knowledge to delight customers who need more complex help, which further develops brand loyalty.

10 best AI content creation tools for 2023

1. OwlyWriter AI

Maybe I’m biased but Hootsuite’s very own OwlyWriter AI is the best AI content creation tool for social media. You enter a prompt and OwlyWriter gives you winning content, saving you hours of work.

It uses text prompts, so how is OwlyWriter different from ChatGPT or other AI copy tools?

OwlyWriter is built on ChatGPT’s pioneering language model but it also includes all of our winning content formulas that took over 14 years of research to develop. The best AI engine + Hootsuite’s battle-won experience? Uh, yeah, that’s OwlyWriter AI.

OwlyWriter can:

Write a new social media caption in a specific tone of voice
Write a post based on a link (e.g. a blog post or a product page)
Generate post ideas based on a keyword or topic (and then write posts expanding on the idea you like best)
Identify and repurpose your top-performing posts
Create relevant captions for upcoming holidays

Try for free

If you can prompt it, OwlyWriter can write it.

To try out OwlyWriter right now, sign in to your Hootsuite account and go to the Inspiration section of the dashboard. Then, pick the type of content you want to make:

Not sure? Try out Get Inspired. Type in the general topic you’re looking for content about and click Get ideas.

OwlyWriter will then generate a list of post ideas:

Click on the one you like best to move to the next step — captions and hashtags.

Pick the caption you like and click Create post. It’ll open in Hootsuite Composer, where you can make edits, add media files and links, check the copy against your compliance guidelines or send it for approval (on Team plans) — and, finally, schedule your post to go live later.

Start free 30-day trial

And that’s it! OwlyWriter never runs out of ideas, so you can repeat this process until your social media calendar is full — and sit back to watch your engagement grow.

2. ChatGPT

ChatGPT doesn’t usually need an introduction these days, almost becoming synonymous with “AI content creation” by itself. ChatGPT is a natural language processing (NLP) chatbot that can understand and produce human-style conversations and content, like social posts, blog articles, and more.

Source: ChatGPT

Despite existing publicly for only a year, ChatGPT spurred a massive panic among writers and marketers as a harbinger of doom that’ll have us all out of a job. ChatGPT is still a machine and while it’s helpful in many cases, it won’t replace an actual human’s capability for original thought. (She says hopefully…) No, really, it won’t.

Use ChatGPT for:

Idea generation and brainstorming.
Blog post outlines.
Social media post ideas.

Not the best for:

Full drafts.
Factual/historically accurate details. (Always double-check with verifiable sources!)

3. Dall-E

From Open.ai, the creators of ChatGPT, Dall-E is an AI graphics creation solution. You write a text prompt of what you’d like to see and Dall-E generates it. It specializes in realistic art, so ideally your audience won’t know at first glance it was created with AI.

Source: Dall-E on Instagram

Use Dall-E for:

Creating original graphics for your blog posts or social graphics.
Designing prototypes.
Web graphics.

Not the best for:

Graphics that are important for your brand, like a logo or packaging design. Yes, Dall-E can make them, but branding is more than looking good — keep that to your human team’s expertise.

4. Midjourney

Like Dall-E, Midjourney is another AI graphics generation app. It’s easy to use and runs as a Discord bot, so you can create works of art anywhere, even on the go from your phone.

Source: Midjourney

Anyone can learn to create prompts in Midjourney. However, getting the results you want usually takes a bit more finesse. There are advanced ways to prompt Midjourney, including specifying if you want a transparent background, the aspect ratio, art style, and more.

For more advanced ideas, check our AI art prompting guide.

Use Midjourney for:

Social media graphics.
Generating logo concepts or project ideas for presentations that you plan to originally design later.
Elements to use within your original designs.

Not the best for:

Low volume users. The monthly subscription is only worth it if you have an ongoing need for AI graphics.
Super realistic results.

5. Heyday

Heyday is a conversational AI chatbot to help you sell more with automated customer service (that people don’t hate). Heyday makes it easier for shoppers to connect with your real life customer service agents, too.

AI writing tools like OwlyWriter help maximize your human employees’ time and the same is true for Heyday. It can handle simple inquiries like retrieving tracking numbers and shipping statuses, and even more sophisticated tasks like recommending products by understanding what a customer is saying.

Source: Heyday

But there are some things AI can’t solve, like an unhappy customer. Using Heyday to automate those lower-complexity tasks means less wait time to talk to a human for something that needs urgent attention or a more complex interaction.

What else can AI customer service do? We’ve got 11+ ideas to incorporate AI chatbots, and why you should.

Use Heyday for:

Saving your human customer service reps’ time for more complicated questions.
Providing customer service 24/7 without hiring more staff.
Creating an interactive FAQ section.

Not the best for:

Entirely replacing human customer service representatives. You still need humans to solve human problems.

6. JasperAI

A popular ChatGPT alternative, JasperAI specializes in generating text content for articles, social media, scripts, and more. What sets Jasper apart is its understanding of tone, promising on-brand content that sounds like you every time.

Source: JasperAI

In addition to content creation, you can use Jasper to translate content into 30 different languages. Jasper also integrates with Google Docs and other popular apps, or you can write your own integration with their API.

Use JasperAI for:

Translating content to expand your global reach.
Content idea generation and outlines.

Not the best for:

Pillar, or super important, content. AI tools are helpful for idea generation or filling in some content here and there, but for sales pages, landing pages, or big campaigns, leave that to your human professionals.

7. Podcastle

Podcastle is an AI-powered podcast recording and editing app for audio-only or video and audio podcasters and/or YouTubers. You can record video and audio streams while conducting virtual interviews with up to 10 people. The real star of the show is Podcastle’s AI audio editing that automatically cuts out silence, suggests where to trim clips, and helps minimize noise while ensuring all tracks are at the same volume level.

Source: Podcastle

If you want to start a podcast, but have never edited videos or audio in something like Premiere Pro or even iMovie, Podcastle is an easy way to get going with minimal learning curve.

Use Podcastle for:

Starting a new podcast.
Easy audio and video editing tools.
AI voice cloning: Create content that still sounds like you.

Not the best for:

Video-focused platforms, like a YouTube channel, where you’ll probably want more video effects.
Experienced editors comfortable with apps like Premiere Pro, DaVinci, and others.

8. Canva

Canva is a well-known online graphics editing app that has, in recent years, expanded to cover document design, presentations, mini websites, and more. Like other apps, Canva has added a slew of AI-powered content creation features over the last year, which they call “Magic Design.”

Upload any existing media and Magic Design will give you matching templates, like social media templates, quote graphics, documents, and more. This makes it super fast to repurpose content across different platforms in a way that still optimizes each platform’s strength.

Magic Design also works with text prompts, so in just a few words you can have a presentation outlined, infographic design, and more. Or, edit photos with AI object or background removal and other quick adjustments.

Source: Canva

Use Canva for:

All your business graphic template needs. Here are 50 free social media templates to get you started!
Repurposing existing content.
Keeping visuals on brand throughout your entire team.

Not the best for:

Branding from the ground up — don’t expect a miracle. Trust your key graphics to humans.

9. Synthesia

Synthesia is your answer if you want to boost video production, but either don’t want to show your face, or are lacking resources to put out more videos. Synthesia takes your video script and turns it into a finished video with AI avatars.

Work from one of their industry-specific templates to quickly build a script with text prompts, then review and edit the video before publishing, all within Synthesia.

I know what you’re thinking: More of those impersonal, headless YouTube channel robot voices, right? Actually, I was surprised how natural Synthesia sounds and looks. You can even choose the “how to” video format to show an on-screen demo with an AI avatar overlay. Pretty snazzy.

Source: Synthesia

Use Synthesia for:

Creating quick help or how-to tutorials at scale.
Clips for Reels, TikTok, and other short-form video channels.

Not the best for:

Growing your brand with video. You’ll want to invest more resources and time into making something that truly showcases your values. Check our short-form video guide for inspiration and ideas.

10. Murf

Another audio generation tool is Murf, which specializes in outputting real, human-sounding voices that read your scripts. Why do they sound so human? Well, they are. Murf’s AI voices are created from real people.

Murf can produce studio quality audio in 20 languages, and even clone your own voice for ultimate authenticity (and time savings for you).

Source: Murf

Use Murf for:

Recording voiceovers for Reels, TikToks, and other social videos.
Podcast audio.
Voiceover content to incorporate into brand videos or deliver presentations.

Not the best for:

Building your brand long-term. Again, many AI tools come close, but nothing replaces a real human’s personality as the social media face of your brand.

Free AI content creation tools

Subscription plans gettin’ you down? Not to fear, Hootsuite has free AI content creation tools you can use right now:

1. Caption generator

Curious about OwlyWriter AI or other AI writing tools? Try out caption generation for free. Now, this generator isn’t as advanced as OwlyWriter, but unlike ChatGPT, it’s optimized for social media and custom-creates your caption for your chosen platform, in one of five languages. Nice.

Pro tip: Make your description specific for best results.

Please note: This tool may display inaccurate or offensive material that doesn’t represent Hootsuite’s views. You’re solely responsible for use of any content generated using this tool, including its compliance with applicable laws and third-party rights.

2. Hashtag generator

Like the caption generator, the free hashtag generator is customized for your chosen social profile, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and X (formerly Twitter).

Please note: This tool may display inaccurate or offensive material that doesn’t represent Hootsuite’s views. You’re solely responsible for use of any content generated using this tool, including its compliance with applicable laws and third-party rights.

3. Username idea generator

Identity crisis? No problem with Hootsuite’s username generator. Reinvent yourself in a few seconds flat.

Please note: This tool may display inaccurate or offensive material that doesn’t represent Hootsuite’s views. You’re solely responsible for use of any content generated using this tool, including its compliance with applicable laws and third-party rights.

4. About/bio writer

I get it, it can feel awkward to write about yourself. Let Hootsuite sum up the special sauce of your life, automatically.

Please note: This tool may display inaccurate or offensive material that doesn’t represent Hootsuite’s views. You’re solely responsible for use of any content generated using this tool, including its compliance with applicable laws and third-party rights.

5. Emoji translator

Does that emoji mean what you think it means? Or, more importantly, what everyone else thinks it means? Cringe.

Find out for sure with our emoji to pop culture meaning translator and never accidentally create an awkward PR sitch again.

6. Engagement rate calculator

It’s what social media is all about, right? Fortunately for those of us who aren’t great at math (me), you can calculate your engagement rate with this free calculator.

Check out the rest of Hootsuite’s free social media tools, including our social media dictionary, a blog idea generator, YouTube title generator, and more.

Best practices for using AI-driven content creation tools

Put time and thought into setup

Artificial intelligence tools need training from smart humans to achieve the best results. Putting some planning into your AI-powered content writing tools upfront will ensure you get great content that aligns with your brand goals and tone of voice.

Check out our best tips for AI content creation, or how to get started with OwlyWriter AI in Hootsuite.

Check quality before publishing

Pumping out more content faster won’t do anything for your brand if it’s not also high quality. AI content tools can help you produce text or graphics faster, but ultimately, it all needs a human touch at the end of the day. (Don’t we all?)

Check over your post captions for awkward phrases or grammar issues, and look for places to edit it to inject your personal style to keep it authentic. For graphics, check for odd things, like a character having an extra arm, and refine it yourself before publishing.

Remember: AI tools help you work more efficiently, but they can’t, and shouldn’t, fully replace you in the content creation process.

Don’t rely solely on AI-generated content

Just because AI content tools exist doesn’t mean you need to use them for every post or project. For example, any content that expresses a strong opinion or tells a personal story needs to be written by a real person. (Although you can still use AI-powered content moderation tools to help with editing and creating multiple versions for social, etc.)

While AI content should ideally pass for human-created content, sometimes your fans and followers will want to see something more personal from your brand. Human stories help build connection. Use AI tools intelligently to give your human writers more time to create those great human stories.

Whether your content is written by humans or AI tools, you can schedule it to auto-publish at the best times, track performance, and engage with your audience from one simple dashboard with Hootsuite. Start saving time on social media today.

Get Started

The post 10 AI Content Creation Tools That Won’t Take Your Job (But Will Make it Easier) appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.

Originally posted on October 5, 2023 @ 5:41 pm