From Ideas to SEO: 5 AI Marketing Tools That Actually Help

If you have anything to do with marketing for your business, you probably see at least ten different advertisements for “must-have” AI apps every day. Write the perfect social media ads! Edit your work like a pro! Create unique and engaging images with the click of a button! With each new tool claiming to improve absolutely everything about the way you create, share, and evaluate content in every single way, how can you know which ones actually work and which ones don’t? 

The truth is AI is still an emerging technology and some of the AI platforms that sound too good to be true actually are. If you’re not constantly on guard, you can find yourself with annual subscriptions for multiple disappointing tools that don’t live up to the hype. For marketers, deciding which tools are worth your time and money can be challenging.

Balancing Creative Strategy and AI Efficiency

There are two sides to marketing: a creative side and an analytical side. While using AI for creative tasks is still strongly discouraged, there are administrative and analysis tasks that it can handle easily. So, as you choose how (or if!) to integrate AI into your workflow, familiarizing yourself with some of the more popular apps is a good idea. Here are five AI tools that you might want to consider to supplement your professional support.

At one time or another, every marketer has been stuck at their desk, staring at a blank computer screen with no idea where to start on a new piece of content. In the case of such a universal experience, you can understand the lure of an always available friend to bounce ideas off of, get you started with draft text, or who will quickly and tirelessly provide feedback on your latest version. 

This scenario is exactly why ChatGPT is probably the most well-known and accessible AI app at the moment. As of August 2025, researchers estimate ChatGPT has 190.6 million daily users and receives more than one billion daily queries. Given that it uses natural language processing, has almost no learning curve, and is a versatile content creator, most people have experimented with this tool at least once.

• How to use this tool: Intended for generating ideas and creating content, ChatGPT is most helpful for marketing tasks like writing blog posts, generating ad copy, designing social media posts, and conducting research. Basically, ChatGPT can send you in the right direction when you have writer’s block.
• Why ChatGPT is helpful: Rather than putting hours into creating a first draft, ChatGPT can build an outline in seconds, offer suggestions on how to bring copy more in line with branding, and can create support content like social media posts.
• Example: You could use ChatGPT to create five or six versions of a product description, choose the best two, use the app to refocus tone and brand voice, and then A/B test the copy on your website or in an email campaign. You move from idea to final results quickly and efficiently.

Sounds great, right? The caveat is that the work generated is not grab-and-go. Any facts stated, references made, or conclusions drawn must always be double-checked for accuracy. You’re responsible for any misrepresentations in your work, not ChatGPT!

Jasper is similar to ChatGPT, and is based on some of the same technology, but has substantially fewer users. Don’t let this fact throw you off, though. Jasper is targeted at marketers, not the general public, for the purpose of providing real marketing support rather than the generalized assistance of ChatGPT. 

Specifically, Jasper is a specialized marketing tool rather than a chatbot which means it can be a little expensive for a small business. But it’s especially helpful for automatically creating advertisements, landing pages, and email campaigns using your branding guide.

• How to use this tool: Jasper is good for scaling campaigns, creating consistent messaging, promoting sales and marketing team collaboration, and handling higher-level marketing tasks.
• Why Jasper is helpful: Jasper provides guidance, integrations, and enterprise features, all of which are designed for and particularly beneficial to digital marketing strategies.
• Example: If you’re running marketing campaigns on multiple platforms, Jasper can generate parallel messaging more quickly than a human team. Just as with ChatGPT, you should always view the results as just a draft. Never publish without double-checking the copy.

If you think of ChatGPT as a personal assistant, consider Jasper as your full-time copywriter who is focused on marketing at scale.

Whether your copy is human or AI-generated, it has to be simple and straightforward. Regardless of how much work you put into it or how well written it is, complex and difficult to read writing isn’t effective. Hemingway Editor has the ability to identify sentences that are too long or complex, jargon that may be off-putting for potential clients, and structural problems in the writing.

• How to use this tool: Hemingway Editor can refine blogs for clarity, simplify email campaigns, make web copy more readable, and proof your written content.
• Why Hemingway is helpful: In an era when potential customers are typically scanning rather than reading or absorbing information, Hemingway makes sure your content is easy to understand.
• Example: Ask Hemingway to evaluate a blog to shorten and reword your sentences, change the tone, or make paragraphs more engaging and accessible

Hemingway doesn’t generate or change content, but it does help you make sure your ideas are being presented in the most effective way.

The purpose of content is to help potential clients find your business organically, right? But this means your content has to be shown as one of the first few results of a search engine query. You can create content all day long, but if no one ever sees it, you receive no benefit. Surfer SEO is an AI platform that helps optimize your content for search engines.

• How to use this tool: Surfer SEO is designed to analyze articles, identify keywords, and re-structure copy to improve your SEO rankings.
• Why Surfer SEO is helpful: Whether it’s recommendations on the right word count, keyword placement, or competition in the topic, the AI will position your content to appeal to search engines.
• Example: After you complete your final draft, Surfer SEO can evaluate your article and make suggestions to help attract organic traffic.

This AI tool is accessible and data driven, so if your content doesn’t get a lot of traction with users, it might be able to help you improve your organic rankings.

Lumen5 has been around for many years and is the oldest, most established AI tool on this list. Since video continues to be one of the most powerful and engaging types of content, you absolutely should be taking advantage of those benefits to promote your business. There is a negative side, though. Putting together even a short video takes time and resources most business owners don’t have. This is where Lumen5 can help.

• How to use this tool: Use Lumen5 to convert text like blog articles into short summaries that can be crossposted on different platforms, create promotional videos and product explainers from scripts, and generate social media clips automatically.
• Why Lumen5 is helpful: You have the ability to edit the results if you’d like, but it’s not always necessary. Lumen5 provides pre-made templates that allow you to input your text, add your brand logo and colors, and choose a text and music style. Then, simply wait for the AI to produce a polished video you can post directly to your social media platforms. You can also upload your own branded video templates.
• Example: The most common use for Lumen5, and the one it was originally built for, is turning a blog post into a video post to share on your social media platforms.

Video is a marketing necessity, but even if you’re an Instagram reel editing whiz kid, the technical aspects can be difficult for amateurs. Lumen5 offers a fast and affordable way to create content without having to learn any actual video editing software.

Now a warning?

Actually, the warnings about the use and abuse of AI are well-documented and readily available. But one of the lesser-known challenges of the recent onslaught of AI tools is often missed. It’s true that each of the five apps on this list are designed to make your marketing more efficient and can be helpful—unless you try to do everything at once. Aside from the rather hefty monthly or yearly price tag for access, taking on five new apps at the same time is overwhelming.

With this in mind, pick just one app to start with. For example, try using Hemingway to polish articles that are currently in your content queue or that have already been published. Once you’ve integrated it into your workflow and you’re comfortable with how it works, add Surfer SEO to optimize those articles. Slowly add to your AI toolkit and experiment with what works best for you.

Another option is to work with a digital marketing company that provides these services, along with experience and expertise in strategy and analysis. For more on how K-Kom can help you optimize your digital marketing strategy, talk with one of our marketing experts today!