14 easy ways to use artificial intelligence in social media (and when to avoid it) as a social media agency or freelancer

Whether you’re a fan or critic, AI is a hot topic. While it can’t fully replace a smart marketer like yourself, using artificial intelligence in social media can help streamline processes and shorten your “to-do” list.  

To help you harness its power, we’ve compiled a list of 14 easy ways agencies and freelancers can use AI for social media marketing. We’ll also explore its advantages and disadvantages, and share tips on when to avoid using AI. 

What is AI for social media? 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technology that allows computers to think like humans. It’s often used to process large amounts of data, find patterns, and make decisions. 

In social media, AI creates a more personalized user experience; it powers the algorithms of TikTok, Instagram, and all other platforms. By processing each user’s profile information and account activity, AI chooses what to show in our feeds and keeps us scrolling. 

How to use AI in social media marketing

While it’s hard to understand social media algorithms fully, agencies and freelancers can use AI to improve efficiency and impress clients. Based on our experience, research, and discussions with HeyOrca’s community of social media marketers, we’ve created a list of 14 easy ways to use artificial intelligence in social media.  

1. Write social media captions

One simple way to use AI in social media is to help write post captions. We’ve all experienced writer’s block. It’s not fun. An AI social media caption generator can help get words flowing. Following a client’s brand voice is still important, so AI won’t replace a copywriter. But, it can help them work more efficiently!

AI-generated captions help you avoid staring at a blank screen and can be a great basis for writing content. Sometimes you may just pull a few words from what’s suggested, but results can be impressive with the right AI prompts. 

“AI has really helped with captions. For example, turning your usual 'join us for happy hour' weekly post to a more elaborate and more engaging post.”  — Emily Paetau, DigiSphere Marketing

When using AI to write captions, be detailed in your commands. For example, “Write a caption about plants” isn’t very specific. So you get pretty general results: 

However, “Write a fun Instagram caption with a friendly tone about snake plants explaining to beginners how they’re easy to care for” provides more context. So, you get a detailed caption that’s more relevant to your brand and content:

There are some free AI writing tools out there like ChatGPT. However, smart social media schedulers like HeyOrca have AI caption-writing technology built right in. HeyOrca’s AI Caption Generator suggests captions based on the topic, keywords, and tone you suggest.

2. Draft client contracts 

As an agency or freelancer, you’re surely familiar with writing client contracts. There are plenty of templates out there and tips on what to include in a social media management contract. However, you can also make the process easier with AI. 

Tools like Spellbook and Juro help you draft, review, and manage contracts using AI. While your team should do a thorough review of these contracts before they’re finalized, it’s another easy way to increase efficiency using artificial intelligence in social media management. 

3. Brainstorm content ideas

Many members of HeyOrca’s community also use AI tools to help brainstorm content ideas for social media and long-form articles. 

“Considering a high percentage of my job requires creativity, I can easily get burned out on ideas for content. When this happens, AI search engines like ChatGPT have been very helpful to get the juices flowing again."  — Lauren Hutchins, Lauren Hutchins Media

“Since I manage a website, I like to use ChatGPT and sometimes Claude to get ideas for topics. I even let it help me do research (which I fact checked, of course) for a specific post that was a massive undertaking. I also use Yoast’s AI SEO features for suggestions, too, when it comes to blogging. It saves time with creating metadata, too.” — Jenn Dixon, Landmark Abstract

4. Create images or videos 

Having enough photo and video content to post regularly on social media is tough. Photo shoots, editing, and designing content from scratch takes time and can get expensive for clients. When timelines and budgets are a concern, AI social media content creation can be used to generate images or videos with simple text prompts. 

When using these AI content marketing tools, more detailed prompts give better results. For example, imagine you’re doing work for a dog food company. The results of a general prompt like “A dog being fed” aren’t very specific or engaging: 

However, a detailed prompt requesting a photo of “A happy beagle excited to eat her bowl of natural, five-ingredient kibble for dinner at home” results in some pretty great (and adorable!) photo options: 

(Seriously, look at those smiles!) 

There are some awesome AI image generators like Pixlr (used above), DeepAI, and Canva. Videos can also be created using AI from text-based scripts (that you can write yourself or with help from AI). Tools like Fliki, Synthesia, and Visla are some AI video generators with different voices, avatars, fonts, and other options for customization.

“If I need a graphic for a social media holiday, I’ll sometimes use an AI graphic generator to create the image by entering a fun and specific prompt and keep regenerating results and refining my prompts until I get a good result that I can use.” — Jenn Dixon, Landmark Abstract

5. Edit videos, create shorts, and add captions

If you have existing video content, another way to use artificial intelligence in social media is to edit videos and create shorts. This is great for repurposing existing client content and simplifying the editing process. 

For example, Descript is an AI video editor for social media that allows users to edit video content by modifying text. After uploading a video to the platform, AI generates a text-based script that can be edited like a Word document to make changes to your video. You can also add captions, shorten clips, and more. 

Tools like Descript and Opus Clip can also create shorts from long videos. Users can upload video files or links and AI will find and generate shorter clips that can be used for social media. 

6. Edit and resize images 

AI can also help with editing and resizing images. Luminar Neo is a tool with a ton of features powered by AI. When an image is uploaded to the AI marketing platform it automatically finds ways to enhance it by adjusting colours, tones, contrasts, etc. Other features use AI to remove objects, improve backgrounds, and extend an image as it’s being cropped. 

“I take my own photos and edit them using Adobe Photoshop. Their AI generator is pretty spot on and gives you options to choose from. I mainly use it to edit backgrounds so nothing distracts the viewer's eye.” — Lauren Hutchins, Lauren Hutchins Media

7. Transcribe client meeting notes

Social media agencies and freelancers can make life easier by using AI to transcribe meeting notes. Instead of worrying about catching every word and organizing action items during client meetings, leave that to AI. 

Tools are available that convert recorded audio or video files to text in minutes. Some transcribe meetings live as they happen and have additional AI features that summarize meetings, automatically assign action items, and more. Rev, Otter, and Fathom are options to consider.  

“I started using AI to take notes for internal meetings so I could actually be a part of the meetings and actually enjoy them instead of just feeling like a note-taker and asking people to talk slower.” — Emily Paetau, DigiSphere Marketing

8. Find social media content in transcripts or articles 

Another way to use artificial intelligence in social media is to find content for posts in meeting transcripts, articles, and other documents. Generally, AI relies on information that’s already online to create content. So, it’s hard for a tool like ChatGPT to generate something original from simple prompts. 

However, if you upload original content into ChatGPT when making your request, it can do a much better job. Try uploading meeting notes or transcripts from client interviews into a tool like ChatGPT and asking it to find content for three buzz-worthy social media posts. This should produce much better results that can’t be found elsewhere. 

A meeting with each client once or twice a month could give you all the info you need to produce a social media calendar. Ask them about their products or services, new features, exciting company news, upcoming events, etc. then let AI help you find valuable sound bites for social media posts.  

9. Analyze social media performance 

Agencies and freelancers can also use AI to help analyze clients’ social media performance. A simple way to do this is by uploading a spreadsheet of data to a tool like ChatGPT and asking it to determine what topics result in higher follower growth, engagement, impressions, etc. This information can help plan future social media content to achieve specific client goals. 

It’s possible to go further and ask ChatGPT to create charts based on this analysis. You can also get creative with AI prompts and ask it to use the data to suggest other topics that would perform well; summarize a content strategy; and how things like word count, emojis, numbers, questions, etc. influence performance.

HeyOrca is a social media scheduler with built-in AI social media analytics. In addition to creating client-worthy reports of social media performance, HeyOrca has an AI Report Summary that generates a concise analysis of your results. You can use it internally to improve data analysis or send it directly to clients. 

10. Create a social media writing style guide 

Artificial intelligence in social media can also create writing style guides for clients. For example, if your agency uses an AI marketing tool like ChatGPT to analyze social media performance, prompt it to write a style guide based on the data that can be used to write posts with a similar brand voice, tone, and style. 

This can be included in future AI prompts or used internally in your agency when writing future posts.  

11. Reply to social media comments and messages 

Keeping up with social media comments and mentions can be a full-time job! Another easy way agencies and freelancers can use AI in social media is to help with community management. Sometimes it’s hard to think of the perfect reply. Luckily, AI is available to help. 

It’s possible to use a tool like ChatGPT to generate replies to comments and messages. Simply copy and paste the message, prompt it to come up with a reply, and it will generate suggestions. 

Instead of using multiple tools, consider a social media scheduler like HeyOrca with smart features for engagement. HeyOrca’s AI Reply Generator reads comments, mentions, and social posts to suggest replies. Users can then edit the reply, post it, or ask AI to generate new responses to see more options. It’s an easy way to stay on top of community management! 

12. Check grammar

Another simple way to use artificial intelligence in social media is to check grammar. 

A tool like Grammarly can check your writing for proper grammar, tone, conciseness, and more. Downloading the web browser extension will automatically scan your writing across email, Google Docs, social media sites, HeyOrca, etc. as you write it. It’s like having a friend looking over your shoulder in case you make a mistake. 

“For social media, I always have AI check my grammar in captions! It allows me to focus less on specifics and more on the actual message. I find that this results in posts that actually add value instead of posting just to post.” — Sarah LaFemina, Achieve

13. Find content creators 

If your client uses creator marketing, you likely know how hard it can be to find the right creators for a campaign. Instead of browsing TikTok or Instagram, speed up the process and use AI to find social media influencers.

AI tools for social media like Impulze and Aspire allow you to find creators in seconds based on your search terms, creator demographics, and audience information. These AI-powered platforms also allow you to review campaign performance and assess ROI.  

14. Write client emails and internal agency communications

A final way that social media agencies and freelancers can use AI comes from Sarah LaFemina, Digital Marketing Account Executive at Achieve. She uses AI tools like ChatGPT to help with internal and external communication. 

When writing emails to clients, marketing topics can get technical. So, after drafting an email in her own words, she uses AI to rewrite it in layperson’s terms. She says it also comes in handy for internal agency communication and when discussing sensitive topics. 

Benefits of AI in social media

While there are skeptics, using artificial intelligence in social media has many benefits:

• It can improve efficiency by taking care of repetitive tasks and helping you work faster. 
• It helps you do more with less by scanning large amounts of text and data for valuable insights and creating captions and media to supplement branded content.  
• It’s a great idea generator to combat creative or writer’s block. 
• It can improve performance by analyzing past results and audience demographics. 
• It reduces errors by checking your work.  
• It can lead to improved client experience since it’s always available and can help with client communication. 
• It reduces client costs by requiring fewer agency hours on projects. 

Disadvantages of AI in social media

Of course, AI marketing solutions do come with risks too, including: 

• An over-reliance on AI tools can result in more low-quality content on social media.
• It can be intimidating and cause stress for people who aren’t familiar with AI. (We’ve all heard the debates that it will replace humans.)
• It does have limitations since it can only rely on information already online or that you give it. Remember, it’s artificial intelligence and can’t replace a human brain. 
• Paying for multiple AI tools can increase agency costs. 
• Of course, there are also privacy concerns when using any sort of technology. 

When to avoid using artificial intelligence in social media

While there are many easy ways to use AI marketing software in social media, it doesn’t mean agencies and freelancers should rely on AI for everything. Like any tool, results depend on the smart marketer using it. Here are some tips on when to avoid using AI: 

• Don’t create content without human input. While AI can help write social media captions and create images and videos, this should complement and include original content. Great results are possible with AI-generated marketing content, but it’s still machine-made and audiences want to see authentic content from your clients. 
• Avoid using AI to make decisions. AI is great for processing large amounts of text and data and it can make some valuable insights. However, don’t let AI decide the validity of its results or what to do with the information. Those decisions should be left to a smart marketer (like you!). 
• Content moderation needs human intervention. Jenn Dixon, Social Media Marketing Manager at Landmark Abstract, brings up a great point: AI shouldn’t be used to make judgment calls in content moderation. We need people to review problems and maintain quality. 

Easy AI social media marketing for agencies and freelancers

Using artificial intelligence in digital marketing can be simple. While there are times to avoid AI, smart agencies and freelancers can certainly use it to their advantage. Hopefully, you’ve found our 14 examples of using artificial intelligence in social media and tips on when to avoid it helpful. After all, HeyOrca was created to help marketers work smarter and take back their day!