How ChatGPT beat the competition to dominate the AI copywriting market...and key takeaways for B2B Brands

ChatGPT. It's not just the new buzzword on social media. It's the newest disruptor to the online business and marketing industry. If you're not familiar with it here's the BLUF (bottom line up front): It's an AI conversational system that can be used to generate content and copywriting at multiple levels. It's essentially doing for written content what Canva did for graphic design. But this article isn't about what ChatGPT is, it's about what ChatGPT has done.

AI isn't exactly new in any industry, and that includes creating written content/copy. There were others that existed long before ChatGPT came about, but none of them penetrated the market the way ChatGPT has, and none of them were a real market leader for this niche. As a marketer, I started thinking, exactly what did ChatGPT do that has allowed them to do in just a few short months what others weren't able to do over the past few years? And here is what I came up with.

Givers Gain. While many of ChatGPT's competitors always had limited "free trials", ChatGPT's entire platform is free. While they are planning to release a paid professional version in the future (according to a recent article), by releasing a fully functional free version first, it allows them to get tons of real time feedback on what their audience wants and needs so that they can create a better product for when the paid option releases. They've also created a huge pool of qualified leads to sell the paid option to, and currently have people joining a waitlist to give them their money as soon as it releases. Free trials and watered down "free forever" options don't have the same effect. The key takeaway here is that releasing the product as a free use product with no strings attached, and not as marketing tool or tripwire is a great strategy to penetrate a market with high barrier to entry and quickly gain market share.

Expanded Audiences. Thanks to the totally free option, ChatGPT has been able to go outside the normal target audience (marketing professionals and agencies) for this type of software. Because other industries can try the software with "nothing to lose", people from all industries and backgrounds are testing out the platform as a marketing tool for their own business. What they are finding are multiple ways to leverage the platform for growth outside of simply creating content for blogs and social media. This leads to customer retention as well as more time spent using the software as customers continue to explore options. The key takeaway here is think outside the box when it comes to who your product can serve and how it can solve problems and get results for them. While your core target audience is important - finding a way to reach an audience that your competitors haven't tapped into is golden.

Earned Media. Because ChatGPT found a way to penetrate the market at a high-level, grow a fast and expanded customer base and is solving real solutions, it created a built-in community that markets the product for them. Earned media (aka word-of-mouth) marketing is still number one. And everyone, everywhere, all at once is talking about ChatGPT. From top social media platforms to my MBA marketing class, ChatGPT is dominating the conversation. And leading that conversation are active users who are sharing ways they are currently using the software, planning to use the software in the future and providing tips on how others can use it as well. They are giving live, real-time testimonials that are consistently driving new users to the software daily. The key takeaway here is to provide a product or service at a level that your customer deems so valuable that they are willing to sing your praises without you asking for a testimonial or paying for one. Remember value is in the eye of the user. ChatGPT didn't tell their customers what was valuable about the platform, it let them all discover what that value was to them on their own, and that's what makes it so shareable.

So what's the main takeaway in all of this? When new products and services hit the market and penetrate at a high level. Pay attention. Determine what strategies worked for them and look at ways you can leverage those strategies in your own business to grow your market share. Or...just subscribe to this newsletter and I'll pay attention and find the strategies for you. ??