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This is Part 1 of our 3-part series on how small businesses can use AI in social media. In this first article, we’ll look at practical AI tools that save you time and make managing social media more efficient. From content creation to scheduling, these tools can help you stay consistent without feeling overwhelmed.
Since ChatGPT went public in 2023, artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized nearly every aspect of the workforce. Business owners use AI to write emails, brainstorm ideas, organize their calendars, schedule payments, oversee employees, and generate social media posts. In their free time, people can use AI to answer questions, search the Internet, play games and even build apps.
For some people, the AI explosion looks a little daunting. You can choose from hundreds of AI tools for social media marketing, with each brand claiming that they've revolutionized the industry. Effective AI could save you thousands of dollars each year, but once you've started relying on the technology, a single glitch could be catastrophic.
Fortunately, you don't have to offload your entire workload to this software. Instead, you can stick to a few programs that help your office work more efficiently. Once you've found the right services for your business, you'll reap the benefits of AI without losing the human element.
Throughout 2025, AI companies have made news headlines as their valuations reached hundreds of billions of dollars. Businesses across the globe are investing in AI because the software completes everyday tasks in a fraction of the time. This frees up time you would've spent writing emails or organizing your calendar, allowing you to focus on lead generation.
Another benefit is the cost. Many tools generate text and images for free, which saves money on content creation. Other tools come with a subscription fee, but they're still cheaper than paying someone to review, organize, and categorize your assets. If you're on a tight budget, some programs offer a free trial before you commit.
Generally, AI is easy to use. On a basic level, anyone can type a prompt into a box and read the result. The software gets more complex when dealing with advanced tasks, such as building programs or managing payroll, but you can quickly train your entire workforce and get them up to speed.
Still, this doesn't mean that you should replace half your team with AI. The software still has limitations and drawbacks, and since it's a relatively new advancement, its future is unclear. If you rely on AI for everything, you might scramble when the program glitches, generates false information, or disappears behind a paywall. AI can streamline your workflow, but doesn't replace the human touch.
AI has many benefits, but it's not a perfect machine. If you give AI too much control, your business could become the center of controversy—or worse, multiple lawsuits. When introducing AI into the workplace, you must train your employees to use it responsibly.
For starters, always fact-check any claims the AI makes, even small ones. These bots often make factual errors, and if you share their statements without reviewing them first, you could give your customers or employees false information. This damages your reputation and makes it harder for people to trust your business.
When investing in public-facing AI, such as customer assistance bots, ensure you test and restrict the software as much as possible. People will try to "hack" the chatbot and make it say crazy things that they'll share on social media. You'll also get people who believe everything the software says, even when blatantly false.
Similarly, you could get in legal trouble if your bot dispenses medical, legal, or financial advice. You also don't want your software to sound too friendly. Some people are getting too attached to AI, so they're dating their bots and holding wedding ceremonies.
On another note, review any assets your software generates, such as graphics, charts, and social media copy. AI-generated content looks perfect at first glance, but when you study the product, you'll find errors, glitches, and strange artifacts. This software is great for drafting and brainstorming, but it's best to let human employees create the final piece.
Finding the right software can be a little tricky. These programs are still relatively new so that you won't find bots with decades of research and testing under the hood. Still, with some research, you can see the right products for your needs.
First, evaluate your company's workflow and determine what needs to change. Look for tasks that take up a lot of time, cost extra money, increase your employees' stress, or require unnecessary steps. For example, if answering emails every morning takes an hour, you might need AI to help you organize your inbox.
Afterward, it's time to start researching companies. Look for software with these features:
Some brands have been around for years and recently integrated AI into their products. Typically, these businesses have a strong foundation and reliable customer support. Start-ups can be unpredictable, but they might have the advanced features you need.
When a company looks promising, ask if they offer free demonstrations or discovery calls. This allows you to ask questions, discuss your needs, and see how the product works. If you're satisfied, you could start talking about buying a subscription and integrating AI into your office.
Jasper is an all-inclusive platform with a wide range of AI tools for social media marketing. You'll start with AI-powered Agents, who review your content, tasks, and workflow to make suggestions, complete tasks, finalize research, and polish your marketing copy. Members also get access to Canvas for text and image creation.
You can start with a demo or free trial. Afterward, you could sign up for a Pro account with pre-built apps, personalized analytics, a browser extension, and more for a single user. The Business plan offers a wealth of features for teams, including project management, admin controls, enterprise security, and document collaboration.
With TikTok as popular as ever, short-form videos should be essential to your marketing strategy. Crayo uses AI to add subtitles, create voiceovers, remove backgrounds, and brainstorm ideas. If you don't have a video to edit, you can use Crayo to generate an artificial clip in minutes.
The Hobby tier allows you to generate 50 videos and 100 images per month. This should be enough for many small businesses, but if you lean heavily on video content, you could upgrade to a Clipper or Pro account to get more images and videos. You'll also earn more export hours and increased voiceover minutes.
Before the AI boom, Grammarly automatically reviewed your writing as you typed and alerted you about spelling and grammar issues. Today, Grammarly uses AI to perform the same tasks as quickly and efficiently as possible. Grammarly can also help you revise content, target your audience, adjust your tone, and reword existing text.
Try starting with a free account that corrects your grammar and offers a limited number of AI prompts. Once you're ready to roll out Grammarly to the whole team, you could upgrade to a Pro account that rewrites your sentences, detects plagiarism, and adjusts your tone. Corporations often choose the Enterprise plan with customer support, unlimited AI prompts, and data loss prevention.
Zapier uses AI to transform your entire workflow. You can develop workflows with Canvas, create assistants with Agent, code workflows with Functions, build customer service bots with Chatbots and integrate additional apps with Zapier MCP. This level of control makes it easier than ever to gather social media insights and increase productivity.
A free account allows you to check out Zapier's interface and complete up to 100 tasks a month. When you upgrade to a Professional account, you'll get everything Zapier offers. Team and Enterprise accounts make Zapier accessible to your whole workforce.
Influencity provides various tools to help you build a social media following. Their AI-powered social listening feature can gather posts and comments, break them into categories, analyze your reputation, and generate monitoring reports. If you need more exposure, Influencity helps you discover, analyze, and reach out to relevant influencers.
The Professional plan offers 10,000 search results, 150 profile analyses, 1,200 outreach emails, and 100 segmentation lists per month. You'll get more results and analyses when you upgrade to a Business account, plus social media management and monitoring. For unlimited access, reach out to discuss an Enterprise subscription.
Potential customers are available at any time of the day. Unfortunately, most small businesses can't afford to hire a 24/7 customer service team. Chatfuel uses AI to automatically respond to comments, requests, and messages, keeping your followers engaged and giving them quick access to customer service.
The Business account comes with 1,000 conversations per month. This includes comments, direct messages, replies, mentions, and chatbot interactions. Chatfuel also integrates with other apps, including Stripe, Zapier, Google Sheets, and ChatGPT. For customized solutions, an Enterprise account allows you to work directly with Chatfuel to build a bot, target your audience, and discuss pricing.
Gumloop makes it easy to streamline your workflow with an AI-powered drag-and-drop interface. You'll also get access to webinars, classes, documents, and templates that help you succeed. You can hire a Gumloop expert through the on-site directory if you still need assistance.
With a free subscription, you can try out Gumloop's interface and get access to forum support. The Solo subscription includes email support, webhooks, unlimited triggers, and four concurrent runs. Once ready to collaborate, you can sign up for a Team subscription with ten seats, unlimited workspaces, Slack support, and team analytics. The Enterprise subscription offers more advanced features for corporations.
FeedHive enables you to manage your social media profiles from one dashboard. You can add content to your calendar, collaborate with your team, talk to followers, generate text, and read automated suggestions. This software integrates with various platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
When you're just starting out, the Creator plan gives you access to the posting plan, built-in AI, and social inbox. With a Brand plan, you'll get five workspaces and collaboration tools. Business plans come with 50 workspaces and unlimited posts, while Agency plans offer 100 workspaces, unlimited scheduling and priority support.
StoryChief provides a comprehensive interface for your marketing team. When they need help generating content, StoryChief's in-house AI can produce suggestions and perform keyword research. The platform also hosts an AI marketing agent that reviews your content, gathers news, generates images, develops strategies, and promotes collaboration.
The free plan includes social media, website, and SEO analytics. Once you're ready to start working, the Small Business subscription offers unlimited social media posts, 50 articles per month, and one website connection. For more users and posts, consider an Agency or Enterprise subscription. StoryChief's AI agent is an optional add-on that you can include with any plan.
Lexica generates AI images through its online platform. Once you sign up for an account, type in your prompt and review the results. If unsatisfied, you can adjust the prompt until Lexica spits the perfect image. Don't be afraid to experiment with different prompts and art styles.
The Starter plan allows you to generate 1,000 pictures per month. When you need more, upgrade to a Pro plan for 3,000 images or a Max plan for 7,000 images. Both Pro and Max plans come with unlimited slow generations.
For more news, updates, and advice, subscribe to E-Marketing Associates' free marketing newsletter. Our team stays on top of the latest trends, advancements and forecasts, then compiles everything you need to know in a convenient email digest. Learn about AI tools for social media marketing, viral challenges that look like they're here to stay, new marketing platforms, and more.
In the meantime, E-Marketing Associates offers a wide range of products and services for small business owners, such as search engine optimization, ADA compliance, web design, and reputation management. We offer affordable prices to make our high-end services more accessible.
For more information, schedule your 15-minute discovery call. We look forward to partnering with your business.
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AI in Social Media: A 3-Part Series
✅ Part 1: AI Tools to Save You Time on Social Media
🔜 Part 2: How AI Analytics Can Show What Works
🔜 Part 3: AI and Human Creativity: Finding the Balance
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