We’ve all been hearing a lot about the wonders of artificial intelligence (AI) recently, which got the White Marble team talking about how useful AI tools could be to financial marketers. Like anyone trying to improve the efficiency of their workstream, I can’t deny that AI has now well and truly infiltrated my everyday marketing toolkit; but can one tool do it all?

So, I decided to test out some of the tools on offer.  In part one of this series, we take a look at Tailwind.

I’ve been using Tailwind for small, individual tasks over the last few months and have been really loving it. If you’re not familiar with the platform it became popular for its content scheduling abilities, particularly on Pinterest. Since then, it has evolved to encapsulate other platforms including Instagram, but what piqued my attention was the new AI labs that they released a few months ago. On trialing it out, it feels like a tool that is really tailored to marketers in a way that ChatGPT just isn’t.

Overview

Tool: Tailwind

Cost- Free (10 AI credits a month), Pro ($19.99, 50 credits/month), Advanced ($39.99, 250/month)

Features: In their ‘AI Labs’ there are 51(!) different tools ranging from a Blog Editor & Proofreader, to a Homepage SEO Meta Description generator to a TikTok Video Description.

 

So, I decided to set it the task of creating an omnichannel social campaign from end to end with next to no input from me. Let’s see how it does!

Step 1 – Establish an idea – What are we writing about?

As with any good campaign, you need an interesting subject to engage your audience. I asked the Marketing Chatbot what it could suggest.

Tool:

A decent, albeit basic, start but I really wanted this to be one omnichannel campaign so let’s try again.

Much better! A little vague but I think we can work with this. In the interest of not making this blog an essay, I’ll just be exploring the social media suggestions to create a cross platform campaign.

 

Step 2: Create the social copy

I typed Tailwind’s suggestions, word for word, into tools for the respective social media channels they suggested with the exception of Facebook; as it’s not a platform our industry often uses. Here are the results for LinkedIn and Twitter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So far, I’m quite impressed. I feel like the tool understands the nuances and needs of the different platforms well. The tone is perhaps too informal for the target audience, however given the limited direction I gave it, I think it has done a pretty good job. I decided that for LinkedIn especially, it needed a bit more guidance, so I tested out the Content Optimizer tool – inputting the audience as a ‘UK institutional investor’.

Result:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While certainly an improvement, the tone and language still lean heavily towards a retail investor audience; which identifies a potential blind spot in Tailwind’s capabilities.

Step 3 – Social Creative

Tailwind has a tool that generates AI images and, to be honest, I was pretty skeptical. I decided to request one image to use across all the social media platforms. To make a brief for this I headed back to the Marketing Chatbot to ask what it thought.

Here’s the outcome:

I find the suggestion of a tree with representations of sustainable investments surprising, as my experience is that the industry tends to take a more literal approach when it comes to imagery – which identifies another potential blind spot for financial services users. Similarly to the captions produced in Step 2, I feel this copy is too informal for the target audience but in the interest of not altering the outcome too much; next I brief this into their AI Generated Image tool.

This tool does not generate text (at least not the kind you can easily  read); but it does have a handy feature called Create, which allows you to add text ; adjust the dimensions to suit every platform and even add in your company’s branding.

For the AI generated image, it created a visual which included images of coins; so would likely not get the necessary approvals from compliance teams. If I was to use this for a live project I’d give the tool more guidance at this point but, wanting to see a completely unfiltered outcome, I let it continue.

The tool created an unlimited stream of post designs, ranging from very fun and playful to more minimalist and corporate. You’re able to shortlist your favourites, so I picked some that seemed the most appropriate for our audience. There is the option at this point to  schedule the posts to go live at a given time. Here are the results:

 

My thoughts:

I’m pleasantly surprised with the result of the campaign, given I pretty much let the software run wild and we operate in an extremely complex industry with many nuances to navigate. The whole process took around 45 minutes – including the learning process of the platform – so I do think this could save some resource if used correctly. My final thoughts are :

Pros

  • I like how it created text appropriate to each social media platform. I feel it’s more sophisticated in this area than other platforms I’ve used, such as ChatGPT.
  • If you’re tight on time, I think the Tailwind Create feature – where it automatically generated layered images and text in line with your brand identity – could be a real asset. With extra use and by refining the visual style to ensure consistent outputs; when it comes to basic posts. It could also help smaller firms which don’t have as much creative resource.
  • The tool is something I’ll definitely use again, for any task. It’s a good springboard when you need a little extra inspiration.
  • If you gave it more direction and pointers along the way, you could come out with something suitable to post. Additionally, there’s a learning curve with using any AI tool, so I would encourage you to use software like this not only to improve the time you spend on each task but also to improve your ability to describe, in brief, what you need/want/expect.

Cons

  • I don’t think the AI Generated Image tool is quite there yet. It took a few tries to get this output and, even then, I don’t think it is of a standard to post publicly.
  • I think the default tone of voice doesn’t necessarily suit the nuances of the asset management industry. This platform as a whole strikes me as one which may better suit more consumer-focused industries.
  • There’s also an issue around regulation to be addressed here so I would be cautious in using this for other regulated industries, such as healthcare.
  • You can sense it lacks a human element. While it provides a good start, it falls slightly flat showing once again that AI tools are not enough to replace human marketers.
  • There is no guarantee that it isn’t offering the same types of recommendations/suggestions to other users asking these questions. If used by lots of companies, there is a risk they will produce similar results.

 

Feedback from colleagues:

“I feel like it has all the components but lacks the human element”

” Visually – if those are coins then that is a red flag. You don’t want images of money in any denomination.”

“The text itself reads too much like something a retail bank or a financial advisor would put out. Not an asset manager”

 

Conclusion

Overall, I was pleased to find that Tailwind was able to generate personalized content suitable for different social media platforms when you’re in a pinch. In particular, found the Tailwind Create feature, which generated layered images and text in line with my (imagined) clients’ brand identity, to be particularly useful .

However, there are certain areas where the AI tool lacked the finesse and nuance that human marketing experts bring to the table. For instance, the AI-generated images were slightly odd, to say the least, and the tone of voice was not always well-suited to the asset management industry. It’s not quite ready to replace us humans, but I’ll give it some credit for being a good starting point and inspiration.

At White Marble, we remain committed to delivering customized marketing solutions that strike the right balance between technology and creativity, to meet our clients’ unique needs.

If you’re interested in learning more about how we can help elevate your social media campaigns with a human touch, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Our team is ready to discuss our services and how we can work together to achieve your marketing goals.