I run a zero-employee marketing agency entirely with AI tools — here’s how A few years ago, I was head of content at a health insurance company — a role that required a team of full-time employees and freelancers to get the job done. But once ChatGPT hit the scene, I realized I could strike out on my own. Managing people is hard, messy, and expensive. I wasn’t always doing the part of the work that I enjoyed. When I saw what AI could do, even in the early stages, I thought, “Wait, what if I can just do this myself without hiring anyone?” I started small, but even from our first client, I realized it was feasible. Then, with OpenAI’s improvements and the progress in artificial intelligence, I realized that I could scale my agency exponentially with just these tools. How My AI Agency Works Day-to-Day Before I go any further, let me explain my agency model. I work with startup founders who have limited internal headcount and time. Many of them don’t have a marketing team, so I am it. I need to make content that would normally take an army of creators to produce and actually deliver results. Here’s how I do it. 1. I build workspaces with ChatGPT Projects. I never just open ChatGPT and start asking it for content without context. Instead, I use ChatGPT Projects to create a custom GPT page that actually reflects the brand I’m working with. I give the...

AI can boost conversions from your web page — HubSpot’s CMO shows you how Look, we‘ve all been there — you know your website could be converting better, but figuring out exactly what to fix feels like solving a Rubik’s cube blindfolded. You‘re running A/B tests, analyzing heat maps, and guessing at what’s actually going to move the needle. Well, AI just unlocked the process and can become your team’s new superpower. LLMs with browsing capabilities, like OpenAI’s Operator, can analyze your website performance and give you actionable insights to optimize your online presence. It’s fast, easy, and will completely transform your marketing efforts. This killer technique lets you gather data, test user experiences, and increase conversion rates. All of that means more revenue faster. Here’s how it works, all in a fraction of the time. My Three-Step Guide to Website Analysis If you’re a marketer or business owner, you’re always looking for ways to get better conversion rates from your website. Normally, that means you have to: Comb through data. Do user research. Hold focus groups. The problem? That all takes time. Long processes mean lost revenue while you scramble to understand what the data shows. That’s where AI comes in. With an AI agent working in the background to analyze your website, you can get actionable results in just a few minutes. While you can use Alibaba Cloud’s Qwen 2.5, I’ll be working through this process with OpenAI’s Operator. This...

Zappi’s CMO shares her secrets for building AI agents that nail brand voice, manage compliance, and more “I tried using AI for our marketing content, but it just doesn't sound like us.” I hear this constantly from marketing leaders who've experimented with AI tools only to get results that feel generic or off-brand. The problem? Most are approaching AI wrong, treating sophisticated technology like a vending machine. Insert prompt. Receive output. Hope for the best. Exceptional marketers take a different approach, viewing AI as a team member who needs proper training, clear examples, and ongoing feedback. I‘ve seen this pattern in my work at Zappi and throughout my career in machine learning. Having worked with translation engines at HubSpot long before ChatGPT existed, I’ve developed a methodology for training AI agents that transforms them from generic content generators into true extensions of your team. My Experience with AI Marketing Agents For those new to this space, AI agents aren‘t just fancy chatbots. They’re specialized helpers that can work proactively on their own or as part of a team, unlike regular AI tools that just wait for instructions. At Zappi, an AI-powered consumer insights platform, I've watched successful teams create specialized agents for specific tasks. These agents are more reliable than all-purpose AI assistants. Our customers use these specialized agents for concept development across different pieces of the product innovation process. For example, one agent analyzes consumer feedback while another develops packaging concepts. A third focuses on in-store displays,...

Behind the Viral Post Generator: How I reverse-engineered LinkedIn virality (and went viral myself) LinkedIn is full of narcissists, and I have the data to prove it. It all started when I wanted to go viral on LinkedIn. Rather than simply guessing what might work, I took a data-driven approach, scraping posts and analyzing what drives engagement. What I discovered was surprising (and depressing): The most successful posts are overwhelmingly self-centered, with people talking about themselves in supposedly “inspirational” ways. Instead of joining the self-congratulatory parade, I decided to call it out. I built the Viral Post Generator, a tool that automatically creates eye-roll-worthy posts, making the formula painfully apparent to everyone. In a delightful twist of irony, this tool mocking viral content went viral itself. In this post, I'll share how that happened and what I learned about product-market fit, distribution, and modern virality along the way. The Birth of the Viral Post Generator About two-and-a-half years ago, I decided I wanted to go viral on LinkedIn. That was my goal: to write a post that would take off. Naturally, I started wondering what truly makes a LinkedIn post go viral in the first place. So, I did what any curious marketer would do. I scraped over 200,000 posts and filtered them based on engagement metrics to identify distinct patterns among the most successful ones. I specifically checked if keywords were causing them to go viral. After analyzing all that data, it was pretty obvious what was...

How one co-founder runs a zero-employee marketing agency with AI tools Running a marketing agency used to mean juggling a small army of freelancers, risking missed deadlines, and spending more time managing people than creating content and building strategies. That’s how Barbara Jovanovic of Startup Cookie used to operate. She’s now built a streamlined operation that generates six figures annually with a tech stack that costs less than one grand a year. There’s no team behind her — just Jovanovic, her AI tools, and a process that turns one hour-long conversation into weeks of high-quality content. Here's exactly how she did it — and how you can replicate her success, whether you’re an aspiring solopreneur or just want ideas on streamlining your workflows with AI. Table of Contents 6 Tips for Running a Marketing Agency with AI Tools How to Maximize Your Resources with AI 8 Top Startup AI Tools for Content Creation 6 Tips for Running a Marketing Agency with AI Tools 1. Never start with a blank page — context is everything. “We never start with just prompting AI by itself to do anything, even the simplest social media post. We always have something to start with,” says Jovanovic. In her view, the biggest mistake people make when they use AI for content creation is asking it to write about a topic from scratch. Jovanovic’s secret weapon? She starts with human interactions. That might mean feeding the AI...

Forget Photoshop: Google AI Studio is the new editing powerhouse Image editing used to mean opening Photoshop, wading through complex tools, and spending hours on tedious fixes. I've been there. It was frustrating and a massive bottleneck. Today, AI is changing everything. With Google Gemini's new flash model, all you have to do is upload an image and describe what you want changed, all in text. Then, Google AI Studio handles the rest, editing your image. The best part? This tool is completely free. This is a game-changer for marketers who need quality visuals at scale. The speed at which we can now iterate is mind-blowing, and I'm obsessed with how it can democratize creative work across teams. Here’s how. Setting Up Google AI Studio If you don‘t love graphic design or using editing tools, working with images feels like a time sink. I’ve been there. Trying to remember Photoshop shortcuts while deadlines loom is stressful. But, Google Gemini 2.0‘s new flash model is bimodal, meaning you can upload images and text. The AI’s ability to understand both formats lets you edit any image just by typing. This is a massive productivity win for marketers who need to iterate quickly. Here's how it works: First, head over to Google AI Studio. When you land, you'll get a pop-up asking if you have an API key or if you want to use Google Gemini. Choose Gemini. Next, select the new Gemini 2.0 Flash preview from the menu on...

How AI assistants can make you 10x more productive: A step-by-step guide Let‘s be honest: AI assistants aren’t just for executives anymore. They're the secret weapon that can make you 10x more productive than everyone else in your company. I‘ve been testing AI assistants obsessively over the past few months. I’ve found that, with the right setup, they can transform how you work. During that process, I developed two game-changing AI assistants, with one focused on strategic project work and another on handling executive assistant tasks. Below, I'll break down my prompts and then compare the major players — Google Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT — so you can pick the perfect AI assistant for your specific needs. Let’s dive in. Everything starts with your folders. Let‘s start with something nobody talks about but is absolutely critical: your folder structure. It’s not flashy. However, this mundane step will save you time when setting up AI assistants. In my role at HubSpot, I manage three pods. For each pod, I only have two folders. One folder has my strategy docs, like road maps and memos. The other contains all my meeting transcripts — every Zoom call, every brainstorming session, and every check-in. To automate this, I use Zaps. So, every time a meeting ends, it just zaps the transcript into the right folder. This sorting system isn't just about tidying up and staying organized. I’m actually building the foundation for my AI assistants to thrive. My strategy folder will train...

Turn your power users into creators (and vice versa) One of the most powerful — but least used — aspects of social media is its ability to turn customers into community. Today’s master has a lot to say about how social, community, and customer marketing all work together as one. And as our 15-minute interview stretched into a 90-minute coffee chat, folks, it got really hard to distill it down into only three lessons. But if your role touches on any of those areas, you’re going to want to see what Katie Parkes has to say. Katie Parkes Director of Social, Community, and Customer Marketing for Apollo.io Fun Fact: Katie competed nationally for Canada in figure skating and plays a dwarven fighter named Barbara Wild in D&D. Claim to Fame: Founding member of Shopify's enterprise marketing team. She's told the stories of some of the fastest-growing ecommerce brands (like Allbirds, Knix, and Chubbies), grew Shopify's social media audience by 270% in one year, and tripled listenership for Shopify’s enterprise podcast. (She also moonlights as a toddler brand strategist, rebranding broccoli as “dinosaur trees” and spinach as “Hulk leaves.”) Lesson 1: Make YouTube your hero. Since Katie Parkes heads up social and community, you probably expect her gaze to be locked on TikTok or Reddit, right? But when I ask her which marketing channel she’d pick if she were only allowed just one… she doesn’t even take a breath before blurting out, “YouTube.” “YouTube is poised...

The content demand engine that every business needs but no one uses, from Morning Brew’s CEO I cofounded Morning Brew in 2015. Since then, the content landscape has transformed into an even more competitive arena. The cost of paid acquisition has skyrocketed. Content differentiation has become harder than ever, especially when AI can write generic posts in seconds. The result is a sea of sameness — 101-level blog posts, cringy trade show booths, outreach emails offering free AirPods if you listen to a pitch, and aggressive marketing drip campaigns. So, how can you stand out in a world of limited attention and high demand? Marketing teams need to build trust and provide their audience content with real value. You can make that happen with an ICP-focused content demand engine. I’ll explain the exact process we run at my new business, storyarb, to build audience, establish trust, and drive demand for high-growth B2B businesses. How to Craft a Content Demand Engine Step 1: Define your market of one. Start by asking yourself, who is your market of one? This is similar to your ideal customer profile (ICP), but even more specific. Envision a real, individual person who needs the product or service that your company offers. Then ask: What are their needs? What challenges do they face? How can you provide them with something truly valuable? As the chairman of storyarb, my market of one is Bruno Estrella, head of marketing at software...

The inclusive marketing strategies Zumba, Lysol, Wistia, and more are using to grow, straight from marketing leaders Growth is the mandate for brands each year. One way to grow? Create offerings that appeal to a wider group of people. That’s where inclusive marketing comes in. Inclusive marketing is all about acknowledging the many ways people are different. Brands that do inclusive marketing well authentically infuse the identities they’ve chosen to serve throughout all parts of their marketing mix to ensure those consumers feel like they belong and that the brand is for “people like them.” With eight years of experience as a consultant, I know that each brand’s approach to inclusive marketing looks different, tailored to its audiences and its products. So, I wanted to share how role model companies have created strategies that win. Let’s dive in. Inclusive Marketing Strategies from Top Brands 1. Zumba focuses on building a diverse team. When brands struggle with inclusive marketing, I recommend that they look at the demographics of their teams. If everyone comes from the same background, you may be missing valuable insights. A diverse team will be more representative of the consumers you want to serve, helping you better understand their needs. One of my favorite examples is Zumba. This popular dance fitness program trains instructors in 160 countries and has more than 15 million people who take their classes worldwide. With a global audience, Zumba needs instructors who can teach in different languages and understand different lifestyles....