I know some of you think I’m a ChatGPT a-holic. Okay, to be fair, you’re right. But this week I’m going off script (Crazy I know), to talk about other AI tools worth testing. These are not to replace ChatGPT, they’re here to help you understand what’s out there and to potentially augment your AI toolchest — to help your marketing team do more. Of course. So let’s dive in.
Why Now?
If you feel like you are being asked to do more with the same budget, you are not imagining it. At the same time, AI is everywhere, yes… I do mean everywhere, and marketing is where leaders expect results first. The answer is not just a bigger AI toolchest. It’s the right tools for the right job. And it’s tight pilots that move the needle… quickly (We all like that).
- Context for the curious: Gartner’s CMO Spend Survey keeps average marketing budgets near 7–8% of company revenue, and McKinsey’s State of AI reports most companies now use AI in at least one function, with marketing among the top adopters.
Quick disclaimer
This stack is not a prescription like you get from your doctor. And it’s not perfect or comprehensive. But it is worth trying, My suggestions is…test what fits your workflow and ecosystem, and keep the winners, drop the rest. Simple.
Clay
Personalization that earns a reply.
Clay helps you research accounts, enrich contacts, and write first lines that feel human. The win is relevance, not volume. Build shortlists with buying signals, require a source link for every personalized line, and use a brand prompt that locks tone and claims. Your north star is qualified replies per 100 sends.
Smartlead
Treat deliverability like a growth lever.
Simply put, cold emails only work if you land in the inbox. Smartlead handles warmup, rotation, and reply routing so you can focus on offer, proof, and timing. Add a simple AI evaluator that scores drafts for clarity, promise, and compliance, then ship only the top tier. Track qualified replies, booked meetings, and spam complaints weekly.
HeyReach
Meet buyers where they already are.
Your ICP lives on LinkedIn. HeyReach lets you run safe, coordinated outreach across multiple seats without frying accounts. Treat it like ABM support, not a blast tool. Build persona libraries with message starters and common objections, then ask reps to personalize the last 15 percent. (using ChatGPT of course… I had to slip one mention in ), Keep daily caps conservative and log every meaningful response to your CRM.
Webflow
Launch pages fast without losing your brand’s look.
Every campaign needs a landing page that gets people to take action. Normally, building those pages takes weeks because marketing has to wait for developers to code them. Webflow changes that. It gives marketing teams a drag-and-drop way to build pages quickly, while still keeping the company’s fonts, colors, and design rules locked in. With AI, you can draft different headlines or FAQs in minutes, publish them, and test which one performs better. That means your developers can stay focused on the big projects, while your marketing team keeps experimenting and delivering results right away.
n8n
Connect the dots so your tools actually talk to each other.
Most marketing teams juggle a stack of tools; email, CRM, LinkedIn, Slack… and they don’t always connect (we all know that’s a pain). That’s where n8n comes in. Think of it as the wiring between your systems. With n8n, you can set up workflows so when a lead replies on LinkedIn, they’re automatically tagged, added to your CRM. You can also add small AI steps like cleaning up data or summarizing replies. Start simple with one task, like routing demo requests, and expand once it works. Over time, n8n keeps your stack connected and your leads from slipping through the cracks.
Perplexity Labs
AI research you can actually trust.
Marketers live on research—competitor moves, customer insights, market shifts. The challenge is most search results are shallow, scattered, or just flat-out wrong. Perplexity Labs fixes that by combining AI with real-time search and credible sources.
You ask a question, and instead of generic answers, it shows you a clear response with links you can verify. That makes it a strong tool for building decks, shaping messaging, or backing up claims with data. The AI layer helps by summarizing quickly, pointing to patterns, and even drafting outlines you can expand into content.
The best way to use it is simple—start with one high-value research task, like pulling data on a competitor or sourcing stats for a campaign. Let Perplexity handle the digging, then you review the sources and decide what to use. It’s not a replacement for judgment, but it makes sure you and your team start with reliable information instead of noise.
Bottom Line
Simply put, AI should remove your busywork, not your judgment. So keep your people on story, connected to relationships, and deepening outcomes, and let AI expand your possibilities faster and with more precision. – Enjoy!
By Scott MacFarland | YourBrandExposed
#AlexandScottAI
#YourBrandExposed
#ChatGPTForSales
#ThinkWithAI
Sources:
- https://www.clay.com/
- https://www.smartlead.ai/
- https://www.heyreach.io/
- https://webflow.com/
- https://n8n.io/
- https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/blog/introducing-perplexity-labs
- Gartner CMO Spend Survey: https://www.gartner.com/en/marketing/research/cmo-spend-survey
McKinsey, State of AI: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai - Image generated by OpenAI’s DALL·E via ChatGPT
