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ChatGPT was a pioneer in AI chatbots, but the competition has really heated up lately. There’s now a whole bunch of other models joining the party, offering longer chat memory, empathetic responses, and even the ability to connect with your personal data—among other cool features.

Let me save you the hassle of doing a dozen Google searches or throwing multiple ChatGPT prompts into the mix. I’ve spent some time chatting with some of the top-notch AI chatbots to see how they stack up. Here, you’ll find a mix of everything, from alternatives to ChatGPT that can help you craft content, to chatbots that can surf the web for you. 

Keep in mind, the world of AI chatbots is always growing. By the time you’re reading this, there might be new ones on the block. But for now, these are the ones that caught my eye and might just catch yours too!

Before diving into our list of AI chatbots, let’s take a moment to understand what an AI chatbot is and the key factors to consider before choosing one.

What is an AI Chatbot?

An AI chatbot, also known as an artificial intelligence chatbot, refers to a computer software or application designed to engage in human-like conversations with users through the application of artificial intelligence algorithms.

To comprehend and interpret user input, these chatbots frequently employ natural language processing (NLP). To generate responses that mimic human language, they utilize natural language generation (NLG). Two fundamental categories of AI chatbots exist:

• Rule-based chatbots: These chatbots respond to specific input patterns with predefined responses based on established rules and decision trees.
• AI-powered chatbots: These chatbots leverage artificial neural networks and machine learning algorithms to extract insights from data, enhancing their conversational abilities over time.

What should you look for in an AI chatbot?

Many of the chatbots we’re going to discuss use AI models developed by OpenAI, such as GPT-3 and GPT-4. These models process user prompts and generate responses accordingly.

The developers of each platform customize the model’s behavior by adding specific instructions and rules. This means that even if chatbots are built on the same OpenAI engine, their outcomes can vary.

When compiling our list of top AI chatbots, we considered several crucial factors:

User-Friendly Access:

The best AI chatbot platforms should be easy to set up and user-friendly. Ideally, you should be able to start chatting with them online right away, without needing any coding knowledge.

Precision:

It’s essential for AI chatbots to provide coherent and factually accurate responses. We excluded any systems that consistently offered nonsensical or incorrect information. Our list includes only those chatbots that reliably deliver sensible and accurate responses.

Interactive Chat Experience:

Most online AI chatbots enable conversations through message exchanges. We prefer a conversational chat interface, as it allows for more natural interactions.

Key Features:

Some AI-powered chatbots offer more than just basic functionality, boasting additional features like support for multiple languages or useful integrations. A chatbot becomes more valuable when it provides features that go beyond simply inputting a prompt and receiving a response.

5 Best AI Chatbot Builders You Should Try in 2024

Here, we’ve compiled the 5 best AI chatbot builders for you. Now, let’s explore each one in detail.

1. EmbedAI 

EmbedAI emerges as a powerful and versatile platform in the realm of AI chatbots, utilizing OpenAI’s advanced ChatGPT models like GPT-3 and GPT-4 to offer users a unique experience in chatbot creation and customization. EmbedAI enables users to craft custom AI chatbots that are not only powered by ChatGPT but also tailored to their specific needs using their own data. This customization extends to the chatbot’s appearance, allowing users to align it with their branding by incorporating custom logos, colors, and styling. The process of training your chatbot is straightforward; you simply need to upload your PDF file or the link you want it to be trained on, and within a few seconds, you get a chatbot tailored to your data. Moreover, the chatbots can be easily shared and distributed, either as chat bubbles embedded through code or via links, offering a range of deployment options.

A notable feature of EmbedAI is its robust multilingual support, allowing the creation of chatbots capable of interacting in over 200 languages. This broad language support dramatically extends the reach and applicability of the chatbots, making them accessible to a global audience. In terms of integration, EmbedAI shines with its user-friendly approach, enabling seamless incorporation of chatbots into various platforms like WordPress, Notion, Zapier, Webflow, and many more. The process involves simple copy-pasting of embed code, making it accessible even to those with limited technical skills. It provides options for both script embedding and API integration, catering to different technical needs and preferences. From a data security perspective, EmbedAI prioritizes protecting user data. The information uploaded by users for chatbot training is securely stored on AWS servers in the US East region, ensuring both safety and fast access. 

EmbedAI offers a free plan, allowing the development of a chatbot with certain usage limits, making it an attractive option for individuals or small businesses exploring AI chatbot solutions. It stands out as a comprehensive solution for AI chatbot development, offering customization, ease of use, multilingual support, and robust data security. Its versatility and intuitive interface make it an ideal choice for those seeking a chatbase alternative.

2. Botsonic

Botsonic is an innovative no-code AI chatbot builder that harnesses the power of GPT-4, making it a standout choice for enhancing digital customer interactions and engagements. Developed by Writesonic, this platform is designed to revolutionize customer support by offering personalized experiences through AI-driven conversations. It offers a hassle-free experience for users, even those without technical expertise, enabling them to train chatbots using their own data. The core strengths of Botsonic lie in its ability to integrate seamlessly with a business’s existing database, thus allowing for highly relevant and business-specific content generation. It uses a machine learning model with neural networks and scripted dialogue to simulate human-like conversations, providing a more natural and intuitive user experience. Its robust natural language processing (NLP) capabilities ensure that the chatbot understands and responds to customer queries in a way that closely mimics human interaction. This feature significantly enhances the overall customer experience, leading to increased satisfaction and loyalty. 

Botsonic is not just about providing answers; it’s also a powerful tool for lead generation and boosting website engagement. By proactively engaging with website visitors, it can qualify potential leads, collect crucial information, and pass it along to the sales team. Additionally, its interactive nature makes website visits more dynamic and engaging, thereby increasing the likelihood of conversion and repeat visits. Customization is another key aspect of Botsonic. Businesses can tailor their chatbots to align with their brand identity, including aspects like company logo, chatbot picture, color schemes, and even specific conversational styles. This customization extends to the chatbot’s widget position on a website and the option to show or hide Botsonic branding. Furthermore, it excels in automating repetitive tasks and offering round-the-clock assistance, greatly enhancing the efficiency of customer support operations. By handling frequent inquiries and managing basic customer interactions, it allows human agents to focus on more complex issues that require specialized attention. In terms of accessibility and integration, it is designed to be easily embeddable into websites, with a simple setup process that involves no coding.

From a pricing perspective, Botsonic offers a flexible structure with a free trial option and a cost-effective Pro Plan, making it an affordable solution for businesses looking to leverage AI for customer interaction without a significant financial investment. Botsonic stands out as a comprehensive solution for businesses seeking to improve customer interaction, support, and engagement through AI-powered chatbots. Its combination of advanced AI technology, ease of use, customization options, and affordability makes it a valuable asset for businesses aiming to stay competitive in the digital era.

3. Chatfuel

Chatfuel is a robust and versatile chatbot platform that offers a no-code tool for creating AI-powered conversational chatbots. Predominantly used with Facebook and Instagram messenger services, it has proven to be a significant asset for streamlining automated conversations, catering to the needs of well-known international companies. The platform stands out for its user-friendly interface and a wide range of features, making it easy for users to build bots that can engage deeply with customers without seeming robotic. One of the key strengths of Chatfuel is its 24/7 customer service capabilities, boasting an impressive 80% resolution rate which plays a crucial role in retaining customers. This platform is particularly effective in generating leads and converting prospects into buyers through instant engagement. Users can customize their chatbots using an extensive library of templates, reflecting their brand’s theme and enhancing the user experience.

The platform includes features like keyword detection, personalization, and various automation options to cater to diverse customer needs. These features enable the creation of dynamic bots capable of diverging into multiple conversational strands, directing users to specific locations or websites, and efficiently responding to frequently asked questions. However, Chatfuel does have some limitations. The platform’s support for natural language processing (NLP) is somewhat limited and can be challenging to set up. Moreover, while Chatfuel’s support is accessible, it lacks a dedicated support email, relying mainly on chat-based assistance. Regarding pricing, Chatfuel offers a free plan with basic features, with paid plans starting from €10 per month for 500 subscribers, scaling up based on the number of subscribers. The pricing is considered reasonable, especially given the range of features and capabilities the platform offers.

For e-commerce, Chatfuel provides integrations like an abandoned cart feature with Shopify and the ability to process payments directly within the chatbot using Stripe. However, it does not have a direct integration with WooCommerce, though it can still connect through tools like Zapier or Integromat. While Chatfuel is a good option, EmbedAI stands out as a superior Chatfuel alternative with more customization options, user-friendliness, and robust multilingual support. Overall, Chatfuel is an excellent choice for businesses and marketers looking to integrate chatbots into their digital strategy. It’s good for beginners but also possesses enough depth and versatility to satisfy the needs of more experienced users and larger businesses looking for scalable solutions?.

4. Dante AI

Dante AI is a groundbreaking platform that has revolutionized the creation and customization of AI chatbots. This innovative tool empowers users, regardless of their technical expertise, to develop personalized chatbots trained on specific data sets. Dante AI is especially remarkable for its ease of use, offering a zero-coding experience that makes it accessible to a broad audience. One of the most notable aspects of Dante AI is its versatility in integrating various types of data to train the chatbots. Users can upload multiple file formats, including documents, images, videos, and URLs, to create chatbots that deliver rich, insightful interactions based on the provided content. This capability allows for a high degree of customization and specificity, catering to the unique requirements of different users or businesses.

Trusted by thousands of businesses, it has proven its worth in the market. It allows users to build and train an AI chatbot quickly and embed it directly into their websites or integrate it with popular messaging platforms. The platform supports over 100 languages, making it a truly global solution. It also features speech-to-text and text-to-speech capabilities, enhancing the interactive experience by allowing voice interactions. Additionally, it offers an analytics dashboard that provides valuable insights into the chatbot’s performance, including usage statistics and chat logs. Dante AI’s subscription model is structured to cater to various needs, from free options with basic features to premium tiers that offer advanced functionalities like API access, multiple chatbots, and extensive character limits. The premium tiers also allow for integration with numerous applications, including popular platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zapier, extending its utility across a wide range of use cases.

Security is a key concern for Dante AI. The platform ensures that user data is securely stored on encrypted AWS servers, prioritizing privacy and security. Users have control over the data they upload and how it’s used to train their chatbots. In essence, Dante AI stands as a comprehensive, user-friendly solution for anyone seeking to harness the power of AI in chatbot technology. Its array of customizable features, coupled with robust security protocols and extensive language support, position it as a versatile and reliable tool in the dynamic field of AI and chatbot technology.

5. Botpress

Botpress stands out as a revolutionary platform in the realm of conversational AI, offering a comprehensive developer stack to create, operate, and refine AI applications. At its core, Botpress is driven by advanced natural language understanding capabilities, a robust messaging API, and a feature-rich studio environment. This combination not only empowers developers but also conversation designers globally, enabling them to craft outstanding chatbots without facing significant technical barriers. One of the critical aspects of Botpress is its user-friendly, web-based interface that includes an intuitive visual flow editor. This aspect is particularly beneficial for both seasoned developers and those without a deep technical background, simplifying the design and management of conversational interactions. The platform’s high customizability allows for the creation of personalized modules, actions, and middleware, tailoring chatbot behavior to specific requirements.

It integrates seamlessly with various Natural Language Understanding (NLU) engines like Dialogflow, LUIS, and Rasa NLU, enhancing the chatbot’s ability to understand and respond to user inputs accurately. Its ability to be deployed across multiple platforms, such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Slack, and custom web chat interfaces, makes it a versatile solution for reaching a broad audience. Scalability is another significant feature of Botpress. It’s designed to handle a vast volume of user interactions, making it suitable for everything from small-scale chatbots to large enterprise-level implementations. The platform also places a high emphasis on security, ensuring the protection of user data and compliance with strict privacy regulations. In terms of analytics and insights, It offers a comprehensive analytical toolkit, providing valuable data to optimize chatbot performance based on user interactions. The platform’s machine-learning capabilities enable continuous evolution of the chatbot, improving its language comprehension and response abilities over time. It provides RESTful APIs for easy integration with external applications and services. Its Botpress Studio is an invaluable tool for chatbot creation and management, featuring version control, collaborative tools, and code debugging capabilities. 

Continuously evolving, Botpress aligns with the latest technologies and best practices in conversational AI, ensuring it remains at the forefront of the industry. Its integration with generative AI technologies like GPT makes building human-like chatbots easier than ever, further cementing its position as a leading solution in the field of conversational AI.

Final thoughts

The AI chatbot landscape offers diverse options for various needs. EmbedAI shines with its customization and multilingual support, Botsonic stands out for its no-code simplicity in enhancing customer engagement, Chatfuel remains user-friendly for social media interactions, Dante AI impresses with its groundbreaking ease of use and broad language support, while Botpress revolutionizes AI development with its comprehensive developer stack. Key factors like user-friendly access, precision, interactivity, and essential features should guide the choice of an AI chatbot. Each of these platforms excels in different aspects, but it’s crucial to stay updated on the ever-evolving AI landscape for potential advancements. In essence, the current era of AI chatbots is defined by innovation, accessibility, and customization. Regardless of whether you’re a small business owner, marketer, or developer, selecting the right AI chatbot aligns with the strategic goal of achieving efficient, personalized, and engaging user experiences in our rapidly evolving technological landscape.

Featured Image by Alex Knight on Unsplash

The post 5 Best AI Chatbot Builders in 2024 appeared first on noupe.

Welcome to the first best sites collection of 2024. We’d like to offer you some inspiration to lift your spirits this Blue Monday, so this month’s collection is all about positivity and optimism.

Digital retail is a booming industry, and it’s not slowing down anytime soon. While online shopping has been around for years, it’s only recently become an integral part of most consumers’ lives. This growth has led to innovation in the way we shop online: whether that means personalized recommendations or order-ahead functionality, e-commerce sites are constantly looking for new ways to provide consumers with an even better experience than they had before. Here are five ways you can make your digital retail more efficient:

1. Personalization

Personalization is the process of tailoring content, offers, and experiences to the unique tastes, interests, and needs of each individual customer. Personalized marketing, such as ecommerce personalization, can improve customer experience and increase sales by making it more relevant for the consumer. The challenge for retailers is figuring out how best to leverage this data in order to get more ROI from their efforts.

In order to maximize its potential for success and minimize its risk for failure, personalization must be done at just the right time with just enough information so that it feels relevant without being overwhelming or intrusive.

2. Data Analysis

Data analysis is one of the most powerful tools for retailers. It can help retailers understand their customers, products, and competitors. It also helps them understand their business in general.

For example, if you want to know what kind of product or service your customers like most, then you need to do some basic market research on this topic by asking them questions about their preferences. You may also decide to conduct surveys among different groups in order to find out what they think about certain topics related to retailing such as pricing policies or advertising strategies used by other companies (e-commerce sites). After collecting all necessary information through these methods mentioned above – it will become easier for any company owner/manager to improve his/her business performance through digital marketing tools like SEO optimization services. 

3. Inventory Management

Inventory management is a key part of digital retail, and it’s more efficient than traditional in-store inventory management. This is because online retailers don’t have to worry about storing items in warehouses or on shelves. Instead, they can place orders as needed and then ship them directly from the manufacturer or distributor.

In fact, online retailers have been using this method for quite some time now–and many are beginning to adopt it themselves as well. Here are a couple of relevant, recent examples:

• Amazon has its own fulfillment centers where products are stored before being shipped out to customers
• Walmart uses Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) for its online sales

4. Efficient Pricing & Promotions

Pricing is an important factor in the purchase decision, and it can be used to drive sales. Pricing strategies are often used to increase conversion rates by making a product more affordable or adding value to it, such as bundling services together or offering special financing options through your website.

A well-designed price promotion plan will help you increase brand awareness among potential customers who may not have heard about your business before. You can also use this strategy for existing customers who want more products/services from you now that they’ve seen how great they are! Finally, by applying different discount levels based on customer lifetime value (CLV), promotions can help improve overall customer loyalty by encouraging repeat purchases over time at different price points.

5. In-Store Analytics and Conversions

In-store analytics is a relatively new concept, but it’s already proving to be an incredibly useful tool for retailers. The technology allows you to track your customers’ behavior and see how they interact with your products in the real world. For example, if a customer spends 20 minutes looking at one particular pair of shoes before moving on to another area of the store, that may indicate that there are some issues with that particular shoe model or size. You could then use this information when designing future campaigns and promotions for those shoes–or perhaps even consider discontinuing them altogether!

In addition to helping you improve individual products and categories, in-store data can also help inform digital marketing strategies by giving you insight into which brands are most popular among visitors who come through their doors. This gives retailers an advantage over pure online competitors who don’t have access (yet) to this kind of information

The Future of Digital Retail

In the end, it’s clear that digital retail is here to stay. It has the potential to revolutionize how we shop, but there are still many opportunities for improvement. With the continued expansion of e-commerce options, retail will continue to get more and more digitalized. 

Featured image by Viktor Bystrov on Unsplash

The post 5 Ways To Make Digital Retail More Efficient appeared first on noupe.

In the contemporary business environment, characterized by its dynamic nature and the pervasive integration of mobile devices into daily operations, the quest for an optimal Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution has become nothing short of crucial. Recognizing the centrality of mobile devices in facilitating seamless communication, collaboration, and task execution, businesses are confronted with the necessity of finding a robust MDM solution that aligns seamlessly with their operational dynamics.

Understanding the Importance of MDM Solutions

Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions serve as the backbone of modern business operations, providing control and security over the diverse array of devices used in the workplace. In the UK, businesses are increasingly recognizing the need for robust MDM solutions to streamline device management, enhance security, and optimize overall efficiency.

Key Features to Look for in MDM Solutions

Navigating the diverse landscape of Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions in the ever-evolving UK market requires a discerning eye and a keen understanding of the unique needs of your business. As businesses increasingly recognize the pivotal role of MDM in orchestrating seamless device management, bolstering security, and optimizing overall operational efficiency, the task of selecting the right solution becomes a strategic imperative.

1. Security Protocols

Security is paramount in the digital age. Look for MDM solutions that offer robust encryption, secure data transmission, and comprehensive access controls. Tabnova.com’s MDM Software Solutions in the UK are designed with cutting-edge security features to safeguard sensitive business information. The inclusion of multi-layered security ensures that your organization’s data remains protected against evolving cyber threats.

2. Device Compatibility 

A versatile MDM solution should seamlessly support various devices and operating systems. Whether your business uses iOS, Android, or other platforms, ensure the chosen MDM software provides unified management across the entire spectrum of devices. Tabnova.com’s MDM solutions excel in device compatibility, offering seamless integration across a diverse range of devices commonly used in the UK business landscape.

3. User-Friendly Interface 

An intuitive user interface is critical for efficient MDM utilization. Choose solutions that simplify device onboarding, policy implementation, and troubleshooting. Tabnova.com’s MDM solutions prioritize user-friendly interfaces, ensuring ease of use for both administrators and end-users. The intuitive dashboard allows for quick navigation and efficient management of devices, contributing to a more productive work environment.

4. Scalability

As your business grows, so should your MDM solution. Opt for software that can scale with your organization’s evolving needs. Tabnova.com’s MDM solutions are scalable, making them an ideal choice for businesses in the UK aiming for sustained growth. The flexibility to expand the MDM infrastructure ensures that your organization can adapt to changes in device usage and organizational size without compromising on efficiency or security.

Tailoring MDM Solutions to Industry Needs

Different industries have unique MDM requirements. Consider MDM solutions that offer industry-specific features and customization options.

1. Healthcare

In the healthcare sector, stringent privacy regulations necessitate MDM solutions that prioritize patient data security. Tabnova.com’s MDM Healthcare Solutions are designed to meet healthcare industry standards, ensuring compliance with data protection regulations. The integration of secure messaging, remote wipe, and compliance tracking caters specifically to the unique challenges of healthcare organizations.

2. Finance 

Financial institutions require MDM solutions with advanced security measures to protect sensitive financial data. Tabnova.com’s MDM solutions offer encryption and compliance features suitable for the rigorous security demands of the finance sector. Additionally, the inclusion of secure document sharing and audit trails ensures that financial organizations can maintain regulatory compliance while securely managing their mobile devices.

3. Education 

In educational settings, MDM solutions should facilitate device management for both students and educators. Look for solutions with features such as content filtering, app management, and classroom management capabilities. Tabnova.com’s MDM Solutions For Education are tailored to meet the specific needs of the education sector. The ability to create a secure and controlled digital learning environment enhances the educational experience while ensuring the safe and productive use of mobile devices.

Leveraging Tabnova.com MDM Solutions in the UK

Tabnova.com emerges as a prominent player in the realm of MDM solutions, offering a comprehensive suite of features tailored for businesses in the UK.

•  Advanced Security

Tabnova.com’s MDM Software Solutions in the UK prioritize advanced security measures, including robust encryption, secure data transmission, and granular access controls. This ensures that businesses can confidently protect their sensitive information in an increasingly digital landscape. With real-time threat monitoring and response capabilities, Tabnova.com’s MDM solutions provide a proactive approach to security, minimizing the risk of data breaches and unauthorized access.

• User-Friendly Interface

The user-friendly interface of Tabnova.com’s MDM solutions streamlines device onboarding, policy implementation, and troubleshooting. This intuitive design contributes to the seamless integration of MDM into daily business operations. The centralized dashboard provides a comprehensive overview of device status and compliance, simplifying the management of a large number of devices within the organization.

• Industry-Specific Solutions

Recognizing the diverse needs of different industries, Tabnova.com offers industry-specific MDM solutions. From healthcare to finance and education, their MDM software is designed to meet the unique challenges and requirements of each sector. The customizable features and industry-specific modules ensure that businesses can tailor their MDM solution to address specific regulatory requirements and operational needs.

Conclusion

Selecting the right Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution is a pivotal decision, that profoundly impacts your business’s efficiency and security. By carefully considering the key features outlined in this guide and exploring Tabnova.com’s tailored solutions, UK businesses can ensure a seamless and secure mobile device management experience. Embracing these considerations and leveraging Tabnova.com’s innovative offerings positions businesses for exceptional operational efficiency and security in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

Featured image by Mazirama on depositphotos.

The post How To Identify The Best MDM Solution for Your Business appeared first on noupe.

Over the past 12 months, I’ve shared hundreds of tools in my newsletter, Web Tools Weekly. I feature tons of practical libraries, helpers, and other useful things for front-end and full-stack developers. These tools span numerous categories, including JavaScript libraries and utilities, web frameworks, CSS generators, database tools, React components, CLI tools, and even ChatGPT and AI-based tools, the latter of which I’ve started covering regularly over the past year.

The 60 tools in this article were some of the most clicked web developer tools in my newsletter in 2023. As you’ll see, most of these are quite practical for front-end and full-stack development, so you’ll likely find lots that you’ll want to bookmark or use in an upcoming project. The list is roughly in reverse order in terms of popularity, so be sure to scroll down to see what the most popular tools of the year were!

Kuma UI

Kuma UI, which describes itself as “the future of CSS-in-JS”, is a headless, utility-first, zero-runtime component library that includes its own CSS-in-JS solution.

What makes Kuma UI different is its hybrid approach that allows for dynamic changes to your styles at runtime while still keeping the performance benefits of zero-runtime CSS-in-JS.

Boxslider

Although the use of carousel components has been discouraged in recent years, they still get asked for by my clients, and developers are always on the lookout for them. Boxslider is one such component.

This carousel, or content slider, includes seven slide transition effects that you can try out on the demo page, including a 3D cube effect, tile flip, and a simple fade.

Effect

Effect is described as “a powerful TypeScript library designed to help developers easily create complex, synchronous, and asynchronous programs.”

The idea behind the effect is to help developers build robust and scalable applications by means of something called structured concurrency, a programming paradigm that allows multiple complex operations to run simultaneously.

HatTip

If you use Express.js for building Node.js apps, you’ll want to check out HatTip. It offers a solution similar to Express.js, but with a more universal approach.

HatTip is a set of JavaScript packages for building HTTP server apps and allows you to write server code that can be deployed anywhere – AWS, Cloudflare Workers, Vercel, and more.

LiveViewJS

LiveViewJS is a simple yet powerful framework for building “LiveViews” in Node.js and Deno. LiveViews were popularized in Elixir’s Phoenix framework and involved moving state management and event handling to the server and doing HTML updates via WebSockets.

This technique allows you to build single-page app experiences with features like fast first paint, real-time and multi-player functionality, no need for a client-side routing solution, and lots more.

Scrollbar.app

Scrollbar.app is a one-stop reference and code generation tool for customizing browser scrollbars. You can live test and adjust the scrollbars directly on the page, then copy the CSS.

The scrollbar code involves using vendor-specific pseudo-elements but also incorporates the future-friendly scrollbar-color.

OpenGPT

OpenGPT is one of many ChatGPT-based tools that have been making the rounds over the past year or so. This one is an open-source AI platform that allows anyone to use and create ChatGPT-based applications.

The main platform for the service itself allows you to search a categorized directory of more than 11,000 ChatGPT apps.

Free Icons

Icon sets always seem to make these end-of-year lists. Free Icons is a generically named set of 22,000+ icons that includes both brand icons and general-use ones.

All are in SVG format, and you can filter by keyword on the home page or grab the whole lot via the GitHub repository.

Materialize

Materialize is an open-source framework of UI components based on Google’s Material Design guidelines.

The project, which includes 20+ categories of components, is a fork of an older project that’s no longer maintained.

qr-code

qr-code is an SVG-based web component that generates an animatable and customizable QR code. There’s an interactive demo page where you can try out the different animation effects.

The resulting QR code is SVG-based, the component has no dependencies, and it is easy to customize.

GradientGenerator

GradientGenerator is an interactive CSS gradient builder that allows you to build advanced layered gradients. You can customize your layered gradient using a whole slew of different settings and features.

The app also allows you to save gradients to your library and even import community-built gradients.

iDraw.js

iDraw.js is a simple JavaScript framework for creating apps that allow Canvas-based drawing.

There are some nice examples in a live playground where you can see the simplicity and ease of use of the API.

VanJS

VanJS is a UI library similar to React but doesn’t use JSX, virtual DOM, transpiling, and so on. The idea is to avoid the overhead of configuration that’s normally associated with using a library like React.

The library claims to be the smallest UI library in the world at under 1kb. It has first-class support for TypeScript and naturally boasts strong performance compared to React, Vue, and so on.

Mamba UI

Mamba UI is the first of multiple Tailwind-based tools that made this year’s list. This is a UI library of 150+ components and templates based on the popular utility-first CSS framework.

The library includes pre-styled components in 40+ categories, and you can quickly grab the code for any component in HTML, Vue, or JSX format.

Termino.js

Termino.js is a dependency-free JavaScript component that lets you add embedded terminal-based animations, games, and apps to web pages.

It’s customizable and makes it easy to build terminal animations like keyboard typing effects. The demo page includes a few simple examples, including an embedded terminal app where the user can get info on any GitHub profile.

SVG Chart Generator

SVG Chart Generator is a beautifully designed chart generator that lets you generate SVG-based charts in line or bar format.

The generator allows you to interactively customize the chart with width/height settings, number of points, smoothness, and more. You can also import your own data points.

PeepsLab

PeepsLab is a simple online tool to customize your own unique illustrated user avatars. You can build your own avatars by cycling through the different options for skin color, hair color, facial hair, accessories, styles for head, face, etc.

Or you can simply hit the “Randomize” button to generate a random avatar before downloading it in PNG format.

Ribbon Shapes

Ribbon Shapes is an online gallery of pure CSS ribbons in just about any ribbon format you can imagine.

The gallery includes more than 100 ribbons, each created with a single HTML element and easy to customize using CSS variables.

big-AGI

big-AGI is a personal GPT-powered app that’s described as “the GPT application for professionals that need function, form, simplicity, and speed.”

It has a responsive, mobile-friendly interface and includes features like AI personas, text-to-image, voice, response streaming, code highlighting and execution, PDF import, and lots more.

Easy Email

Easy Email is a drag-and-drop email editor based on MJML, the popular HTML email authoring framework.

This solution allows you to transform structured JSON data into HTML that’s compatible with major email clients. Includes features for easily customizing blocks, components, and configuring themes.

CSS Components

CSS Components throws its hat into the CSS-in-JS space with this fresh solution, described as “not another styling system.”

This solution is a response to challenges inherent in using CSS-in-JS tools with React Server Components, and the library is inspired by another such tool, Stitches, and promises an improved developer experience.

Toaster

Toaster is an experimental pure CSS 3D editor that allows you to build models using pure HTML with CSS transforms.

The author acknowledges that the tool isn’t too practical and can currently only export/import in JSON format (no CSS export). With improved performance, this could be a useful tool.

Fontpair

Fontpair isn’t a new resource, but it makes this year’s list. It’s a font directory specifically for finding fonts that match well together in your designs.

All the fonts are sourced from Google Fonts, and the pairings are manually curated by the authors.

Breadit

Breadit is a modern, full-stack Reddit clone built with Next.js App Router, TypeScript, and Tailwind.

This is a nice app to learn and experiment with, featuring infinite scroll, NextAuth, image uploads, a feature-rich post editor, nested commenting, and lots more.

Keep React

Keep React is a Tailwind and React-based component library that includes 40+ components and interactive elements.

The components are pre-designed, but all the components are easy to customize using Tailwind classes and are suitable for just about any project.

TW Elements

TW Elements is a massive library of more than 500 Bootstrap components recreated using Tailwind CSS. This is a great option for those already familiar with Bootstrap and looking for a modern alternative.

The library boasts better overall design and functionality compared to the original components in the Bootstrap framework, and you can easily search for components by keyword from the home page.

Autocomplete

Autocomplete is an open-source, production-ready JavaScript library for building customizable autocomplete experiences for form inputs and search fields.

You can easily build an autocomplete experience by defining a container, data to populate it, and any virtual DOM solution (JS, React, Vue, Preact, and so on).

CSS Loaders

CSS Loaders is a huge collection of more than 600 CSS loading animations organized under more than 30 categories.

This gallery includes just about any style of loader you can think of, and you can easily copy/paste the HTML/CSS for any loader with just a click.

Flectofy

Flectofy is an interactive tool that provides an interface that allows you to build unique SVG shapes.

The styles of shapes here are pretty niche, so they wouldn’t be useful in too many contexts, but the way the interface works and the look of the shapes are certainly different.

Picyard

Picyard is an app that generates screenshots with attractive backgrounds for use in mockups, social media posts, and so on.

The image/background tool is free, but the app also includes premium features for generating attractive code snippets, charts, mindmaps, timelines, and lots more.

UI Content

UI Content is described as “the best place to find professional placeholder text.” Includes placeholder text under seven different categories and also includes dummy SVG logos.

The idea here is to avoid typical “lorem ipsum” and use actual content instead to ensure your designs look closer to what the final product will be.

Vessel.js

Vessel.js was one of the more unique projects I discovered over the past year. It’s a JavaScript library based on Three.js, the WebGL library, for conceptual ship design, in other words, building boats.

You can check out a number of examples in a gallery, and there’s also a tutorial that gets you up to speed on best practices for using the library — assuming this happens to be your niche!

Modern Font Stacks

Modern Font Stacks is a resource to help you identify the best-performing font stacks. That is, the stacks are based on pre-installed default OS fonts.

You can choose from specific typographic categories like Traditional, Old Style, Neo-Grotesque, Monospace Code, Handwritten, and more. Again, these are generally fonts that are already available on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android, giving you the best possible support without extra resource requests.

FancySymbol

FancySymbol is a huge repository of ready-to-copy/paste special characters, text symbols, foreign language symbols, and more.

Includes more than 50 categories of symbols and also allows you to create unique and fancy copy/paste-able text like upside-down text or text written in “invisible ink,” among others.

Observable Plot

Observable Plot is a JavaScript library for creating exploratory data visualizations (i.e., “plots”) using SVG-based charts.

The interface for the plots can include specific features like scales, projections, legends, curves, markers, and more. You’ll have to check out the documentation for the lowdown on these different features, which are illustrated using lots of interactive examples.

Washington Post Design System

The Washington Post Design System is a UI kit specifically built for properties associated with the Washington Post, a popular American daily newspaper and news outlet.

Although it is designed for WaPo’s engineers, it’s MIT-licensed and built-in React using Stitches and Radix UI. So, the customizable components and other assets may be of use if you’re using a similar tech stack.

FormSpamPrevention

FormSpamPrevention isn’t a popular project, but it got quite a bit of traction when I shared it this past year. It offers a simple vanilla JavaScript and HTML solution for preventing form spam.

The script is based on using custom HTML tags for form content that gets converted to valid HTML tags.

Chatbox

Chatbox is a native app for Windows, Mac, and Linux that gives you access to an AI copilot on your desktop.

This particular tool isn’t strictly focused on web development, but it taps into various LLM models and can be used as an overall productivity app for all sorts of daily tech-related tasks.

CSS Generators

CSS Generators is not a single tool but a small collection of CSS generators, a popular kind of tool among front-end developers.

I like this set of generators because it has a few kinds you don’t see elsewhere: Two glow generators (for text and elements) and an underline generator.

OS.js

OS.js

Calligrapher.ai

Calligrapher.ai is an online tool for AI-generated handwriting samples that you can download as SVG.

There is no need to “write” anything; just type some text and customize stroke width and legibility, and the AI will do the rest. You can choose from 9 different print and cursive styles before generating the sample.

Clone UI

Clone UI is an AI-based tool that lets you generate UI components with a simple text prompt.

The app includes five free daily credits and includes a showcase of existing UI components generated by users.

Float UI

Float UI is a set of 100+ responsive and accessible UI components with RTL support. Also includes five templates.

The components and templates are built with Tailwind and are easy to customize. You can use them with React, Vue, and Svelte, or you can simply use HTML with Tailwind classes.

Calendar.js

Calendar.js is one of numerous date picker and calendar libraries available. This solution is lightweight and has no dependencies.

It’s fully configurable and includes drag-and-drop for events, exporting features, import from iCal and JSON, and lots more.

PCUI

PCUI is yet another React-based component library that makes a list. This one provides a set of pre-styled components.

There’s a storybook that demonstrates all the basic components, and you can also view a few UI examples that show a few advanced examples in action (a to-do list and an example that keeps a “history” of the UI’s state).

Accessible Color Palette Generator

Accessible Color Palette Generator is a great way to ensure any of your designs start with an accessible set of color choices.

You can generate a random accessible palette or enter any color, and the tool will generate an accessible palette for you based on the color you selected.

Picography

Picography is an alternative to the popular Unsplash and similarly offers high-resolution, royalty-free stock photos.

The photos are categorized and searchable and available for free use in commercial projects.

Mailo

Mailo is a component-based, interactive HTML email layout designer that helps you easily build cross-client and responsive HTML emails.

Mailo includes pre-built components and team features, and the components are designed to work with just about any email client.

Pines

Pines is an aptly named UI component library that’s built with Tailwind and Alpine, the popular JavaScript framework that’s similar to a modern version of jQuery.

Pines includes dozens of components, including animations, sliders, tooltips, accordions, modals, and more.

Park UI

Park UI is a set of beautifully designed components built on top of Ark UI, which itself is a set of accessible and customizable components.

Park UI can help you build your own design system, and the home page includes a neat interactive widget that demonstrates how easy it is to style the components. You can use Park UI with React, Vue, Solid, Panda CSS, and Tailwind.

Iconhunt

Iconhunt is an icon search engine that lets you have access to 170,000+ free, open-source icons.

The icons can be downloaded in various formats, including Notion, Figma, SVG, or PNG, and you can customize the color of any icon you choose before downloading.

Sailboat UI

Sailboat UI is a Tailwind-based UI component library that includes 150+ open-source components.

The components are very Bootstrap-esque, and you can search for and see live previews of the components in the docs.

Shaper

Shaper is a generative design tool for UI Interfaces that allows you to visually fiddle with a number of different interface features to customize your own UI.

It includes settings for custom typography, spacing, vertical rhythm, and so on, after which you can copy and paste the design tokens as CSS variables.

Maily

Maily is an open-source editor that makes it easy to create beautiful HTML emails using a set of pre-built components.

It currently includes components in categories covering buttons, variables, text formatting, images, logos, alignment, dividers, spacers, footers, lists, and quotes, with more on the way.

Realtime Colors

Realtime Colors offers an interactive website that lets you test color palettes and typography on real live UI elements in real-time.

You can use the tool to generate palettes and deep links to a specific palette for sharing with others or demoing interfaces in dark or light modes.

Strawberry

Strawberry is described as a “tiny” front-end framework that offers reactivity and composability with zero dependencies, no build step, and less than 3KB gzipped.

The idea here is not to offer a React or Vue alternative but something you’d use for simpler apps and other low-maintenance projects.

Swap.js

Swap.js is a JavaScript micro-library that uses HTML attributes to facilitate Ajax-style navigation in web pages in less than 100 lines of code.

This is in the same vein as libraries like HTMX and Hotwire, allowing you to replace content on the page by sending requests from the server as HTML fragments.

restorePhotos.io

restorePhotos.io is an open-source tool that uses AI to attempt to restore or correct old, blurry, or damaged photos.

You can deploy your own version locally or use their online tool to restore up to 5 photos per day for free.

Better Select

Better Select is a web component that provides a minimal custom select element, something web developers have been grappling with accomplishing for decades!

This solution offers a fallback option and includes a small set of options via attributes that customize the functionality and look.

Space.js

Interestingly, Space.js ended up being the most-clicked tool in my newsletter the past year.

It’s one of two sibling libraries that are based on Three.js. The main one is for creating “future” UIs and panel components, and the other (called Alien.js) is for 3D utilities, materials, shaders, and physics.

What Was Your Favourite Tool of 2023?

That wraps up this year’s roundup of the hottest front-end tools. I’m sure you’ll find at least a few of these to be of use in a new project in the coming months.

As always, I’m always looking for the latest in tools for front-end developers, so feel free to post your favourites from the past year in the comments, and you can subscribe to Web Tools Weekly if you want to keep up with new stuff regularly!

If you’re a small business owner, you can’t rely on long-established brand awareness or a major advertising campaign to reach your customers. In all likelihood, you’re going to have to do the heavy lifting on your own — and that starts by cultivating a personal brand. 

If people feel more connected to you as a business owner, they’re going to be more likely to trust your business when they need the products or services your industry provides. By establishing authenticity with your target audience, you can build a level of trust that pays off in more ways than one. 

What is personal branding?

Personal branding is about building a connection with your existing and potential customers. And it’s undeniably intuitive. Imagine you need a consultant to help elevate your business. Would you rather hire the detached, impersonal consultant whose backstory is so bare that you have no idea why they’re a consultant to begin with? Or would you rather hire someone who can explain what motivated them to get into the industry, why they’re still passionate, and how they’ve helped businesses like yours in the past?

In this example, the second consultant benefits from strong personal branding. By developing your personal brand, you demonstrate why you’re the perfect person to help your customers. Branding will also increase your credibility, authority, and make your business more visible.

Whether you’re a freelance writer, flower shop owner, or the head of a moving company, creating a personal brand is essential. Customers like to know who they’re working with. So, share your backstory. Show them what a day in your life is like, even if your business is currently a side hustle. Tell them about your successes, share when things go wrong, and explain what motivates you to keep going. 

Customers don’t expect you or your business to be perfect. You’re more relatable when they realize you have flaws just like them. Sharing it all through the lens of a personal brand can help you connect to the people you serve and build customer relationships for life.

8 steps for small business owners to create a personal brand

If you’re ready to improve your personal brand, here are eight steps to get you started.

1. Create a personal narrative

People love connecting with stories. If you share your journey to business ownership and your challenges, your customers can get to know you on a personal level. Many entrepreneurs share their upbringing, what inspires them, and how they get ideas. Don’t be afraid to mention any struggles you’ve overcome or current problems within your industry. People relate to authenticity, and letting your quirks and personality show through is okay.

You can also create personal narratives around each of your products and services. For example, maybe a trip to the zoo with your daughter inspired your new bouquet design. Or, perhaps you started a service specifically because it was something you wish you had when you started your business. These stories can help your customers not only relate to you — but to what you’re selling, too.

2. Understand your customer

When you own a business, it’s important to understand your customers’ needs. Get to know them. Chat with them on social media. Ask them questions. Once you get a deeper understanding of who they are, you can continue to hone your personal narrative in a way that relates to them better.

3. Develop your unique value proposition (UVP)

You have a unique value proposition (UVP) as a business owner. This is your selling point. It’s the reason why your business is the best one to help your customers achieve their goals. Make sure your customers know what those solutions are and why you, with all your knowledge and skills, are the best person to give it to them.

4. Regularly show up online

Whether you own a small or large business, it’s a great idea to show up online with strong social media marketing. Most people don’t expect to get in touch with the company owner when they have a question or a problem. By showing up online, letting folks peek behind the curtain, and being vulnerable, your customers can develop more of a personal connection with you. By being active on social media, you put a face to the company and give your audience a chance to know more about why you started the business and how it can help them.

5. Write a newsletter 

Another way to hone your personal brand is to write a newsletter. Over multiple emails, you can introduce yourself and your brand to every customer who signs up. Take your customers through the journey of starting your business. Tell them things about you only your friends or family know. Share a silly story, a time you messed up, or maybe when things finally clicked for your company. Be personable and shape your brand with every email you send out.

6. Connect with like-minded entrepreneurs

Meeting other entrepreneurs will help you see how other business owners develop their personal brands. You can collaborate with them on social media, or even create products together. Collaborating with like-minded entrepreneurs — whether they have a background similar to yours, or work in a closely related industry — can help you spread your message to more people.

7. Share testimonials

Once you’ve established an online presence and your email newsletter, start asking for testimonials. Testimonials help with your brand because they show how you’ve improved the lives of your customers. New customers might be able to see themselves in those testimonials, and they might convince them to try your products or services. To take them to the next level, include a photo of the customer (with their permission) or ask them to record a video testimonial talking about their experience. Consider offering discounts or bonuses for those who leave an honest review. 

8. Evaluate regularly

Your personal brand will change as you gain experience, overcome challenges, and grow your reputation. Make sure you’re still resonating with customers by auditing your newsletter and social channels each quarter. See what’s working and what’s not. Figure out what type of posts or emails connect with people and which get the most responses. Use that information to help you sharpen your personal brand and reach more people moving forward. Consistent improvement is just as important for small businesses as it is for the wealthiest entrepreneurs. 

The importance of personal branding is here to stay

These days, it’s more important than ever for entrepreneurs to have a personal brand. The practice of excessive formality is going away. Now, customers love to connect with small businesses on a human level — it makes them feel good to know they’re supporting someone who deserves their support. 

Having a personal story, being vulnerable, and interacting with customers can help business owners grow a fanbase and attract new clients and customers. 

Featured Image by Adam Winger on Unsplash

The post Elevating Your Business: The Impact of Personal Branding on Small Business Success appeared first on noupe.

In today’s digitized business environment, providing top-notch customer service is paramount. As competition intensifies, businesses prioritizing customer satisfaction invariably gain the upper hand. This is where the role of proficient customer support tools becomes crucial.

Customer support tools are more than just mechanisms to facilitate customer interaction. They have transformed into crucial game-changers that drive businesses toward operational efficiency, superior customer service, and enhanced profitability. Below are some of the primary benefits that these tools offer modern businesses.

Streamlined Customer Interaction

Efficient customer support tools help businesses to simplify the process of responding to customer queries. With automated response and ticketing systems, your customer support team can manage a large volume of customer interactions with greater efficiency. This approach boosts customer satisfaction levels, fostering stronger trust and loyalty.

Insightful Data Analysis

When it comes to big data, customer support tools offer invaluable insights. By analyzing a myriad of customer interactions, these tools deliver crucial information on customer behavior, needs, and preferences. This data enables businesses to tailor their products and marketing strategies more effectively, fostering customer retention and business growth.

Enhanced Customer Experience

With diverse tools ranging from live chat to AI-driven virtual assistants, customer support tools facilitate real-time, personalized customer interaction. They offer customers instant and comprehensive support, significantly enriching their experience and boosting loyalty.

Boosting Productivity

Customer support tools alleviate the pressure on your service staff by automating routine tasks and managing customer interactions more efficiently. This streamlined process bolsters productivity and team morale while enhancing customer service quality.

Cost Saving

A strong customer support tool can result in notable cost savings over time. Through efficient workflows and reduced time spent on dealing with customer interactions, an intercom alternative delivers more significant productivity at a reduced cost. The increased customer satisfaction and loyalty generated also lead to stronger profitability, making it a worthwhile investment.

24/7 Support

In the global business landscape, customers expect constant support. To meet these expectations, customer support tools integrate AI-powered chatbots and automated response systems. This level of accessibility significantly boosts customer satisfaction and bolsters your brand’s credibility.

Gaining Competitive Advantage

Ensuring superior customer support is an effective strategy for gaining a competitive advantage. Through swift, personalized, and efficient customer service, customer support tools empower your business to differentiate itself and rise above the competition.

How to Choose a Customer Support Tool

A wide selection of customer support tools is available. Unfortunately, most of these tools in the market today are expensive and bloated. Still, we have intercom alternatives that are revolutionizing customer support, minus the high price tag, but you have to choose right. To maximize customer satisfaction in your business, consider the following factors when choosing a customer support tool. 

• Functionality and Features: Ensure the tool offers the necessary features such as live chat, ticketing, integration with other platforms, automation, etc.
• Ease of Use: A user-friendly interface aids effective utilization by your staff, ensuring a smooth process.
• Scalability: Your customer support needs will evolve as your business grows. So, choose a tool that can scale along with your business.
• Pricing: Consider the pricing structure of the tool and ensure it fits within your budget without compromising essential features.
• Customer Reviews and Reputation: Look at user reviews and the tool’s reputation in the market to understand its worthiness.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Why are customer support tools essential for modern businesses?

Customer support tools play a crucial role in enhancing customer satisfaction, driving operational efficiency, and ultimately boosting profitability. In today’s competitive business landscape, prioritizing customer service provides a significant advantage.

2. How do customer support tools streamline customer interaction?

Efficient customer support tools, including automated response and ticketing systems, simplify the process of responding to customer queries. They enable businesses to manage a large volume of interactions with greater efficiency, fostering trust and loyalty.

3. What insights can businesses gain from using customer support tools?

These tools provide invaluable insights through data analysis of customer interactions. Businesses can understand customer behavior, needs, and preferences, allowing for more effective tailoring of products and marketing strategies, leading to customer retention and growth.

4. How do customer support tools enhance the customer experience?

Customer support tools, such as live chat and AI-driven virtual assistants, facilitate real-time, personalized interactions. They offer instant and comprehensive support, significantly enriching the customer experience and fostering loyalty.

5. How do customer support tools contribute to cost savings?

Efficient workflows and reduced time spent on customer interactions lead to notable cost savings. Investing in a robust customer support tool not only improves productivity but also generates increased customer satisfaction and loyalty, resulting in stronger profitability.

6. How do customer support tools provide 24/7 support?

Customer support tools integrate AI-powered chatbots and automated response systems, ensuring constant accessibility. This level of support meets global customer expectations, significantly boosting satisfaction and enhancing the brand’s credibility.

7. How can businesses gain a competitive advantage through customer support tools?

Superior customer support, facilitated by efficient tools, serves as a strategic advantage. Swift, personalized, and efficient customer service differentiates a business and positions it above the competition, ultimately contributing to sustained success.

8. What factors should businesses consider when choosing a customer support tool?

When selecting a customer support tool, consider factors such as functionality, ease of use, scalability, pricing, and customer reviews. Ensuring the tool offers necessary features, is user-friendly, scalable with business growth, fits the budget, and has a positive reputation in the market is crucial for making an informed decision.

9. How do customer support tools contribute to boosting productivity?

Customer support tools automate routine tasks and manage customer interactions efficiently, reducing the workload on service staff. This streamlined process not only enhances team productivity and morale but also ensures the delivery of high-quality customer service.

10. Can customer support tools be customized to meet specific business needs?

Yes, many customer support tools offer customization options to cater to the unique requirements of different businesses. Businesses can tailor features, workflows, and integrations to align with their specific customer service strategies, making the tool adaptable to diverse industries and business models.

The Final Word

Indeed, customer support tools have become indispensable in the current business environment. Their incredible benefits make them a central component of any effective business strategy. With the pace of technological advancement accelerating daily, the importance of these tools is set to grow exponentially. Therefore, investing in a strategic customer support tool today can propel your business toward continued growth and success in the digital age.

Featured image by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

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The role that TikTok plays in influencing trends is undeniable. As the most downloaded app across the globe, TikTok’s stats are topping the charts — and marketers are taking notice. As of 2023, the majority of marketers are incorporating the app heavily into their strategies. Audio marketing is no exception. 

In fact, audio is a large part of why TikTok has become so popular. With its beginnings as the now-defunct app, Musical.ly, TikTok has a stronghold on music-based, short-form video. From dance trends to educational videos with trending sounds, the app has capitalized on its ability to streamline video and audio editing for the casual creator. Learn how to tap into TikTok’s massive influence on the audio industry to promote your products, services, and entire brand.  

Unique Features of TikTok That Shape Audio Trends

The immediacy that TikTok evokes in its users makes the platform stand out. It has the unique ability to prompt users to share snippets of their voice or use songs or other audio to enhance their videos and storytelling capabilities. This evolution of sound has placed audio first and changed how people interact with and create content. 

Popularity

With 1.7 billion people on TikTok, the reach potential is unmatched. While the app has been dominated by primarily Gen Z users, millennials and older generations are increasingly adopting the platform. Targeting this market can help get your audio product or service in front of the right eyes and ears, and TikTok’s unique algorithm can boost your view count faster than other platforms. 

Search Function

TikTok users receive a curated For You page that shows them videos related to their preferences and past behavior. This can place your audio on the home feeds of users who are already interested in audio production. Further, users can search through TikTok sounds when creating videos and save sounds when watching others’ content. Users can also click on the sound and find more information, such as the original creator and all videos created using that sound. This places emphasis on good audio as a community-building tool.

Audio-Focused Trends

With such an audio-forward interface, many of the trends on TikTok are shaped by music or sounds. Some of these trends include:

• Dances to music; 
• ASMR; 
• Storytime videos;
• Comedic soundbites.

Often, users take a popular sound and create a video with a twist on the original. This gives sound creators the possibility to go viral.

User-Friendliness

TikTok gives every user the power to make viral content or, at the very least, audio-visual content that they may not have been able to create before. With the intuitive editing features, TikTokers can add sounds, prerecorded audio, or voiceovers right in the app. This effectively makes everyone an audio artist — and opens up more audio marketing possibilities to a wide audience.

How To Leverage TikTok’s Audio Influence

For audio marketers to use TikTok effectively, you must have a solid understanding of the app’s interface. Start by creating engaging, short-form videos that feature your audio products and services in action. 

Organically Promote Audio Products and Services

You can use TikTok to showcase the unique features and benefits of your audio products and services in a visually appealing way, making sure the content aligns with current trends and challenges. Use TikTok’s search function to find trending sounds that you can apply to relevant videos on your offerings. Engage with your audience through comments, duets, and responses to foster a community around your brand. 

You can even collaborate with TikTok influencers who have a strong presence in the music or audio niche to show your products to their established audience. There is even a TikTok shop feature where users can buy products directly on the platform. You can use any combination of these features to see what works. For instance, you could promote software that cleans up audio by doing a before and after video showing the difference in audio quality it can make. Then, you can run an ad and link directly to your software purchasing page.

Run TikTok Ads

If you want to spend some of your budget on ads, running TikTok ads is a popular way to reach a wider audience and drive targeted social media traffic to your videos that include product offerings. Use the same videos that you created using trending or original sounds when running these ads. 

This way, they can be placed in front of an even more relevant audience since you can tailor the ads to target specific demographics, interests, and behaviors. TikTok’s ad platform provides valuable analytics and performance insights, allowing you to fine-tune your campaigns for maximum impact.

Tap Into User-Generated Content

Reviews have always been important for sales, but TikTok has increased the amount of trust consumers place in other consumers when looking to make a purchase. They look for authenticity in product and service reviews, and they are more adept at spotting fake reviews. For this reason, it’s important to collaborate with influencers by allowing them to post their genuine thoughts about your offerings. Even better, simply inspire user-generated content by creating and showcasing a genuinely good product that creates TikTok buzz all on its own.

Go With the Flow

Regardless of the method you choose to promote your audio products and services on TikTok, it is extra effective to create and inspire authentic content. That is what the platform is built upon. Use your audio products to create the sounds in your posts. You may even create a trending sound by doing so. Keep up with fast-moving TikTok trends to get ahead of the curve. By leveraging TikTok’s audio industry influence strategically, you can effectively promote your products to a highly engaged and creative user base. 

Featured image by Ron Lach

The post TikTok’s Role in Shaping Audio Marketing Strategies appeared first on noupe.

Video is one of the most powerful and engaging forms of content in the digital world. According to a report by Cisco, video traffic has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 34% and was projected to account for 82% of all internet traffic in 2022. 

However, creating high-quality videos can be time-consuming, expensive, and challenging, especially for small businesses and individuals who lack the resources and skills to produce professional videos.

That’s where AI-generated videos come in. AI video generators can help you create stunning videos for various purposes, such as marketing, education, entertainment, and more, without requiring technical expertise or expensive equipment.

In this blog post, we’ll explore what AI video generators are, how they work, what makes a good AI video generator, and compare the three best AI video generators of 2024.’

What are AI video generators?

AI video generators are online platforms that use artificial intelligence to create videos at scale from text, images, audio, or other input sources. 

They use natural language processing (NLP), computer vision, and deep learning to analyze the input, generate a script, select relevant media, add effects, synthesize speech and audio, and make a video in minutes. 

The result is a realistic and engaging video that can be customized and edited according to your preferences.

AI video generators can help you create various types of videos, such as:

• Product videos
• Explainer videos
• Training videos
• Social media content
• Marketing video assets
• Educational videos
• Social media videos
• Entertainment videos

AI video generators can help you save time, money, and effort in creating videos and improve the quality and effectiveness of your video content.

How AI video generators work

An AI video generator is a powerful tool that uses artificial intelligence to automate the video creation process. Depending on the tool, the process may vary slightly, but generally, it involves the following steps:

Step #1 Input

You provide the input for the video, such as text, images, audio, or a URL. 

The input can be a script, a blog post, an article, a product description, or any other source of information. Some AI video makers include script generators based on large language models like ChatGPT.

Step #2. Analysis

The AI video generator analyzes the input, using natural language processing (NLP) to understand the text’s meaning, context, and tone and computer vision to recognize the objects, faces, and scenes in the images.

Step #3. Generation

The AI video creator then generates a video clip from the input, using deep learning to select relevant media, such as stock footage, images, music, and sound effects, and to create a storyboard, a voiceover, and subtitles. 

The AI video generator also adds effects, such as transitions, filters, and animations, to make the video more appealing and dynamic.

Step #4. Customization

You can customize and edit the video using different video tools provided by the AI video platform. 

You can change the media, voice, text, colors, fonts, logo, etc. You can also add audio files for background music and other elements to your video. You can also add or delete scenes, adjust the duration, and rearrange the order of the video.

Step #5. Export

Once you finish editing your video, you can export and download the video in various formats and resolutions, such as MP4, MOV, AVI, 720p, 1080p, and 4K, producing professional-looking videos every time. 

You can also share the video on social media platforms like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and Instagram, or embed it on your website or blog.

What makes a good AI video generator?

The best AI video generator depends strongly on your particular use case.

In some cases, you may be interested in quickly editing a video you previously made to remove its background, add visual effects, or transform it into a cartoon, for example.

In other cases, you may be interested in creating a training video from scratch based on an idea you have in your head. These and other tasks require different sets of features, the most important of which are:

#1. Extensive video template gallery

A good AI video generator should offer various customizable video templates for different purposes, such as explainer, marketing, or educational videos. 

Your chosen video editing tools should allow you to customize the template to change the media, the text, the voice, and other elements of the video.

The video templates should also be updated regularly so that you can access the latest trends and styles in video creation.

#2. AI video editing

A good AI video generator should also provide an AI video editor that allows you to edit and enhance your videos using artificial intelligence. This includes performing common tasks such as: 

• Video quality
• Stabilization
• Brightness
• Saturation
• Trimming
• Cropping
• Rotating
• Resizing
• Contrast
• Color

How? Through simple prompts in natural language, generating personalized videos from input text.

The AI video editor should also be able to add effects to your videos, such as transitions, filters, animations, stickers, and emojis, and remove unwanted objects, backgrounds, and noises without using green screens.

#3. Custom AI avatars

Custom-made AI avatars that can act as spokespersons, characters, or instructors in your videos are becoming more common every day in the AI video generator market. You’ll find excellent options like Synthesia io that offer realistic, expressive, and diverse custom avatars to bring your videos to life. 

These AI avatars should be able to lip-sync, gesture, and emote according to your script and should be fully customizable in terms of their appearance, clothing, and accessories.

#4. Audio and speech synthesis in multiple languages

The more modern AI video generators offer audio and speech synthesis in multiple languages. Some allow you to dub an existing video in any language you like, matching your tone, pitch, speed, and accent and lip-syncing your video to the AI-generated speech. 

Some tools also let you add original, royalty-free background music and sound effects to your videos.

With this feature, you can create videos for different audiences and markets in a matter of minutes with the click of a button.

#5. Integrations with other editing tools

Finally, a good AI video generator should also integrate with other editing tools, such as Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Canva, and WordPress, so that you can further edit and optimize your videos using your favorite tools. 

The integrations should be seamless, easy, and fast so that you can transfer your videos between different platforms without losing quality or data.

Comparing the 3 best AI video generators for 2024

Now that you know what makes a good AI video generator, let’s look at the three best AI video generators for 2024. We’ll break down how they compare in terms of features, price, and suitability for different use cases.

#1. Synthesia

Synthesia is an AI video generator that allows you to create videos from text in minutes. You can choose from hundreds of video templates or create your own custom video from scratch. You can also use Synthesia’s AI avatars to deliver your message in a realistic and engaging way.

Top Features

• Natural-sounding TTS voice synthesis in 120+ languages
• Realistic human-like avatars
• AI script generator
• AI video editor

Price

Synthesia offers a free trial to create one video from a 200-word prompt. The paid plans start from $29 per month.

Best for

Synthesia is ideal for creating videos of the best possible quality in various languages with a human touch.

#2. Pictory

Pictory is an AI-powered tool that allows you to create videos from text, images, or URLs in minutes. You can upload your own content or use Pictory’s AI to find relevant content from the web. You can also use Pictory’s AI to edit and enhance your videos and add voiceovers and subtitles.

Top Features

• Auto summarizes long videos
• Text-based video editing tool
• Creates video highlights
• Blog-to-video feature
• Script to video

Price

Pictory offers three paid subscription plans starting from $23 per month up to $119 per month.

Best for

Pictory is ideal for repurposing existing content, such as blog posts, articles, product descriptions, or social media posts, into a video.

#3. InVideo

Like Pictory, InVideo is an AI video generator that allows you to create videos from text, images, or URLs in minutes. 

You can choose from thousands of video templates or create your own custom video from scratch. You can also use InVideo’s AI to add effects, transitions, filters, and animations to your videos and generate voiceovers and subtitles.

Top Features

• Generate entire videos from text prompts.
• Extensive collection of over 6,000 video templates.
• Intuitive video editor.
• Natural-sounding voiceovers in 4+ languages.
• Collaboration and multi-user editing.

Price

InVideo offers a free plan that allows you to create up to 60 videos per month with a watermark and an InVideo logo. The paid plans start from $15 per month and offer more videos, higher resolution, no watermark, and more features.

Best for

InVideo has the largest collection of video templates, with over 6,000 templates, making it ideal for streamlining video production. It’s also ideal for learning to create videos from scratch using AI, free of charge.

3 best AI video generators comparison table

Here’s a summary of the main features, prices, and best use cases of the reviewed AI tools to help you compare the three best AI video generators for 2024. 

You can use this table to find the best AI video generator for your needs quickly.

Feature	Synthesia	Pictory	InVideo
Top Features	– Natural-sounding TTS voice synthesis in 120+ languages.- Realistic human-like avatars.- AI script generation.- AI video editor.	– Script to video.- Blog-to-video feature.- EdiVideo editing using prompts.- Creates video highlights.- Auto summarizes long videos.	– Generate entire videos from text prompts.- Extensive collection of over 6,000 video templates.- Intuitive video editor.- Natural-sounding voiceovers in 4+ languages.- Collaboration and multi-user editing.
Price	$29/mo, or $264/year	– Standard: $23/month, or $228/year.- Premium: $47/month, or $468/year.- Teams: $119/month, or $1,188/year.	– Free: $0/month (with watermarks)- Business: $30/month, or $180/year.- Unlimited: $60/month, or $360/year.
Best for	Creating the best quality videos in multiple languages.	Repurposing existing content into video.	Crafting videos from templates and learning AI video generation for free.
Video template library	60+	50+	6,000+
Output video quality	1080p for the Standard license.Unlimited for Pro license.	Up to 1080p	Up to 1080p
Custom AI avatars	140+	No	Yes (not clear how many)
Speech synthesis (TTS) in multiple languages	120+ languages	Only English	4+ including English, Spanish, and Hindi.
Integrations	35+ integrations including WordPress, YouTube, Vimeo, and Shopify	Only 3: Google Drive, Hootsuite, and YouTube.	JW Player, Brightcove, Akamai, YouTube, and more.

The importance of AI video generators

AI video generators aren’t just a novelty or a gimmick. They’re powerful and practical tools that can help you create amazing videos in minutes.

AI video generators can help you:

AI’s role in enhancing real-time game aesthetics

AI video generators have revolutionized character design and environment dynamics in PC gaming. In popular games like Fortnite, these advanced tools are instrumental in crafting highly detailed and interactive outfits, offering players an immersive experience.

Take the Fortnite Batman Who Laughs outfit, for instance. AI’s precision and attention to detail enable the rendering of intricate designs, capturing this crossover character’s haunting and iconic appearance. 

Every menacing laugh, terrifying smile, and eerie movement is amplified, blurring the lines between the virtual and real worlds.

This real-time enhancement isn’t just visual. It extends to how characters respond to the environment and players’ actions, making games like Fortnite a playground of endless possibilities. Every session is a unique and captivating experience.

Cutting production times in half or less

Using AI video generators to automate the video creation process helps you bypass time-consuming processes like recording voiceovers, shooting video footage, editing the video, and adding sound and visual effects. 

Doing so allows you to cut your production time in half or less.

Improving marketing ROI

Saving time saves you money, but so does hiring voiceover artists, actors, and professional video editors to make your videos. Using AI video generators, you can create high-quality and engaging videos for your marketing campaigns at a fraction of the cost it’d take you with a more traditional approach, improving your marketing ROI.

For example, when individuals buy used RVs, they often rely on videos to gauge the vehicle’s condition, history, and features. An AI video generator could transform this process, creating simulated videos based on RV specifications, reviews, and history, offering potential buyers an immersive virtual tour. It’s a testament to how AI video technology can be applied in diverse scenarios.

How AI video generators can transform your video creation process

AI video generators aren’t just a novelty or a gimmick. They’re practical AI-powered tools that can help you create amazing videos in minutes without requiring technical expertise or expensive equipment. 

AI video generators can help you step up your content creation, cut production time and costs, improve your digital marketing asset performance, and level up your sales documents and business proposals, among other benefits.

Here’s to outsourcing the heavy lifting of your video creation workflow!

Featured image by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash

The post  Exploring AI Video Generators: A Comparative Overview appeared first on noupe.

Happy New Year to you, and happy new tools! Whether you are a dedicated web tool enthusiast, looking for something specific, or just having a casual browse, welcome to our first collection of 2024.