AI Tools to Elevate Engagement

Information in this blog post was obtained from HubSpot, Sprout Social, and Semrush.

Image Courtesy of Unsplash

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to reshape how we communicate with audiences online, especially across social media platforms. In 2025, using AI tools to boost content and drive engagement isn’t just a competitive advantage—it’s a necessity. Whether you’re a business owner, content creator, or digital marketer, integrating AI into your strategy can help you understand your audience on a deeper level, craft compelling content faster, and respond with precision and timeliness.

The result? More meaningful interactions and stronger community-building.

In this post, I’ll walk you through the top ways AI is helping brands and creators elevate their engagement game, with real-world examples and insights drawn from industry research and trusted sources.

Understand What Your Audience Wants with Social Listening

The first step to driving engagement is knowing what your audience wants. AI-powered social listening tools can help you do just that. Tools like Sprout Social's Listening Suite let you monitor conversations across social media platforms and online forums. According to Shaun Quarton with Sprout Social, they use AI to identify trends, audience sentiment, and even competitor strategies, giving you a leg up in crafting content that connects and engages.

According to Sprout Social, integrating AI-driven social listening into your strategy allows brands to gain deeper insights into how people feel about their products and competitors. It helps marketers spot industry gaps, opportunities for innovation, and customer pain points that would otherwise go unnoticed (Chacko, 2024). Personally, I find these insights valuable for adjusting my tone, approach, and content strategy before launching a campaign.

Social listening also opens the door to better community building. By tracking brand mentions, hashtags, and sentiment, marketers can respond faster to concerns, highlight positive feedback, and even jump in on trending conversations in real time. These engaging interactions help you become more proactive instead of reactive. AI does the heavy lifting by filtering out irrelevant chatter and surfacing the most useful insights for your brand.

Create Better Content, Faster

Once you understand what your audience wants, the next step is creating content that matches those needs. AI can help you brainstorm and format posts tailored to your followers. According to Claire Beveridge with Semrush, different types of content perform better depending on the platform and audience. Some of the highest-performing types include short-form video, educational posts, behind-the-scenes content, and user-generated content (Beveridge & Go, 2024).

AI content generators can now suggest not just what to post, but when and how to post it. Some tools, like Semrush’s content ideation assistant, analyze your brand tone, previous posts, and your followers’ behavior to recommend content ideas. These tools can also generate post captions, recommend hashtags, and even create templates for different social platforms.

Additionally, AI tools can identify content gaps—areas your brand has yet to explore that could resonate with your target audience. For example, if your competitors are seeing success with carousel posts or short-form interviews, your AI-powered insights platform might suggest trying those formats for your brand.

Using AI this way helps reduce the guesswork and saves hours of brainstorming, giving you more time to create engaging content and respond to your audience directly.

Image Courtesy of Unsplash

Personalize the Experience for Each Follower

One of the most powerful features of AI in social media is its ability to personalize content for each follower. When someone feels like content is speaking directly to them, they are much more likely to engage.

According to HubSpot, AI helps brands create adaptive customer experiences by analyzing user behavior and tailoring messages to match each stage of the customer journey (HubSpot, 2024). For example, a new follower might get a friendly welcome message, while a returning user might receive a product recommendation based on past interactions.

HubSpot highlights that this personalization extends beyond just the content itself—it also impacts timing, tone, and even the delivery channel. According to Kasia Kowalska with HubSpot, Tools like AI-powered CRM and chatbot systems use this data to deliver smarter, more relevant interactions that keep your audience engaged without overwhelming your team (HubSpot, 2024).

Even email marketing platforms are getting smarter with AI. These tools can tailor subject lines and sending times to maximize open rates. For example, if AI detects that a segment of your audience tends to click on emails late at night, it can schedule delivery to match that behavior.

This level of personalization helps you stand out in a noisy digital landscape. It's not just about creating content; it's about creating meaningful, engaging connections.

Automate Customer Support and Response

Engagement isn’t just about what you post—it’s also about how quickly and effectively you respond. AI-powered tools are making it easier than ever to offer great customer support at scale.

Chatbots, for instance, are no longer the generic, robotic messengers they once were. AI tools like HubSpot’s service hub can craft responses based on previous interactions and context, creating a seamless and human-like support experience (HubSpot, 2024). When customers feel heard and supported, they are much more likely to return and engage with your content again in the future.

Fast response times also impact how customers view your brand. According to HubSpot, companies that use AI for customer engagement report shorter wait times and higher satisfaction scores (HubSpot, 2024). This means you can manage more conversations at once, provide more value to each user, and maintain a positive brand reputation.

Another advantage is multilingual support. According to Kasia Kowalska with HubSpot, many AI tools offer real-time translation features, allowing you to support global audiences without needing a full international customer service team. This accessibility builds brand loyalty and removes barriers to engagement, helping you drive connection on a global scale.

Image Courtesy of Unsplash

Spot Competitor Gaps and Opportunities

Another underrated way AI boosts social media engagement is by showing you where your competitors are falling short. With social listening and sentiment analysis, you can compare your performance to others in your space.

Sprout Social’s Listening Suite includes competitive benchmarking tools that use AI to show how your content stacks up against your competitors’. According to Shaun Quarton with Sprout Social, you can see what content formats work best for them, which posts failed to resonate, and what gaps you could fill (Chacko, 2024).

This competitive intelligence helps you position your content smarter. You’re not just reacting to trends—you’re staying ahead of them. This strategic edge can help you boost engagement by targeting unmet needs or introducing creative spins on popular topics.

In my experience, even minor changes based on competitive analysis—like changing when you post or tweaking your call-to-action—can drive higher engagement and stronger results.

Conclusion

AI is totally changing how we think about engagement. Instead of doing more just to keep up, AI helps us work smarter. It lets us really listen to what people are saying, create content faster (and better), personalize messages in a way that actually feels personal, and support our audience without burning out.

Whether you’re trying to get more likes, drive more traffic, or simply connect with people on a deeper level, the right AI tools can make a huge difference. I’ve been using them for a while now, and honestly—they’ve saved me so much time, made my content stronger, and helped me build better relationships with my followers.

If you’re not already using AI to boost engagement, this is the perfect time to give it a try. Start with one or two tools, see what clicks, and pay attention to the results. AI isn’t here to take over your creativity—it’s here to help you take it even further.

Check out my colleague Casey Champney's article for more information on how you can use social media algorithms to increase engagement.

Disclaimer: No AI was injured in the production of this content. AI (ChatGPT) was used as a tool to supplement, enhance, and make suggestions in writing this blog post.

Resources

Beveridge, C., & Go, S. (2024, May 23). 10 types of social media content that drive engagement & growth. Semrush. https://www.semrush.com/blog/social-media-content/

Chacko, A. (2024, March 27). Strengthen your competitive analysis strategy with social listening. Sprout Social. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/strengthen-competitive-analysis-strategy-social-listening/

HubSpot. (2024, March 11). 6 ways AI customer engagement will improve customer service. https://blog.hubspot.com/service/ai-customer-engagement

OpenAI. (2025). ChatGPT (April 21 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/