Broadcasting
Optimising success: How digital marketers can leverage ChatGPT for strategies, ad campaigns
By Stephen Newton, Managing Director for Sub-Saharan Africa, Ad Dynamo by Aleph
Over the past few months, OpenAI’s ChatGPT has taken the world by storm. If you haven’t been following news about the artificial intelligence (AI) tool, you might think that sounds hyperbolic. But it’s not.
Stephen Newton, Managing Director, Sub-Saharan Africa, Ad Dynamo by Aleph
In February this year, it became the fastest consumer tool ever, with 100 million users, taking just two months to reach that point.
While the tool isn’t perfect (like many AI applications, it’s prone to occasional bouts of hallucination), it is still incredibly powerful. When used correctly, it can be transformative for people working across a broad range of industries. Digital marketing is no exception.
Although AI-based image, audio, and video generation tools seem like more of a natural fit for marketing (at least from a creative point of view), ChatGPT can be very effective both on its own and in combination with those other tools. It really comes into its own when it comes to putting together marketing strategies and campaigns.
Research and information gathering
In fact, ChatGPT can play an important role from the very early stages of putting strategies and campaigns together. As anyone with extensive experience in digital marketing will tell you, good research can be vital to a successful campaign. But even basic background research can take an extended period of time.
Even if you’re a search engine whiz, getting the information you want can take hours upon hours of searching. That’s to say, nothing of the expertise needed when the research gets more granular, and you need to analyse large volumes of data. ChatGPT can make both basic research and deep analysis significantly quicker. In the case of the former, you’ll get a much quicker answer to something like “How many 15 to 24-year-olds are there in Nigeria?” (useful for figuring out your total addressable market) on ChatGPT than if you had to search for and sift through the relevant statistics yourself.
And when deeper knowledge is required, ChatGPT can assist in market research by analysing large volumes of data, identifying trends, and generating insights. Marketers can utilise this information to understand consumer preferences, monitor competitors, identify emerging market trends, and refine their marketing strategies accordingly.
ChatGPT can also be used for A/B testing and optimisation. Using the AI tool, marketers can run simulated A/B tests for campaign messaging and variations. By inputting different prompts or content options, they can generate responses from ChatGPT and assess which approach resonates most with the target audience. This can help them better optimise campaign elements before implementation.
Beyond that, ChatGPT can interact with website visitors or social media users to collect information, qualify leads, and gather customer preferences. With those capabilities, marketers can design conversational flows that capture relevant data, segment prospects, and identify potential opportunities for personalised marketing campaigns.
Fueling creativity
Using an AI tool like ChatGPT for those research and insight-gathering purposes would likely make intuitive sense to digital marketers. After all, many of the tools they currently use already have some AI capabilities. ChatGPT just takes things a step further and makes it easier to gather that information.
But those are far from the only capabilities that ChatGPT has. It can also be used in the creative conceptualisation process and, assist in generating high-quality content for various marketing channels, such as blog posts, social media updates, email newsletters, and website copy.
With the correct input of prompts and descriptive briefings, ChatGPT can provide creative ideas, headlines, product descriptions, and engaging narratives.
Of course, it might not deliver the same level of quality as you’d get from an experienced copywriter, but it would provide a useful start or send you in a direction you wouldn’t previously have thought of. Think of it a bit like GPS. You could use it to find the most direct route from A to B, or you can use it to take roads you’ve never been down before without worrying you’ll ever get lost.
ChatGPT can also allow you to take more creative approaches to things like the customer engagement elements of a campaign. For example, it can be integrated into chatbots or live chat systems on websites and social media platforms. That, in turn, means that it can handle customer inquiries, provide personalised recommendations, and offer support in a conversational manner.
Partnerships still matter
With all those capabilities, it would be tempting to think that you could ditch your digital marketing agency and do it all yourself. But, as impressive as the technology is, it’s not quite there yet. The right marketing partner, with deep expertise and experience on the internet’s most popular platforms, is still crucial to ensuring that your marketing messages are seen by the right people. Chances are, such a partner will also have the technical expertise and understanding needed to get the most out of such evolving AI tools like ChatGPT.
So, if you want to make the most of ChatGPT in your digital marketing efforts, don’t go at it alone. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get familiar with it and explore its capabilities yourself. AI will play a profound role in future careers, and we should learn how to use all of the relevant tools. But unless you have the deep industry knowledge needed to get the most out of these tools, you will be better off partnering with experts who hold that knowledge for a good while yet.
Federal government, yesterday, said that it will now launch the so-called FreeTV, with over 100 channels for news, sports, education, entertainment and children’s programming in multiple Nigerian languages on June 17.
National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) had initially scheduled for May 15 for the launch.
But the new date was announced by Mohammed Idris, minister of Information and National Orientation, on Wednesday during a facility tour of NIGCOMSAT, alongside Dr Charles Ebuebu, director general of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and other stakeholders.
Idris said the long-awaited migration from analogue to digital broadcasting had finally become a reality after years of failed attempts and delays, describing the project as a major breakthrough for Nigeria’s broadcasting industry.
“I have been grappling with this idea of the DSO for many years. Moving our transmissions from analogue to digital has now happened and is ready to be commissioned by June 17,” the minister said.
He revealed that several channels had already been bundled onto the platform, adding that the digital transition would transform broadcasting, advertising and television consumption across Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa.
According to him, the new platform introduces scientific audience measurement tools capable of tracking viewership patterns in real time, thereby giving advertisers reliable data for targeted campaigns.
“Now science is at play. If you are viewing a station, we know who is watching what and how many people are watching. Advertisers can now take informed decisions about the kind of programming Nigerians want to watch across all demographics,” Idris stated.
The minister said the collaboration between NIGCOMSAT, NBC, the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Information had made the digital transition possible, while commending President Bola Tinubu for providing the necessary support and resources.
He described previous DSO efforts as limited and expensive due to encrypted set-top boxes but noted that the new system would be free and accessible to millions of Nigerians.
“In the past, the boxes were encrypted and costly. Now this is free. Government has taken off some of those costs on behalf of Nigerians,” he said.
Idris stressed that unlike earlier pilot phases restricted to a few cities, the new digital platform would have nationwide and regional reach through NIGCOMSAT’s satellite infrastructure.
“Everybody can now watch whatever he wants in real time and painlessly. Free TV everywhere for everybody”, he declared.
The minister also hinted that the platform would challenge the dominance of existing pay-TV operators by offering Nigerians wider viewing options at no cost.
“I don’t want to always use the word ‘substitute’, but this offers opportunities you didn’t get before. You no longer have that monopoly again. Competition is going to set in. Content will grow and viewership will grow,” he said.
He added that the platform would initially launch in standard definition, SD, before quickly transitioning to high definition, HD, bringing Nigerian broadcasting in line with global standards.
“Soon after the launch, we are moving to HD. Nigeria will now compete globally. What you watch here is what you get anywhere,” Idris said.
The minister further disclosed that the service was already available via mobile application and had successfully undergone testing ahead of the official unveiling.
Also speaking during the tour, managing director and chief executive officer of NIGCOMSAT, described the collaboration between NIGCOMSAT and NBC as a strategic partnership that has strengthened service delivery and raised operational standards within Nigeria’s digital broadcasting ecosystem.
According to her, ongoing investments and satellite expansion plans under the current administration will guarantee reliable and continuous service delivery.
“The work has only just started. The work has only just begun,” she said.
Among those who accompanied the Honourable Minister on the tour were Salihu Abdullahi Dembos, director-general, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA); Jibrin Baba Ndace, director-general, Voice of Nigeria (VON); Mohammed Bulama, director-general, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN); and Lanre Issa-Onilu, director-general, National Orientation Agency (NOA), alongside other senior government officials and dignitaries.
Metro Digital Limited, a licenced Indigenous broadcasting organisation, has accused Multichoice, pay television company, of refusing to obey judgements emanating from Courts in Nigeria.
It said the latest of such judgements is the one that was delivered by Justice Chinelo Odili of Rivers State High Court on May 4, 2026 in Suit No. PHC/3943/FHR/2025.
Dr. Paul Osuji, operations manager of Metro Digital, at a press conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State,
said the suit was filed by the organisation and two others against Multichoice and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Osuji stated that Justice Odili has in the judgement described the arrest of a staff member of the company and the carting away of it’s properties and disruption of it’s broadcasting business by the EFCC over a civil dispute of copyrighy as unlawful and violations of the applicants’ rights.
The manager recalled that in October 2025, Multichoice instigated the EFCC to read their office in Port Harcourt, arrested a staff of the company and staff of another company, while the suit was still pending.
“On October 16, 2025, the premises of Metro Digital Limited, a licenced indigenous broadcasting organisation was raided by the Nigerian anti-graft agency, EFCC, instigated by Multichoice Nigeria, purportedly acting on a preservation order made by the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt over the sub licensing of broadcasting content right.
“The preservation order came from a civil dispute already adjudicated by the Court of Appeal No. CA/CS/188/2021 – Multichoice Vs Metro Digital Limited and 20 others, which is a subject of a pending appeal -No. SC/CV/1248/2022 -Multichoice and 20 others before the Supreme Court.
“Instructively, while suit No. PHC/ 3943/ FHR/2025 was still pending, Metro Digital Limited filed an application to set aside the said preservation orders of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt and presided over by Hon. Justice A.T Mohammed.
“In his ruling delivered on December 10, 2025, set aside the preservation orders and it’s legal execution on Metro Digital Limited. The court also ordered EFCC to return unconditionally all the properties and records of Metro Digital Limited, illegally and unlawfully carted away during the raid but the agency has till today not obeyed those orders of the Court,” he said.
Metro Digital Limited is known for operating SLTV, a direct-to-home satellite television service launched to provide affordable, locally-owned alternatives to international pay TV
A Federal High Court in Lagos has restrained the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) from sanctioning or punishing broadcast stations and presenters over the expression of personal opinions, alleged bullying of guests, or failure to maintain neutrality on air.
NBC
Justice Daniel Osiagor granted the interim injunction following an ex parte application filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE).
The court specifically restrained the NBC, its officers, agents and affiliated persons from enforcing its recently issued “Formal Notice” or imposing sanctions, fines or penalties on broadcasters based on provisions of the 6th Edition of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
SERAP and NGE had approached the court to challenge what they described as an arbitrary and unlawful move by the commission to punish broadcasters for allegedly expressing personal opinions as facts, bullying or intimidating guests, or failing to maintain neutrality during programmes.
The groups also asked the court to determine whether the provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code relied upon by NBC were inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and Nigeria’s international human rights obligations.
The suit followed an April statement by the NBC in which it raised concerns over what it described as increasing violations of the broadcasting code across news, current affairs and political programmes.
The commission had warned that presenters who expressed personal opinions as facts or bullied guests during live broadcasts would be sanctioned.
However, Justice Osiagor, in his ruling, held that pending the hearing of the substantive matter, the commission must refrain from using the formal notice to threaten, sanction or punish broadcast organisations and on-air personalities under the contested code provisions.
The matter was adjourned until June 1, 2026, for hearing of the motion on notice.
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