Many startups are venturing into the world of automated marketing, harnessing the power of generative AI. WorkMagic is no exception, but it has a unique focus – catering to the multitude of small-scale Shopify sellers who can reap substantial benefits from streamlined marketing efforts.
Founded in June, WorkMagic presents an all-encompassing platform that manages various aspects of marketing, from image and copy creation to campaign oversight and attribution analysis.
Lidong Yang, co-founder and CEO of WorkMagic, brings valuable experience from his previous role as the head of growth at TikTok Ads, making him intimately familiar with the challenges faced by independent e-commerce sellers. Yang pointed out that, typically, a small skincare shop operated by a handful of individuals would spend an entire month preparing for Black Friday, investing $10,000 to $20,000 in the process. WorkMagic’s platform can now complete this task entirely, reducing costs significantly.
While similar tools like ZMO.ai assist users in generating marketing content by providing prompts to AI models, WorkMagic sets itself apart by incorporating automated attribution. Attribution is the process in advertising that gauges how marketing strategies contribute to conversions and sales.
After users grant WorkMagic access to their marketing accounts on platforms such as Facebook and Google, the system evaluates the effectiveness of each campaign. By leveraging a blend of established foundational models and in-house models, the AI can suggest and generate alternative images and text that may improve campaign performance.
One major advantage of the attribution model, according to Yang, is its adaptability. It can continuously fine-tune recommendations based on a constant stream of data feedback, helping determine which content is effective and which campaigns are driving orders.
WorkMagic is not meant to be seen as a threat to traditional product photographers and marketers; instead, Yang views it as an “empowering” tool for Shopify sellers. The startup is primarily targeting small merchants with an annual gross merchandise value of less than $1 million. At the same time, its attribution models are designed to assist larger brands in maximizing the efficiency of their media budgets.
With the increasing popularity of Shopify, Yang argues that more entrepreneurs will need to develop marketing skills, whether in the creative or analytical aspects. WorkMagic’s ultimate goal is to empower individuals to run one-person businesses successfully.
Since launching its all-in-one marketing platform in early September, WorkMagic has attracted “thousands of registered users” and “hundreds of” subscriptions. The startup secured its first round of funding, totaling $2 million, from Sinovation Ventures, the venture capital firm led by AI scientist Kai-Fu Lee. Yang co-founded the company with Shuting Zhao, who had previously worked as a senior product data scientist at Waymo before taking on the role of chief information officer at WorkMagic. Impressively, within just three months, WorkMagic has expanded to over 30 employees spread across five countries.
Yang acknowledges the rapidly evolving landscape of generative AI. He believes that due to the rapid advancements in the field over the past several months, companies must frequently adapt to new tools and may even have to discard some of their previous work. The infrastructure, tools, use cases, product directions, and development stacks in the AI marketing space have undergone a complete transformation, making it necessary for companies to stay agile and innovative to remain relevant.
