Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a buzzword in the world of marketing. As new AI tools emerge every day, so do new ways of using AI in your business and everyday life. In this guide, we'll take a look at how you can use AI as your writing sidekick for content marketing.
AI won’t replace content marketers (yet)
AI has a lot of potential. But it also has limitations. Before using AI for content marketing, it’s helpful to get to grips with the constraints of AI.
It isn’t sentient
AI doesn’t have a brain like you or I do. It can’t think or feel.
AI’s knowledge is based solely on logic. In contrast, our knowledge is based on a mix of reason and emotion. Our experiences and feelings shape how we see things. But AI doesn’t have that ability.
AI might feign human emotion, but it’s merely an illusion. AI’s emotion is curated. AI can only perceive things based on the information it is fed.
You can’t rely on it to be accurate
Sure, AI is powerful. But it isn’t always accurate. Just like humans, AI sometimes gets things wrong.
When using ChatGPT, you will see a disclaimer stating, “ChatGPT may produce inaccurate information about people, places, or facts.” While AI tools do their best to provide factually accurate information, they still need a human touch.
If you’re using AI, fact-check the information it gives you. This is particularly important when writing YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) content that has real-world effects on the readers. In these cases, a human touch is crucial for ensuring E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) runs through your content. AI cannot replicate this, running the risk of your content being inaccurate and low quality.
The output is limited by the input
Getting the best possible results from AI depends on feeding it the best possible information.
It’s like asking someone to design you a logo without giving them the exact details about what you want the logo to look like. They might get it right. But it is more likely that they will get it wrong — and you will end up in a back-and-forth ping-pong match of reiterating the design.
You need to tell AI exactly what you want. Otherwise, it’s going to hazard a guess (and likely get it wrong). Be specific in your request — like really specific. Want AI to give you ten content ideas for a blog post on programmatic SEO? Tell it! Want to make sure those results are all about the SaaS industry? Tell it! The more specific your generative AI prompt is, the better the output will be.
The responses can feel canned
AI responses can feel canned. They lack the originality and personality you get from a human writer who knows your brand inside and out.
With that said, you can train some AI tools, such as ChatGPT, to produce content that mirrors your brand’s voice, personality, and tone. You can do this by sharing examples of your writing style, providing background information on your company, and feeding it your tone of voice guidelines.
How to use AI in the research phase of content marketing
The research phase of a content marketing strategy can be time-consuming. While every company’s strategy is different, the core elements will follow a similar pattern.
At some point during on-site content planning, you will need to find content ideas, conduct keyword research, and create outlines for blog posts. There are a few ways you can use AI to simplify these content marketing research and planning steps.
Use AI to find content ideas
In its most basic form, the content you create for your brand should focus on two things:
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What you do
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Who you do it for
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You can use AI to develop content ideas for a wide variety of marketing channels — be it social media, newsletters, blogs or videos. For example:
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Write a list of 10 blog post ideas aimed at [audience] who are [problem they are trying to solve/goal they want to achieve]
In this prompt, the audience will align with your target audience. The problem or goal should relate to what your brand does.
By following these steps and using AI as your writing sidekick for content marketing research and planning steps, you can save time and effort while creating high-quality content that resonates with your audience.