Using AI for content marketing – specifically ChatGPT, which has soared in popularity across industries as a go-to for everything from writing prompts to search optimization to flat-out content production – can be a significant benefit to content strategy with one important caveat.
Humans still need to be involved.
The prevailing concern about integrating AI into the writing process (not surprisingly) is that content will no longer be truly authentic. If human writers are simply plugging a topic into ChatGPT and letting the AI produce an entire blog post, short story, or high school essay, the implications are somewhat far-reaching.
Even the Cliffs Notes many of us turned to in a pinch before that exam on the novel we didn’t read required some level of human thought and activity to digest the information and apply it intelligently.
Using AI for work that should be performed by a human, like writing and developing content strategy, understandably carries concerns about the quality of work and potential impact on overall business.
One of our clients, for example, would probably not be thrilled to find out that our writing team was churning out content using ChatGPT rather than personally engaging in the research, writing, and strategy behind it. NOTE: We aren’t – and this blog post was written by an actual human as well.
All that being said, however, AI for content marketing is a tool, just like any other tool. And when used properly, and used in conjunction with the human element, it can help marketing agencies like Fishnet produce more strategic work for our clients with insights that otherwise wouldn’t have been as easy to identify.
Just Another AI for Marketing
The internet has its opinions about the role of AI in content marketing, but let’s consider some of the other AI tools we have been relying on for different aspects of marketing over the years.
It was only a matter of time before an AI like ChatGPT or [insert one of many AI writing tools here] came onto the scene. And, as mentioned above, there can certainly be drawbacks to a tool that can create complete writing assignments in seconds after receiving nothing more than a basic topic as a prompt.
But when used responsibly, like most things in life, AI is a benefit to content strategists everywhere as another tool that provides valuable insights, prompts, and guidance for what are often complicated research projects, helping us to understand the best writing approach for a specific audience.
AI for Content Marketing Can Improve Strategy
Most of the struggle for businesses when it comes to content marketing is knowing what to produce to target the right audiences, and how to execute a content production plan with often limited resources.
Outsourcing to a marketing agency like Fishnet, equipped with a content team who’s job is exclusively focused on generating actionable, optimized, effective content for your business, is a great option for companies and takes a lot of the burden off of staff resources.
In my role as Director of Content Strategy, I spend a lot of time doing research and recording audience and search data to inform content strategies for different clients. When mapping out specific types of content, inclusive of topic, target audience, and where it falls in the buyer journey, it’s helpful to draw on AI tools that can identify trends.
Here are three important ways AI is helping inform content strategy:
This information arms me with critical audience insights we can use to resonate effectively with the big box stores, demonstrating that our client has what they need to make successful appliance sales.
The best part about using AI for keyword research is that it can be used at any point in the writing process. While it’s certainly easier to research your SEO ahead of time to guide your writing at the start, you can apply optimizations to existing content or after the fact by making adjustments in line with the AI data.
These personas include helpful data points relative to demographics, psychographics, and buying behaviors, as well as a general synopsis of the persona to develop them into a real-life end user. Shaping buyer personas using real search data and user behavior data improves the quality of our content strategy for our clients and reflects a deeper layer of research and information.
The Powerful Combo of the Tool and The Human
Too often we view new technology as scary or intimidating if it doesn’t fit nicely into something we’re already familiar with, like a new version of the iPhone. When smartphones initially launched, there was (and still is) some healthy skepticism about the impact of putting so much of ourselves into a tiny – but very connected – box.
AI has been around for enough time that each new development shouldn’t come as a surprise; rather, a reminder that technology is moving faster than most of us can reasonably comprehend, and the best we can do (if we want to participate in the technology landscape at large) is use it smartly.
Ignoring or shirking new tech won’t help your business, since there will always be someone else in your industry who is moving full steam ahead and making the most out of what each new technology has to offer. Technology is designed to make things easier, and when used correctly, that’s exactly what it does.
AI for content writing is not a robot meant to replace humans. Serious content writers who enjoy what they do and value playing a role in the creation and output of content should recognize this and view AI writing technology as another tool in their toolbelt that works best in conjunction with the human element. Build your content strategy with Fishnet, and get the benefit of an agency that stays on top of the best technology and tools to enhance the work we do. Contact us today.
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