The technological revolution is the norm in content marketing. But generative AI strikes differently and closer to home.
These versatile tools can speed up tedious production tasks and save writers the frustration of staring at a blank page. But you can’t just plug them in and sit while they do all the work.
The value of AI tools depends on how much effort you put into them. You can make smart decisions about how to apply these technologies and carefully edit its output to ensure it meets brand standards.
The value of #AI tools depends on the effort, says @joderama via @CMICContent. #CMWorld Click to tweet
What’s the best way to bring the content capabilities of AI into play? We asked some experts at Content Marketing World for their best AI tips and advice. Here’s what they say you should (and shouldn’t) do:
To Do: Use AI for writing and editing assistance
Generative AI tools can help you overcome lank page syndrome by acting as your research and brainstorming partner. They can also help you stay true to the brand, by providing editing suggestions for tone and style. Some AI tools also provide SEO assistance during the writing process or use your proprietary content to create derivative pieces. – Wendy Coveyco-founder and CEO of TREW Marketing
The best way to use artificial intelligence for content can be summed up with this sentence: “Say it better”. There are times when what you have expressed, especially in the written word, is not what you want it to be: something is missing, there is confusion or it is simply “out of place”. It is in these moments that artificial intelligence is of incredible value. – Marco Sheridan, Vice President, Marcus Sheridan
Use AI as a way to verify that all long-form text is consistent with the brand’s voice and tone. It’s also a free and easy way to proofread. – Jennifer Harmoncontent strategist and creator, Convince & Convert
#AI can check #content to make sure it maintains the brand’s voice and tone, says Jennifer Harmon via @joderama @CMICContent. #CMWorld Click to tweet
Don’t: Replace qualified (human) team members
Generative AI should make your job easier, not replace the work done by creative professionals. It’s useful for bridging bandwidth or resource gaps, such as quickly building an image instead of looking at stock images for hours. Can suggest titles for articles and topics for newsletters if that’s not your strong point. You can use it to generate scope ideas for a topic to make sure you don’t leave out an important subtopic. – Ruth Carterevil genius, geek law firm
Teams that see Generative AI as a way to cut staff and increase content volume without making process improvements are doomed. There are reasons why journalists and content strategists have developed processes such as style guides, content briefs, fact checking, and development edits. Generative AI doesn’t make these things skippable. – Jeff Coyleco-founder and strategic director of MarketMuse, Inc.
Do: Improve understanding of your audience
Create an AI-powered marketing persona. Compare that to your own persona research. Improve it until you think it’s mostly accurate, then ask lots of questions:
- What does your audience care about?
- Where do they get their information?
- What topics are most useful for their work?
- What drives them to seek answers or help?
- What information do they need before they are willing to become a lead?
Unlike humans, you can interrogate your new AI character day or night. He never tires of sharing insights with you. – Andy Crestodinaco-founder and CMO, Orbit Media Studios
Generative AI tends to provide good insight into how audiences search and how to prioritize their needs. For example, ask ChatGPT: “What are the main features of this [our core audience] should give priority when buying [our products/services]?” and you’ll see exactly what points your content needs to address. – Zontee Houdirector of strategy Convince & Convert
Don’t: Neglecting the legal, ethical, or quality implications of AI
Ethical biases and concerns are associated with generative AI, and there are legitimate concerns about quality, authenticity, security, and privacy. Human oversight and review are key, and that review requires multiple perspectives to ensure inclusiveness and provide context that AI can miss. By being aware of these pitfalls, organizations can leverage the benefits of generative AI while ensuring accountable and effective implementation. – Karen McFarlanemarketing manager of LetterShop x KMC
I am particularly concerned about the legalities associated with artificial intelligence from a copyright perspective and privacy concerns. If you enter proprietary information into these chatbots, anyone using the chatbot will have information to draw from. Also, from an originality perspective, if your content sounds like everyone else’s (because all chatbots can do is regurgitate content), how will it help you stand out? – Michelle Garretconsultant and writer, Garrett Public Relations
When you feed proprietary content into an #AI chatbot, the tool can draw from it to reply to other users, says @prisus via @joderama @CMIContent. #CMWorld Click to tweet
Do: Create manufacturing efficiencies and iterative resources
I’ve turned our long-form content into short-form YouTube videos, Instagram video snippets, tweets, Facebook and LinkedIn posts, and more. Additionally, using AI to create transcripts for accessibility has proven to be a huge time-saver. AI helps me promote our content in more ways and in less time than I thought possible. – Cathy McPhillipshead of growth of the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute
As a podcaster, I can upload an audio file and the AI tools will produce a range of content, including suggested episode titles, scheduled transcript, show notes, newsletter content, LinkedIn posts, tweets, and more. This content still needs some editing, but it makes my job much easier. – Bernie Borgesvice president, content marketing, iQor
Generative AI is great for demanding jobs with content like paid social, email subject lines, tweets, etc. AI can provide various options with the right inputs, but it takes an expert to identify the improve option. The AI provides a lot of ingredients, but it’s not a meal. – Kristyn Wilsonexecutive vice president of PR and digital communications, Adept
Don’t: Publish raw AI output
Generative AI is great for solving the blank page problem or repurposing one form of content into another as a draft. We’ve also found creative ways to use it to analyze keywords and competitors, outline articles, and create webinar emails and social copy. But copying from AI is starting to seem obvious and boring. Avoid posting AI content without a solid editor to spice it up and add opinion, humor, and personality. – Michael BrennerCEO, Insider Marketing Group
Avoid posting #AI content without a solid editor to flesh it out and add opinion, humor and personality, says @BrennerMichael via @Joderama @CMICContent. #CMWorld Click to tweet
Do: Amplify content promotion
One use case I’ve had is writing social media post text to accompany an article I’m sharing. I copy and paste the body of the article to ChatGPT and tell it how many sentences to generate. I make some changes to the copy provided and check it to make sure it doesn’t introduce any inaccuracies. – Dennis Shiaofounder, Attention Retention
Don’t: Assume that AI automatically improves results
Make sure AI is actually improving your processes and results. Track the time spent performing a task and measure it against the time spent when using artificial intelligence. – Brian PiperDirector of Content Strategy and Evaluation, University of Rochester
Rely too much on [AI tools] for writing purposes without engaging in extensive timely design can lead to lackluster results. Great learning models rely on word probability, which means that if your suggestions aren’t detailed enough, you’ll end up with generic results that fail to impress. It’s all about understanding the nature of these patterns and the importance of providing precise instructions to get the desired result. – Christopher Pennchief data scientist, Trust Insights
Rely too much on [#AI tools] writing without committing to timely design can lead to lackluster results, says @CSPenn via @joderama @CMICContent. #CMWorld Click to tweet
The potential of AI is in your (human) hands.
Take a critical look at your content schedule to see where you need help most, then plug in AI to lighten the load. Like any other content marketing tool, the more attention you pay to your usage plans, the better results you can achieve.
ADDITIONAL TIPS FROM CMWORLD 2023 SPEAKERS:
Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
