AI and content marketing: What’s now, and what’s next? We already looked at an overview of the generative AI scene as it currently stands. The general outlook is that AI is great at some things—like short-form content and idea generation—but poor at creating long-form content rich in value for the prospective lead looking for something that makes you stand out from the crowd.

How are so many companies winning while utilizing AI in their content marketing strategy? Mostly, they’ve mastered the art of combining AI efficiency with human creativity.

AI Content Generation Strengths and Weaknesses

If you’ve not had a go at getting AI to write something for you or your business yet, there are plenty of free ways to try this out. Many chargeable generative AI tools offer free demos and there’s ChatGPT, the OpenAI model that’s free to use. You just have to set up an account. Top tip: Don’t use ChatGPT to research current topics. Its dataset only runs to 2021, making any facts potentially outdated.

Once you try generating some text, you’ll notice that AI struggles to keep long posts interesting. Try and make a blog about, say, digital transformation, and you’ll notice repeated sentence structure, awkward phrasing, and even the occasional piece of misinformation. AI doesn’t fact-check; it simply creates content based on the large language model it’s been trained on.

However, generative AI shines if you want to produce 20 social media posts quickly. Short-form content like this rarely triggers AI detectors and won’t negatively impact your SEO. In fact, Google recently changed its policy from a firm stance against AI-generated content to stating that its algorithms now reward high-quality content regardless of how it’s made.

Human Writers + AI Efficiency

So, how do you get around the long-form content problem? The answer is to combine human skill and creativity with AI's time-saving, effort-busting capabilities. Possibilities here include:

•          Idea generation

•          Topic cluster generation

•          Keyword research

•          Creating content briefs

•          Building blog or article structures to guide writers

•          Generating meta descriptions and other SEO tactics

•          Suggesting internal and external linking opportunities

It’s also possible to ask an AI to write a blog/article, then utilize a human content writer or editor to adjust the piece. That might involve rewriting sections, editing for clarity, or fact-checking stats and other data. This is still often faster than writing the entire piece from scratch and helps ensure your company produces high-quality content that adds value to prospective leads.

Final Word

Research from Accenture shows that 98% of execs feel that AI will impact their strategy in the next five years. AI has the potential to boost the output of content marketers and creators, allowing savvy tech startups to place more budget into R&D and growth. If your company needs more support with any aspect of marketing, book a 15-minute introductory call with a member of our team, and let’s chat.

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