Feature
The Gist
- AI power. AI boosts efficiency in content marketing.
- AI limits. Human oversight refines AI-created content.
- SEO boost. AI aids in optimizing content for SEO.
I won’t sugar coat it, artificial intelligence is creating fear and anxiety in our culture. From widespread worries about AI causing job losses to actors and screenwriters going on strike from fear that AI will replace them to nightmarish AI-based online scams that use fake voices of friends and relatives — AI is a source of sleepless nights across industries.
Marketing, particularly content marketing, has not been spared from AI anxiety. Writers and designers have every right to feel threatened by ChatGPT, Copy.ai and Google Bard.
As a writer and content marketer, I’ve had my own sleepless nights about generative AI’s ability to do what I do — waaaay faster.
However, AI is an extremely broad technology and can be used for good as well as nefarious means. After catching up on sleep, I’ve realized that the use cases for AI in marketing are more helpful than harmful.
Just as it does with other aspects of marketing (personalization, social media, influencer marketing), AI in content marketing automates activities that humans can’t or don’t want to do.
AI can automate the data analysis of target audience behavior so teams can produce content that actually educates readers and generates quality leads. At the same time, AI automates tedious activities such as writing emails, landing page copy and social media copy.
HubSpot's recent State of AI survey revealed that 77% of marketers agree that generative AI helps them create content more efficiently, and 79% agree generative AI can improve the quality of the content they create.
“With audience education and problem-solving as content marketing priorities, we all need to evaluate every angle so we can deliver excellence … and AI can help us,” said Gerry Moran, founder and B2B social media consultant at MarketingThink Consulting.
Three Ways AI Can Improve Content Marketing
The beauty of AI in content marketing is it can help you see both the big picture of your strategy while also handling day-to-day legwork. Here are three advantages for using AI to craft a well-rounded content marketing plan.
AI Analyzes Audience Preferences and Competitor Content
Surprisingly, not that many brands have their eye on the big picture. Only 39% of B2C marketers have a documented content marketing strategy in place, according to CMI’s (Content Marketing Institute) 2022 B2C Content Marketing Trends Report.
This is where AI-based technologies such as machine learning, NLP (natural language processing) and data analytics can make a big impact. These tools analyze website traffic and social media data to understand a target audience’s personality and content preferences. Similar tools scour competitor content so brands can make comparisons and see gaps in their own content strategy.
“If I'm a content marketer today, I'm diving deep into how to leverage AI tools for content creation...but NOT for creating the words,” said Joe Pulizzi, best-selling author and founder of the Content Marketing Institute. “I'd be using it for idea generation, titles, and rough edits. I'd also be experimenting with it for planning and strategy.”
Some of the top AI tools that analyze audience behavior and the competition to inform content strategies, include:
- Audiense
- MarketMuse
- Cortex
- Hubspot
- Crayon (specializes in competitor analysis)
Related Article: How to Use Content Marketing to Your Advantage
AI Generates New Ideas, Expedites Content Creation
AI content idea generators — such as ChatGPT, BuzzSumo Content Discovery and SEMRush AI Title Generator – use machine learning algorithms to analyze data on specific topics, look for recurring themes, and then suggest content ideas.
Additionally, AI tools use NLP and NLG (natural language generation) models to write short blog posts, social media posts, and landing page and email copy.
To be fair, there are a few caveats regarding “AI writers.” While AI tools reduce the time to create content (thus decreasing costs), it’s risky to simply hand over content creation to a ChatGPT or a Jasper without human intervention. These tools pull information from content that already exists, so the article may read as generic. Or worse, it may include incorrect information.
“AI quite often makes up things that are not true,” said Michael Brenner, author and CEO of Marketing Insider Group. “We’ve seen the quality of the straight up writing with AI tools vary so widely that we no longer ask AI to write anything from scratch. It is mostly helpful in repurposing existing content and structuring new ideas.”
I can say from personal experience that if you do prompt AI to write an entire article, treat it as a blueprint and have a human finesse it with wordplay, anecdotes and humor to capture your brand voice.
Christophe Trappe, podcaster and director of content strategy at Growgetter, summed it up succinctly:
“When used well, AI can make our content marketing better. When used badly, it can make everyone sound the same.”
Some of the well-known AI Writers include:
- ChatGPT
- Jasper
- Copy.ai
- Lately (specializes in social media copy)
- Grammarly (specializes in editing copy)
Related Article: The Case for Artificial Intelligence in Content Marketing Use Cases
AI Optimizes Content for SEO (and Search Intent)
There’s a lot to do when preparing content for SEO. Thankfully, machine learning algorithms do website analysis, recommend keywords and topics, and suggest how to revise content for the best possible search ranking.
Keyword analysis is still the major aspect of SEO, but search intent is now just as important. Search intent is the reason why a user types in a certain keyword. Is it to make a purchase (transactional intent), to learn more (informational intent), or to find a specific website (navigational intent)?
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AI tools use NLP to understand the intent of a user’s search query and then make recommendations for tailoring content for user intent.
Humans will have to decide what content types match each intent. For instance, blog posts are a fit for informational intent, and product pages are a fit for transactional intent. But having AI uncover the user intent of your keywords and make content suggestions is an advantage in today’s ultra-competitive SEO landscape.
Some AI-powered SEO tools worth exploring:
- SEMRush (includes search intent features)\
- Surfer SEO (includes search intent features)
- Frase
- Alli AI
- INK
Related Article: ChatGPT: Unleashing Efficiency in Marketing & a New Era for SEO
Keep Exploring Possibilities of AI in Content Marketing
There’s a scary side to artificial intelligence no doubt, but AI in content marketing comes in peace, at least for now.
By automating both data analysis and repetitive writing and SEO tasks, AI can be the virtual assistant that helps marketing teams achieve content goals faster and easier.
“AI is only one tool,” said Joe Pulizzi of the Content Marketing Institute. “But it’s here, and it's available, and we as marketers need to be the first to see what's possible and not possible.”
