I have a confession to make: I work from home, but I don’t work alone. In fact, I haven’t for some time. And I’m not talking about the wonderful team at Version A. I have a new assistant, and its name is AI.
Since the public release of ChatGPT and the host of other generative AI programs that have followed, we’ve been figuring out how they can enhance our writing process. After all, when it comes to new technology (the internet, email), you have to either embrace it or risk losing out on its benefits.
The thing is, we became writers because we like writing. We’d like to think we’re pretty good at it. And at this point in time, most AIs aren’t great writers. They generate some useful text, but they’re still not experts at the craft.
That’s why we’ve been experimenting with other ways AI can help us out, either by making our workflows more efficient or by handling the tasks that take away from our writing. When it comes to content marketing, AI has a lot of roles to play. Here are a few we’ve been exploring.
1. Brainstorming Partner
With the right questions, AI is full of great ideas. Need some help coming up with topics for a blog series or want suggestions for catchy campaign taglines? AI has your back.
AI can be a great sounding board if you want feedback on something you’ve been working on before you bring it before a client. With the right prompting, it can even be fine-tuned. Need an enthusiastic cheerleader (“I love that idea!”) or a devil’s advocate (“Hmm, let’s refine that a little more.”)? AI can fill that role.
2. Office Aide
We’ve all got everyday tasks that are important but not necessarily glamorous. Things that are relatively low-stakes and time-consuming but still vital to getting the job done, like sending follow-up emails or putting together meeting agendas. Give AI some basic information, and it can easily turn it into something you can send to your team.
If taking notes on a video call means you can’t pay attention to the conversation, AI can now record a transcript, turn it into meeting minutes, summarize it in an email, and assign tasks to attendees – all with a few quick prompts.
3. Research Assistant
Most of the paid versions of generative AI have access to the internet, meaning they can be serious assets during the research stage. Granted, some of them are limited by date and they’re all somewhat prone to “hallucinations” – confidently reporting false information. It’s always important to independently verify any information you get from an AI source.
That said, you can use AI to suggest sources or search terms for a given topic, to summarize long articles or posts, or even find patterns in data. For someone who’s prone to getting lost in research rabbit holes (like me), this can streamline the process of information-gathering and make it easier to get to writing.
4. PR and Marketing Strategist
Say you’re starting a new brand, but you’re not sure what approach you should take for announcing your launch. AI can help with outlining campaign strategies, developing PR plans, and creating steps for successful product marketing.
One of AI’s greatest strengths is role playing, which means it’s great for personas. It can generate personas based on your target audience – then give you suggestions on how to tailor your marketing strategy to draw them in.
5. Content Consultant
Content marketing has a lot of moving parts, but AI can help sort out the process. Give it a couple of prompts and ideas, and it can:
- Develop a content calendar for the quarter
- Plan different pieces of content from a central item, such as a webinar or report
- Come up with SEO terms and keyword suggestions
AI is also great for prepping for interviews with key players in your content marketing plan. It can identify subject matter experts in your field and suggest questions for interviewing them. If you’re preparing for a presentation to CEOs or other stakeholders, you can practice with an AI stand-in.
6. Writing Sidekick
While we don’t use AI to do the writing for us (we’re still writers first!), AI can do a lot to help the process along. Outlines, headlines, meta descriptions, plagiarism detection – these are all things AI can do in just a few seconds. Stuck on a word? AI is even better than a thesaurus because it understands what you want in context.
It can also help refine a piece before it’s sent off for final editing. Post just too long? AI can identify areas that can be cut down. Not sure if it’s at the right reading level? It can tell you if your writing is more suitable for PhDs or elementary students. (Experts recommend aiming for eighth or tenth grade reading comprehension for most text.)
With seemingly constant updates and releases, AI is becoming more sophisticated and useful every day. These are just a few roles it can play to help us as content marketers, but we’re always on the lookout for ways to incorporate it into our routines – and we’re excited to see what we can do with it in the future.
