No matter how many billions of dollars get invested into AI-driven marketing tools & software over the next few years – there are a few elements of marketing that will never be replaced.
Will AI make it easier to create headlines?
Will AI make it easier to create content?
Will AI make it easier to design ads?
Absolutely.
It’s a tool that will augment our abilities as humans to be more efficient, more productive, and more effective than before. In the same way that spell check and autocorrect have improved our writing – we can expect artificial intelligence to improve the rate and efficiency of our means of communication.
In this piece, I’m going to speak exclusively about the role that AI will play in the content creation workflow and processes for content teams. The first place to start with this dialog is to define the purpose and goals of a content team creating a content marketing engine. The typical goals for a content marketing team are rooted in a few key areas:
1. Increase Traffic
These initiatives are built around the idea of developing pieces of content that are going to drive traffic from a wide range of sources. Some of the traffic being captured here will come from SEO and some of the traffic will come from social. The content team must understand and identify where they have a user-channel fit and allow that to guide them in their process of identifying what tactics they should use.
2. Increase Sales
The goal here is to increase the number of sales for a business on the back of content. The content assets built with the intent of generating sales differ depending on the industry and the thing being sold. A blog post could very much be a conversion and sales driver for off-the-shelf products but for enterprise sales, a case study might be the piece of content that makes or breaks a deal.
3. Increase Leads
Content can also play a key role in driving net-new leads for a business. If you can develop pieces of content that are worth downloading, worth reading or so convincing that they show your value – leads will start to hammer at your door and you will have an opportunity to lock in some amazing opportunities.
4. Increase Brand
It’s rarely talked about in SaaS circles but content also has a role to play in brand building. Sales become easier when a brand is strong. SEO becomes easier when a brand is strong. And content can play a role in developing a strong brand.
These four content marketing goals are the most common reasons why brands invest in content. Today, the majority of the dialogs about AI tools and content marketing are exclusively around the fact that these tools can drive and impact volume.
I get it. The idea of pressing publish on 100 pieces in one month without having to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars seems like an amazing outcome for any brand. But in reality…
This isn’t really possible without strong workflows.
And it starts by understanding exactly what is the goal that you and your team have as it relates to your content engine. The goal that you have for your content engine might be different from another brand simply because you’re selling a different solution, in a different industry and are at a different stage in your company’s life cycle and growth.
This is why we always talk about the importance of figuring out your content portfolio:
What is a content portfolio?
It’s the types of content that your brand should be investing in based on your goals and priorities. It’s the types of content that your brand should be creating because it’s most likely to align with your ambitions for the future and what you want to accomplish.
Most companies make the mistake of skipping over this step.
The most important part of the content creation process is understanding intent.
What do you want to accomplish?
Where are you trying to go?
What are your primary goals?
Figuring these things out is the first step to creating a successful content engine.
What does this have to do with AI?
Everything.
Today, an artificial intelligence tool like Chat-GPT cannot analyze your sales team, your pipeline, your organic and social traffic, your resourcing, and your team to determine what makes the most sense for you to be investing in as it relates to your content engine.
This isn’t possible today.
And this is why as much as I love and am genuinely passionate about the impact that artificial intelligence will have on our industry. I’m not going to be anywhere near the petition at the Canadian Marketing Institute of Content Creators petitioning the government to ban these tools.
Why?
Because I don’t see these tools replacing great marketers any time soon.
I do see these tools having the ability to augment our skill sets but not replace them.
Let’s discuss how we can use Artificial Intelligence to improve workflows.
Here’s a chart that I put together that outlines how Content Creation is done today vs. tomorrow:
The start of this content creation process will be the same whether or not you embrace AI tools. Or at least… It should be the same.
Unfortunately, a lot of content marketing agencies and teams actually skip the research phase entirely and just jump right into production. This is a mistake. The best content creators rely heavily on research to ensure that they’re producing pieces of content that are likely to help them achieve their goals and objectives. In my opinion, every single content marketing engine should start with research.
The research phase for content creation can be inclusive of a wide range of efforts:
- Keyword Research
- Social Media Research
- Audience Research
- Community Research
- SERP Research
- Backlink Research
- Social Sharing Research
- YouTube Research
- Reddit Research
- Quora Research
- PPC Research
And so much more.
The role of research is to help brands better understand what they should be creating and ensure that the pieces that are developed are built with intent.
The toolkit of a content marketing team to conduct this type of research will vary depending on their size, sophistication, and needs. Our team has a handful of different research tools and resources that we use to help clients better understand what stories they should tell and what content assets could be developed to achieve very specific goals.
For example, if you have a goal to increase organic traffic for a tool that serves TikTok creators or stores that sell on TikTok you might want to know what keywords to target. A lot of marketers typically rely on the standard SEO tools to get this information but you can also go a bit more niche and into the edges to uncover new areas of opportunity.
One tool that you can leverage is Exploding Topics. This tool shows you the keywords that are taking off in terms of showing spikes of traffic and growth. Here’s a recent screenshot of the results:
See that “TikTok Ads” keyword volume?
At the time I captured that screenshot it was averaging 12,100 searches a month.
Today… It averages 246,000.
If you can catch a keyword when it’s early in terms of growth – You can be early to the market to produce a piece of content on that topic and ultimately reap the benefits of being an early mover and hopefully an early ranker. This is the type of research that an AI cannot do today.
But here’s where an AI can help you.
The second and third steps of the traditional creation process can be flipped:
- Identify potential headlines and topics
- Create a content framework
Let me show you an example of this in action from ChatGPT:
Not bad eh?
This took 12 seconds to create.
Now the next step in the process is developing a “Content Brief” for this topic.
Here’s how an AI tool like ChatGPT brings this to life for you:
Title: “Why TikTok Ads Should Be Part of Your Social Media Marketing Mix”
Purpose: The purpose of this blog post is to educate brands on the importance of TikTok in their social media marketing strategy and to provide actionable advice on how to effectively use TikTok ads to reach and engage their target audience.
Target Audience: The target audience for this blog post is marketers and social media managers at small and medium-sized businesses, as well as those at larger companies who are responsible for creating and managing their company’s social media marketing strategy.
Key Points:
- Introduce TikTok as a rapidly growing platform and its unique user base (Gen Z)
- Discuss the potential reach and engagement opportunities for brands on TikTok
- Outline the different types of TikTok ads available and their use cases
- Provide examples of successful brands that are currently using TikTok ads
- Outline best practices for creating effective TikTok ad campaigns
- Provide tips for measuring the success of TikTok ad campaigns
- Conclude with the importance of TikTok in the current social media marketing landscape and why brands should consider including it in their overall strategy.
Flow:
Introduction
Begin by introducing TikTok as a rapidly growing platform and its unique user base (primarily Gen Z). Highlight the potential reach and engagement opportunities for brands on the platform.
Overview of TikTok ads
Outline the different types of TikTok ads available, such as In-Feed ads, branded Hashtag Challenges, and branded effects. Explain the use cases for each ad type and provide examples of successful campaigns.
Best practices for creating effective TikTok ad campaigns
Discuss key considerations for creating effective TikTok ads, such as understanding your target audience, using eye-catching visuals, and creating compelling copy.
Measuring success
Outline metrics for measuring the success of TikTok ad campaigns, such as views, engagement, and conversions. Provide tips for tracking and analyzing these metrics to optimize future campaigns.
Conclusion
Summarize the importance of TikTok in the current social media marketing landscape and why brands should consider including it in their overall strategy.
Paragraphs:
- Make use of short paragraphs and bullet points to break up the content, making it more readable and visually appealing.
- Use images and examples to illustrate points throughout the post and make it more engaging for the reader.
- Include internal and external links to relevant resources and case studies that support the post and provide readers with more information.
Not bad right?
AI tools like Jasper (if you sign up with that link you will get 10,000 free credits) arm you with the ability to then take that brief and start to create a more in-depth blog post in half the time it usually would take to create something high value. Here’s where I think the human touch will continue to be needed for the next few years and offer marketers an opportunity:
How can this piece be 10x better than the competition?
This is quickly going to become the most important question a marketer can ask.
Why?
Because creating written content is going to be easier than ever if you can just ask an AI to give you some data and information on a topic. The key opportunity is going to be found in adding a level of creativity, credibility, and excellence to a topic that goes beyond the status quo.
This is where the best marketers will shine.
Here are a few simple techniques that I think will allow that to happen:
- How can you create surveys that provide data to your audience that an AI cannot?
- How can you develop videos that are so engaging that it hooks your audience?
- How can you create tools and calculators that are utility-driven & helpful?
- How can you create pieces that do things never done before?
- How can you create something that is a must-bookmark asset?
- How can you add even more value through interactivity?
- How can you give a personal touch to the content?
These are the questions worth asking.
These are the questions that will set you apart.
And these are the things that an AI today (or tomorrow) will not be able to replace.
