Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the digital landscape, and the field of content marketing is no exception. AI-powered tools are now available to help content marketers with a variety of tasks, from keyword research to content creation to distribution.
Capabilities of AI Software in Content Marketing
Here are some of the ways that AI software can be used in content marketing:
- Keyword research: AI tools can help content marketers identify the most relevant keywords for their target audience. They can also track the performance of keywords over time, so marketers can see what’s working and what’s not.
- Content creation: AI tools can be used to generate content ideas, write blog posts, and create social media posts. They can also help to optimize content for search engines.
- Content distribution: AI tools can help content marketers to distribute their content to the right channels and to the right audience. They can also track the performance of content, so marketers can see how it’s being received.
- Personalization: AI tools can be used to personalize content for each individual user. This can be done by tailoring the content to the user’s interests, demographics, and location.
- Analytics: AI tools can help content marketers to track the performance of their content marketing campaigns. They can provide insights into how users are interacting with content, so marketers can make necessary adjustments.
Benefits of Using AI Software in Content Marketing
There are many benefits to using AI software in content marketing, including:
- Increased efficiency: AI can automate many of the time-consuming tasks involved in content marketing, such as keyword research and content distribution. This frees up content marketers to focus on more strategic tasks, such as developing and implementing content marketing strategies.
- Improved personalization: AI can help content marketers to create more personalized content for their target audience. This can lead to higher engagement and conversion rates.
- Better insights: AI can provide content marketers with valuable insights into their audience and their content performance. This information can be used to improve content marketing strategies over time.
Limitations of AI Software in Content Marketing
While AI software offers many benefits for content marketers, there are also some limitations to be aware of:
- Cost: Some AI software can be expensive, especially for small businesses and startups.
- Complexity: Some AI software can be complex and difficult to use. This can be a barrier for content marketers who are not familiar with AI technology.
- Bias: AI software is trained on data, and if the data is biased, the AI tool will also be biased. This can lead to problems, such as the AI tool generating content that is offensive or inaccurate.
How to Use AI Software in Content Marketing Effectively
Here are some tips for using AI software in content marketing effectively:
- Start with a clear understanding of your goals. What do you want to achieve with your content marketing campaigns? Once you know your goals, you can choose the AI tools that are most likely to help you achieve them.
- Do your research. There are many different AI tools available, so it’s important to do your research and choose the right tools for your needs.
- Start small. Don’t try to use too many AI tools at once. Start with a few tools and gradually add more as you become more familiar with them.
- Get feedback. Ask for feedback from your team and from your target audience to make sure that the content you’re creating is effective.
SEO Strategy for AI Software in Content Marketing
When using AI software in content marketing, it’s important to keep SEO in mind. Here are some tips.
- Use AI software to generate keyword ideas and to research the popularity and competition of keywords.
- Use AI software to optimize your content for search engines by using the right keywords and phrases in your titles, headings, and throughout your content.
- Use AI software to distribute your content to the right channels and to promote your content on social media.
- Use AI software to track the performance of your content and to identify areas for improvements
AI Content Detection
One of the most challenging obstacles facing us with the emergence of AI-generated content is assessing what is AI-generated and what is user-generated. Google has established in recent updates that it will continue to support user-generated content for users above AI-generated content for SERPs. If Google is continuing to discern between humans and AI, you should too. While it might seem easy to discern AI from humans, use this blog as a litmus test.
Everything up until this paragraph was generated by Bard.ai, Google’s AI Software.
Bard.ai was given the following prompt: “Write me a 600-word blog about the capabilities and limitations of AI software usage within a digital content marketing strategy. Use proper SEO strategy, and label each header appropriately with [H1], [H2] etc.”
The Limits and Flaws of AI Content
I have altered nothing about what AI produced up until this point, with the exception of some minor formatting adjustments. While Bard.ai produced a quality piece of content with sound advice regarding the benefits and limitations of AI, it simultaneously showed us its limitations. Not the least of which were economy of phrasing and flawed formatting conventions.
Insufficiently Complex
Quality content needs to be sufficiently complex. If every writer on our team were tasked with creating a blog titled “How To Use a Black and Decker Coffee Pot,” each of those blogs would be far too similar. If, instead, I asked each member of our writing team to generate a blog about what methods of coffee brew the best cup, we would get vastly different blogs. Not only do topics need to be sufficiently complex, but the content itself should be too.
AI has struggled to generate sufficiently complex content. Looking at the AI-generated portion of this blog, the structure and wording of each section are almost identical to one another. While the content itself is well rounded, its styling trends toward repetition.
AI’s lack of complexity reaches beyond the style of whole blogs. When asked to generate three blog topics on winter pest control in Florida, Bard.ai gave me the following three blogs:
- Common Winter Pests in Florida and How To Get Rid of Them
- Winter Pest Control Tips for Florida Homeowners
- When To Call a Professional Pest Control Company
When Bard.ai was asked to provide a different list of three blog topics about winter pest control in Washington state, it provided the following list:
- Common Winter Pests in Washington State and How To Get Rid of Them
- Winter Pest Control Tips for Washington Homeowners
- When To Call a Professional Pest Control Company in Washington State
AI struggles to distinguish the contextual difference between Florida and Washington state. Instead, it regurgitates the same blog and uses the location as a mere filler word instead of the central component of the blog.
AI’s Lack of Optimization
Bard.ai was tasked with generating keyword-optimized and SEO-driven content. While Bard did cite SEO as a featured strength of SEO, it did not display it. The provided H1, H2, and H3 tags by Bard feature no relevant keywords with high search volume. Some AI software might be able to provide relevant keyword data. However, when asked to generate content using that keyword data, Bard.ai missed the mark in this instance.
Benefits of AI in Content Marketing
There are countless ways to critique AI. Whether AI has proven more flawed or more effective, it is here nonetheless. How can we then use AI in recognition of its errors to create better content?
AI Software for Content Ideation
Content (and creative work in general) can sometimes hit a plateau. AI can often operate as a sparring partner with which to brainstorm ideas. While the previous example of AI-generated blog topics had some inherent flaws, it also provided a solid starting point. Taking the ideas AI has given you and using them to create innovative and interesting content is a great way to stay up to date on trends with the content marketing industry.
Platforms like Jasper, Bard, and even ChatGPT can assist in outlining generation for content. Bard specifically can be used to identify local landmarks and research for location pages in cities you are unfamiliar with. Extensions like Grammarly and Wordify have been used for years to make content flow better, with proper grammar. AI exists to be a resource for content marketers, but not a replacement for them.
Image Creation With AI Software
Using stock images in blogs and other website content can be repetitive and not holistically representative of your brand. At the same time, few companies have the means to generate their own imagery consistently enough to keep pace with an adequate blog posting calendar. Using AI to power image creation can be the tie you need between unique imagery and a pace that matches your writing. Exploring different software capabilities that can take your AI imagery to the next level is a step towards utilizing AI in an effective, yet appropriate manner.
Brand Personas and Audience Analysis
Any successful piece of digital content appropriately connects relevant content to a specific audience. Whether you do this through extensive industry research or developed brand personas, it can take time. Brand personas have become a crucial aspect of any digital marketing and often stand as their own unique deliverables. Some agencies or in-house marketing teams cannot generate unique brand personas for each piece of content that is pushed live.
When asked to generate a brand persona for this blog, Bard.ai was informed of the following success factors:
- Target audience
- Demographics
- Psychographics
- Challenges
- Brand voice
- Brand values
- Content strategy
Using AI Effectively To Benefit Your Content Strategy
Gone are the days when it’s beneficial to debate whether or not AI can be used within our industry. AI is already being used in almost every industry—sometimes effectively and sometimes ineffectively.
In content marketing, it’s essential to understand how to use AI to generate the best content possible while also discerning when using AI has worked to your detriment. AI is indeed intelligent, but it is not without flaws. AI has the power to redefine success within the content marketing world, and a refusal to adapt your strategy alongside the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing will only result in being left behind.