Sophisticated generative AI tools are revolutionizing content creation. But without the ability to replicate real human insight or emotion, it’s become clear that these tools work as a supplement to marketers, not as a replacement.

So, if GenAI isn’t poised to steal our jobs, the question becomes: How can marketers harness the power of AI for their benefit? Let’s look at five ways marketing execs can roll out AI in their departments to assist content marketing efforts, while saving time and money.

Why humans still matter

Before we dive in, we’d be remiss not to talk about the role of human beings in guiding AI to the right results. The fact is, AI is only as good as its ingredients, and a knowledgeable marketer still needs to feed AI the right prompts. 

The process is called prompt engineering, and marketers can make the most of it by knowing their audience and their objectives. To get the prompts right, language needs to be clear and direct—and even then, AI tools might not give you the specificity or tone you’re looking for. Prompt engineering is a matter of constantly reviewing AI’s outputs and refining your prompts to get the results that are most helpful to you.

Now that we understand the human element, let’s move onto some of the top tasks that you can delegate to AI—with human supervision, of course.

1. Build a content strategy

If there’s one thing computers are good at, it’s analyzing data, and a good content strategy should be data-driven. GenAI can instantaneously parse large data sets to help you spot upcoming trends, size up your competition, and analyze the performance of your existing content to help you plan for the future. GenAI can even translate the data into an actionable plan for you to work from as you build out your content strategy, saving you the time and tedium of data analysis. 

Here are a few queries for a GenAI platform to help you get started on a content strategy:

• What are the top-performing blog posts on [your website] in terms of page views and audience engagement?
• Which keywords or topics related to [x, y, z] have shown the most growth in search over the past month?
• Here is my current strategy… Identify any gaps or topics we have not yet covered.
• What are the best days and times to publish content for optimized engagement?
• Here are a few topics we’d like to cover… Organize them into an editorial calendar.

2. Spark creativity

Feeling stuck? Make GenAI your muse. With just the right prompts, AI can spark creativity with mind maps, keyword lists, general topics and subtopics, and new-to-you themes. Simply tell the AI engine your field or area of interest, and ask for new content suggestions.

Or maybe you’ve already written a piece of content, but you’re having trouble coming up with a headline or conclusion. Feed your text into AI, and ask for a title or closing paragraph. Of course, you’ll need to take whatever output you receive and humanize it with your own tone of voice, but don’t be afraid to let AI give you a little kickstart.

3. Generate research and outlines

Sometimes simply getting organized is the most painful part of content creation. Use AI as a springboard by posing specific queries and asking for it to outline a piece for you. You’ll need to double and triple-check any facts and figures since AI has a pretty dicey record in terms of accuracy. But, as a starting point, a block of synthesized research or a neatly organized outline is priceless! 

Tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude can create an outline for you if you provide the topic or headline. Then you can take it from there, infusing your content with all of that lived experience and intuition that only a human can bring to the table.

4. Make content digestible

Nothing looks more dull than a long, unbroken block of text, but AI platforms can help you reformat overwhelming chunks of content into something a little more digestible. Ask for bullet points, numbered lists, and subheads aplenty. What you’re left with is still your writing, just in a form that people will actually want to read, giving your content a chance to resonate.

You can even ask AI for suggestions of where to find free-use or purchasable graphics related to your content. Want to create your own images? A program like Midjourney lets you create AI-generated images with prompts, similar to the way ChatGPT generates text. Whichever path you choose, images make your page pop and help readers stay focused on your content.

5. Create videos to complement your content

While most marketers are familiar with GenAI text tools like ChatGPT, or AI image generators like Midjourney, far fewer use AI to create video. That’s likely because AI video is still working out the kinks: Many of the best tools are expensive, not widely available, or still can’t perfect things like hands and faces. Nevertheless, the power of video is undeniable, and content markers would do well to keep an eye on the AI video space—whether it’s for replicating humans in front of the camera or editing your final product. Here are a few AI video platforms to explore:

• Sora
• Pika Labs
• Runway
• Synthesia

Working in tandem with AI

Ultimately, the best pieces of content won’t rely solely on AI anytime soon, but keeping pace with the marketing industry will require a certain level of collaboration between humans and the bots that mimic them—sometimes eerily well.

Ready to learn more about harnessing the power of AI for your own marketing? Get in touch with us at [email protected].