All successful marketers know the secret to getting ahead is to work smarter, not harder. They embrace technology and tools — artificial intelligence (AI) included.
AI has caused ripples in the content marketing industry. Although there’s widespread worry over AI “stealing jobs,” AI can be used for good as well: You can expand your abilities, streamline processes, and make yourself indispensable by embracing AI tools for content marketing.
Ready to leverage AI and make it work smarter for your in-house content marketing strategy? Then keep reading to learn how to master AI-generated content and use it to create high-quality content. Plus, you’ll understand what a good AI prompt looks like and which tools should be included in your content marketing arsenal.
AI in the content marketing world
AI is at the center of many content marketing conversations right now — and for good reason. Due to an influx of AI-driven content marketing tools, marketers around the world have revised their strategy to incorporate AI-generated content.
This technology isn’t a new concept; one of the first notable AI systems was built in 1950 — a remote-controlled mouse that used machine learning to find its way out of a labyrinth.
The launch of ChatGPT in 2022 paved the way for a new era of content marketing. ChatGPT, which stands for “Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer,” is a large, language model-based chatbot that capitalizes on reinforcement learning from human feedback to provide human-like answers.
Within months of its launch, the likes of Google, Meta, and Microsoft had developed competing AI tools. But they weren’t the only companies embracing AI; many startups and SaaS companies also launched AI tools, including a wide range of AI-backed marketing tools.
The rise of such tools and technologies has changed how content marketers work. Rather than doing everything on their own, they can now turn to AI to generate content. Some marketers employ AI to produce everything they need. However, smart content marketing teams blend AI with human intelligence to take advantage of the best of both worlds.
What is AI-generated content?
AI-generated content refers to content produced using artificial intelligence tools and systems. This means the content was crafted either partially or entirely through AI.
As such, it can take many different forms, from text and videos to images and even code:
- Text-based content: This can cover anything from blog posts to social media content, landing pages, ad copy, and even content marketing strategies and outlines.
- Video-based AI content: This includes generating YouTube videos, social media videos, or repurposing text into a video format.
- Image-based AI content: This lets you create a variety of image assets for blog posts, social media content, landing pages, email marketing, and wherever else you need to feature images in content.
Producing high-quality AI content is a skill. So, if you want to stay ahead of the curve in content marketing, you need to master AI-generated content.
How to master AI-generated content
AI-created content still requires human input; it doesn’t function alone.
You need to train your machine learning through prompt engineering. AI generative prompt engineering is the process of feeding AI information and asking it the right questions to yield the best output.
First though, you need to understand its limitations and prepare the data you plan to employ for prompt engineering. From there, you can use AI to simplify content research, creation, editing, and optimization.
Let’s explore how you can master AI-generated content for your content marketing strategy.
1) Understand the limitations of AI-generated content
AI is far from perfect. When ChatGPT caused a stir in 2020, Sam Altman, co-founder of ChatGPT, tweeted that it “still has serious weaknesses and sometimes makes very silly mistakes.”
When introducing their most capable model yet, ChatGPT-4, Sam took to Twitter again to reinforce that the AI model is “still flawed, still limited.”
From the ability to produce inaccurate information to content quality being restricted by human input and the tool’s sophistication level, AI has some notable limitations.
By being aware of the pitfalls of AI, you can understand how to overcome them and effectively apply it for content creation.
2) Know your topic and position before using AI
Prior to firing up your go-to AI tool for content generation, pause to gather your thoughts and data. Going into AI-driven content generation blindly is a one-way path to inferior content.
People shouldn’t be able to tell your content was created with AI. Instead, it should naturally blend in with the rest of your content.
To accomplish this, make sure you:
- Understand your target audience personas and ideal customer personas (ICPs)
- Solidify your marketing goals and the KPIs you’ll use to measure content performance
With these tasks completed, you can confidently ensure the content your machine learning produces is crafted with both your audience and goals in mind.
I recommend creating standard operating procedures (SOPs) regarding AI use. Pair these SOPs with checklists of things to do before creating AI-generated content to help your content team achieve the best results from their chosen tool. You might want to set SOPs based on the task performed (e.g., writing a blog outline) or each of the AI tools within your MarTech stack (e.g., ClearScope). This will encourage structure and consistency in your AI outputs.
3) Find the best tools for the job
The task at hand will determine which AI tools you’ll need. Make a list of all the content marketing tasks you want to use AI for. Then, search which tools you can adopt to perform them. For example, if you want AI to conduct keyword research for SEO content creation, you might use Keywords Insights.
Don’t use the first tool you see in the search results though; there are thousands of AI tools out there, so try different ones before deciding which is best for your team. Create a checklist of requirements and expectations for each tool. Then, use it to compare the capabilities and performance of different options.
Vetting tools is crucial to make sure you only use those that optimize content production. By testing and analyzing how well they work, you can see which options come out on top.
Once you’ve chosen your preferred AI tools for content marketing creation, share this list with your team. Be sure to say what each one should be used for and note any product highlights, interesting features, limitations, or challenges. Uniformity of tools across your team will create consistently high-quality content with AI.
4) Use AI for content research
AI can be helpful in the early research stages of content creation. From conducting keyword research to coming up with fresh content ideas, AI can make light work of research tasks.
Some people love the research phase of content marketing, while others find they lose days to research. But, everyone can benefit from AI to reduce how long it takes to complete this task.
You can use ChatGPT for keyword research and content ideation by inputting the following prompts and optimizing the responses through feedback and follow-up prompts:
- Create a list of keywords for [topic]
- Create a list of [content type] ideas for [topic]
Using a chatbot-style machine learning model like ChatGPT can require significant human interaction before you receive a result you’re happy with. For instance, you may need to refine the keyword prompt with follow-up commands such as:
- Group those keywords by search intent
- Create a hub-and-spoke model for [main keyword]
- Share a list of the top semantically related keywords for [main keyword]
The more questions you ask, the better optimized the output will be.
You can also run dedicated AI-driven keyword tools. For example, Keyword Insights’ Keyword Discovery tool lets you quickly input a seed keyword to generate thousands of related terms complete with search volume, keyword difficulty, and CPC data. This makes it easy for you to gather keyword ideas to feed into your content marketing strategy.
Other tools, such as Copy.ai, offer content idea generators to help you come up with fresh ideas for your content marketing strategy. To do this with Copy.ai, input your niche and topic to receive five content ideas based on your request.
5) Create content with AI
After you’ve honed your keywords and content ideas, you can then use AI to assist with crafting the content. As mentioned earlier, AI tools aren’t just for text-based outputs — you can use it to create images and videos too. Some will even help you produce podcasts and emails, covering all aspects of your content strategy.
Whether you employ AI for written or visual content, use clear, well-defined prompts. For example, rather than asking it to generate an image of a “kitchen,” ask it to generate an image of a “modern farm style kitchen in sage green.” You improve the output by being more descriptive.
In the image above, you can see how using more descriptive language enables Canva’s Text to Image AI tool to generate images that align with the set expectations.
The secret to crafting quality, AI-generated content is to pair it with human editing. Although intelligent, AI isn’t human. It doesn’t know your brand, audience, or industry as well as you do.
It adapts through reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF), meaning it needs human guidance and input to calibrate and improve its responses. So, don’t fall into the habit of taking AI at face value. Spend time training your AI tools to achieve the best possible results.
I recommend developing an SOP of AI generative prompts your team should use and best practices they should follow when creating content with AI. This will improve the quality and consistency of your AI-generated content.
6) Check the quality of AI-generated content
AI-generated content isn’t always reliable, so it’s up to you to ensure what you publish is accurate and created to a high quality.
Machine learning algorithms are also imperfect. While they use a wide net of resources and data to generate content, those resources may be outdated or misleading. Make sure your team always reviews AI-generated content to verify accuracy.
When it comes to checking the content’s quality, you should also check it from an ethical and legal perspective, as these tools run the risk of sharing biased or prejudiced perspectives. A 2021 study from Pennsylvania State University found AI tools exhibited strong negative biases against disability in sentiment analysis tools, highlighting how damaging AI can be if left unedited.
You should also carry out checks for plagiarism to avoid unintentionally reproducing or copying someone else’s work.
When using AI to build content, develop a list to check for:
- Information accuracy
- Biases or prejudice
- Plagiarism
- Coherence
- Audience relevance
- Errors and redundancies
Combining AI content with this strategic focus will ensure all creations possess the highest quality and value.
7) Test and optimize AI-generated content processes
Great AI-generated content takes time. You need to test and refine your processes continually to improve the quality. This optimization process must include training your chosen tools on your brand, audience, industry, and products/services.
You can even train AI to adopt your tone of voice to improve how well it mirrors your existing brand personality. While this may take time, it’ll help you optimize future outputs from AI.
Also, analyze the performance of your published AI-generated content. Check how well it performs against original non-AI content to identify any notable differences between the two types. Be sure to compare the success of AI-generated content against your content goals and KPIs. You can then use those insights to figure out how to improve AI-generated content going forward.
Use detailed prompts and follow-ups to get relevant information
AI content is only as good as the prompt it receives. I’ve already mentioned the importance of AI prompt engineering, but to grasp its significance, I’ve included some examples of good versus bad AI prompts.
Specificity is key. If I vaguely ask ChatGPT to “Give me content ideas about running,” it responds with a list of 20 content ideas that can be used for blog posts, social media, or videos. For each idea, it gives a title and a brief description. This is a detailed response that can serve as a great starting point for content creation.
The output isn’t bad; you could use this to create content. However, the topics provided are generic. You can produce more intentional pieces by adjusting your prompt.
Try asking AI to provide content ideas for a specific channel and address a more in-depth running topic for a particular audience.
Keeping with our topic of “running,” I could ask ChatGPT to “Share a list of blog post content ideas about training to run 10K. This content will be aimed at beginner runners (who have been running for six months or less). They will likely have never run a 10K before, but it’s a goal they want to achieve. Make sure each content idea is unique.”
Adding “make sure each content idea is unique” to the end of the prompt is a simple yet effective way to prevent ideas from overlapping, which helps you build a hub of valuable content on this topic.
In ChatGPT’s response, you can see how each content idea has been tailored to beginners, and they all focus on a distance of 10K. It also covers a variety of sub-topics from goal-setting to nutrition and training gear.
Another way to improve your AI prompts is by following up initial prompts with further questions or information.
Here, I requested content ideas for beginner runners training to run 10K by telling ChatGPT to display the results as a table. In it, I asked ChatGPT to produce columns for the audience, search intent, and target keywords. This lets you gain deeper information about those content ideas.
You can then expand on these ideas even further by asking AI to craft more content ideas for other audiences or share additional options for the search intent uncovered. Remember, the more information you feed AI, the better the prompts will get over time.
The benefits of AI in content marketing
Content marketers who reject AI run the risk of falling behind, as this technology can be extremely advantageous for your business.
Automate repetitive tasks
AI can automate certain elements of your workflow, which frees you to focus more on strategic content creation. Some of these tasks include coming up with keywords, developing content briefs, and drafting performance reports.
Save time
AI can streamline and accelerate parts of your content marketing strategy, allowing you to produce quality content at pace. It can crunch data, research competitors, and perform various content creation tasks faster than is humanly possible. This allows you to speed up your content marketing processes.
Cut costs
By automating processes and streamlining workflows, using AI can reduce the overall cost of content production. While you may need to pay for some tools, the cost will almost certainly pale in comparison to the savings gained from using them.
Scale content production
AI allows you to craft content at scale so you can maintain a frequent publishing schedule even with limited resources. Whether it’s by developing ideas en masse, generating multiple social media posts at once, or repurposing existing content into alternative formats, AI can amplify content production.
Diversify content type
AI fills skill gaps in your content team by helping you diversify your content type. Rather than producing strictly blog posts, you could leverage AI to create a variety of content types, from articles and videos to infographics, social media posts, and more. This will keep your content fresh and engaging.
Proofread content
Gain a fresh pair of eyes on your content with AI-driven proofreading tools. These make sure your content is free of errors or misspellings and can also check the context, tone, and readability. AI thus helps enhance the clarity of your content while minimizing mistakes.
Develop standardized workflows
A standardized workflow ensures consistency, efficiency, and quality runs through every published piece. Incorporate AI usage guidelines into your content creation workflow so your team crafts consistent, high-quality content that always adheres to your brand goals, audience, and expectations.
Bonus: 10 AI tools for content marketing
No AI article really feels complete without a list of tools that can help you. So, here you go!
1) KeywordInsights
KeywordInsights is an AI-powered content marketing platform. It can streamline your content research process by generating keyword ideas, creating topic clusters from those keyword sets, classifying the search intent of your keywords, and even producing content briefs.
Use KeywordInsights to kickstart keyword research for new content pieces or to optimize existing content.
2) RhetorAI
User research is a crucial part of a robust content marketing strategy. With RhetorAI, you can automate user interviews through the power of machine learning. RhetorAI’s AI interviewer is trained to ask expert follow-up questions and dive deeper into users’ needs and goals. It can also summarize interview transcripts so it’s easier for you to analyze insights.
Incorporating RhetorAI into your customer survey and interview process can be a great way to gain richer customer insights for content creation.
3) Writesonic
Writesonic is an AI writing tool that helps maximize content production. Positioning itself as a “one-stop solution for content creation,” Writesonic can craft a wide variety of content, including blog articles, landing pages, ad copy, and product descriptions. The tool can also paraphrase text, generate headlines, and provide blog outlines, among other features.
Outside of writing, Writesonic’s ChatSonic tool can generate images and provide information through RLHF. Their BotSonic tool lets you build a knowledge-based chatbot for your website, while the AudioSonic tool can transform written content into audio content.
Writesonic is a well-rounded asset for content creation.
4) LongShot
Another powerful end-to-end AI content creation tool is LongShot. This tool lets you manage every stage of your content creation workflow from research to optimization.
What makes LongShot stand out against competitors is its ability to fact-check content and produce accurate output featuring relevant and recent user-source citations. LongShot can identify suspicious claims and help you produce pieces that are genuinely helpful to your audience.
5) Clearscope
Clearscope is a popular all-in-one AI SEO writing tool that many leading names use, including Adobe, Shopify, and Deloitte. It’s excellent for writing long-form content and, as you input your content into Clearscope, it’ll analyze its performance and help you improve it.
You’ll receive a content grade based on a variety of factors, including the overall word count, readability grade, and keyword use compared to the top-ranking articles for the same target search term. You can edit the content directly in the tool and see live how your changes impact its score. That real-time feedback makes Clearscope a great AI option for optimizing content quality.
6) Murf
Easily create studio-quality voice-overs with Murf, an AI voice generation platform. Murf lets you transform text into lifelike AI audio. You can choose your preferred voice, edit the pitch, emphasis, speed, and interjections to control how it sounds, and ensure it syncs perfectly with your video content.
Murf is a great tool for crafting top-notch voice-overs for explainer videos, product demos, podcasts, or social media videos.
7) Grammarly
Founded in 2009, Grammarly is a leading AI-driven content editing and proofreading tool. Input your text into Grammarly or use its browser extension to receive instant suggestions to improve the grammar, spelling, style, and tone. The program lets you improve the quality and readability of your content with ease.
Further, Grammarly’s GrammarlyGo AI writing assistant takes proofreading to the next level by learning your context and preferred writing style. It can then use this information to co-create consistently on-brand content.
8) Synthesia
Not every content marketing team has the resources to produce studio-quality videos in-house. To fill that gap, AI video generation platform Synthesia enables content marketers to turn text-based content into video format.
You can build engaging videos with natural-sounding AI voices and realistic AI avatars on Synthesia. This is also an easy way to repurpose written content into videos or create product explainers or demo videos for your knowledge base.
9) Podcastle
Podcasting can be a lucrative content platform by amplifying brand visibility and favorability. But it can also be a steep learning curve for teams new to the format. That’s when a solution like Podcastle, an AI-driven podcast recording and editing software, can be a life-saver.
You can use Podcastle to record studio-quality content from anywhere or turn blog posts into podcast episodes. The software’s AI editing assistant delivers an intuitive user experience with single-click audio enhancements and AI transcriptions. The Revoice tool also employs generative AI to create a digital copy of your voice.
The combination of these features lets you easily transform blogs into podcasts and produce podcast content at scale.
10) Narrato
Content creation is often a team effort. When crafting a blog article, for example: One person might be responsible for content research, outlining, and briefing; another writes the piece; someone else proofreads and edits it; another person publishes the approved version; then, it’s handed over to another team (or teams!) for distribution across other marketing channels.
For effective coordination, look to Narrato, an AI content creation and collaboration platform designed to make the content workflow smoother. Content marketing teams can use it to plan, create, optimize, collaborate, and publish content all in one place. The AI content assistant aids in content ideation and creation, helps generate content briefs, offers SEO suggestions, and improves content readability and engagement.
Your internal teal and content marketing freelancers can all use Narrato to manage content together.
Next: Check out this list of 200+ content creation tools you can use to optimize content.
Wrapping up — Generate high-quality AI content with ease
Whether you’re a marketing team of one or an established department of content marketers, you can incorporate AI to streamline every aspect of your content strategy. Take care, though, not to lose your brand voice or sacrifice trustworthiness due to poorly produced AI pieces.
The secret to great AI content lies in how you train the tools — and your team. Take time to train your AI tools on your brand while also making sure to educate your content marketing team on AI best practices.
When used correctly, AI can be a profitable partner to produce content at scale.