AI Content Marketing: What You Need to Know

Every day, I see new stories in my LinkedIn feed about how AI tools are reshaping B2B marketers' approach to content in today's fast-paced digital marketing landscape. AI content marketing solutions can now help B2B marketers improve content creation, marketing strategy, and personalization with a lot less effort than it would have taken mere mortals to address in the past.

While these AI tools offer B2B marketers new opportunities to engage with audiences more effectively and efficiently, learning the ropes can feel daunting.

Change is painful; it's also the only constant in life. So let's stop [some of] our fretting and take a deeper look. There are opportunities for marketers if we're willing to learn how to use AI effectively and responsibly.

How AI Is Changing Content Creation

Many news outlets have used generative AI for several years now. However, AI content production really hit the mainstream with the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022. Since that launch, the global AI in content creation market is projected to hit an impressive $175.3 billion by 2033. Obviously, businesses across the globe are interested in using artificial intelligence to make content marketing more efficient and scalable.

Here are a few ways businesses look to AI to change content marketing:

AI-Driven Content Strategy Development

AI can quickly analyze tons of data from various sources—social media, website analytics, customer feedback, and even competitor strategies—to shape your content roadmap. Artificial intelligence removes the reliance on hunches and rehashes of past campaigns and replaces that with a plan based on real-time insights and predictive analytics.

AI tools can help you identify the right content formats, topics, and channels for engaging with your target audience and even forecast content performance. With this level of analysis, you can develop a more dynamic and responsive content strategy that can adapt to changes in audience behavior and market trends.

AI Content Ideation

AI speeds up finding new content ideas by studying trends, online chats, what competitors are doing, and how your past content has performed. Once AI learns your brand's style and what your audience likes, it can quickly suggest topics that match and interest them. This way, you're not just guessing what content might work; you're making informed decisions based on what your audience actually enjoys.

Content Creation at Lightning Speed

AI significantly speeds up content creation and allows for lightning-fast content production, such as blog posts, social media updates, video scripts, images, and more. Yet, human involvement is critical. People add personal stories, creativity, and emotional depth to content marketing assets— elements AI hasn't mastered. Human creators ensure that AI-generated content resonates with readers on a deeper level.

Moreover, humans must review AI's work to guarantee accuracy, relevance, and fairness.

Hyper-Personalized Content

AI helps create highly personalized content by analyzing your audience's actions and preferences. It looks at your prospects' browsing habits, how they've interacted before, and what they've bought to recommend content that suits each person. What once seemed impossible with personalization is now a reality.

SEO on Steroids

Search engine optimization has significantly benefitted from AI. Gone are the days of cramming keywords into content. AI now gives advanced SEO tips, predicts what people will search for, and helps improve your content. When used correctly, AI can make your content both search-engine friendly and truly useful to your audience.

Automated Content Distribution

AI can manage and optimize how and when you share your content across various platforms, ensuring it reaches your audience at the optimal times. In short, AI can act as a marketing assistant who knows the best times to post on Instagram, LinkedIn, or X.

While AI enhances our ability to tell and share stories, it requires human input to keep the content unique and engaging. Without human involvement, everything may start to sound the same.

How to Prepare for AI Content Marketing

Nobody likes losing their job, much less losing it to an AI. I get it if you're nervous about a future where AI is even more involved in marketing. Even well-known marketing writers like Mark Schaefer have created posts about how to deal with the existential crisis AI presents.

I've always loved to write. Growing up, I thought I would become a writer one day. I've enjoyed each of the blogs I've had the pleasure of creating during my career in content marketing. But as Schaefer points out in his post, "We need to be intellectually honest, swallow our pride, use this tool boldly, and then leverage the new time savings to build new greatness for our businesses."

How to Prepare for an AI World

First, read Mark Schaefer's post I linked to above.

Next, start exploring AI tools. I recently built a GPT called Stacy Writes in ChatGPT. I trained it by feeding it different blog posts I've written over the years. This GPT attempts to write and revise content in my voice. That's one thing I have learned to do. And, I used Stacy Writes to generate the tips below. This next section is word-for-word from my GPT.

Preparing for an AI content marketing future means embracing change, investing in education, and fostering a culture of innovation within your team. It's about recognizing AI as a powerful tool in your arsenal that can enhance creativity, efficiency, and effectiveness. Here's how you and your team can get ready for this transformative journey:

1. Embrace a Learning Mindset

The world of AI is evolving rapidly, and staying informed is crucial. Encourage your team to:

Stay Curious: Follow AI and marketing trends through reputable blogs, podcasts, and industry publications.

Upskill: Invest in training and workshops focusing on AI-powered tools and technologies. Understanding the basics of AI and machine learning can demystify how these tools work and how they can be applied in content marketing.

2. Experiment with AI Tools

Dive into the pool of AI-powered content creation and marketing tools. Start small by:

Piloting Programs: Test different AI tools to understand their capabilities and limitations. Whether you're creating content, optimizing SEO, or analyzing data, experimenting will help you identify which tools best suit your needs.

Setting Clear Objectives: When you experiment, have a clear goal in mind. Is it to reduce content creation time, enhance personalization, or improve content relevance? This focus will help you measure the effectiveness of AI tools.

3. Blend AI with Human Creativity

AI is not a replacement for human creativity but a complement. Ensure your team understands the value they bring to the table:

Encourage Creativity: Use AI for tedious tasks to free up time for creative thinking, strategy, and the human touch that resonates with audiences.

Promote Collaboration: AI can generate insights and content, but human intuition is vital to refining these outputs. Encourage teams to collaborate with AI, using it as a partner in the creative process.

4. Develop a Data-Driven Culture

AI thrives on data, so fostering a data-driven environment is essential:

Understand Your Data: Get comfortable with data analysis and interpretation. It is crucial to know what data you have, what it tells you about your audience, and how you can use it to inform your content strategy.

Integrate Systems: Ensure your marketing tools and platforms are integrated, allowing seamless data flow and accessibility. This integration is key to leveraging AI effectively.

5. Prioritize Ethical AI Use

As you incorporate AI into your content marketing, ethical considerations should take center stage:

Transparency: Be transparent about using AI in your content creation and marketing efforts.

Bias and Accuracy: Work to identify and mitigate biases in AI-generated content. Also, ensure content accuracy and relevance by keeping human oversight.

6. Prepare for Organizational Change

Adopting AI-powered content marketing tools may require changes in your team structure and processes:

Assess Skills and Roles: Identify new skills your team might need and consider creating roles focused on managing and optimizing AI tools.

Foster Agility: Encourage an agile approach to content creation and marketing, where quick adaptation and flexibility become part of your team's DNA.

[That's the end of the AI-only section of this post.]

AI Content Tools That Rule

Below are some of my favorite AI tools. I've categorized them by what types of assistance they provide. Some of these I use routinely. Others I've just demoed but was impressed enough to recommend it.

AI Content Strategy Tools

MarketMuse

I was lucky enough to snag a lifetime deal from AppSumo for this AI tool when MarketMuse did a promotion there several years ago. The MarketMuse AI-driven platform helps marketers plan content and glean insights by analyzing your content against top performers in your niche.

ChatGPT

If you've only kicked the tires on ChatGPT, you may need to realize how amazing it can be in helping you build a content strategy. The key is learning how to interact with it. Tell ChatGPT the scenario. Maybe it's something like this:

• We work together at [company name], the [brief description; example: premier widget maker in North America]. You're our content strategist.
• Our company's unique selling proposition is [USP]. Your target industries are [industries/segments].
• Our ideal customer profile is [describe your ICP].
• Our prospects' typical buying committee is made up of [titles].
• The decision-maker persona details are as follows [details about persona].
• With this information in mind, what else must you know to create a 12-month content strategy for our business?

ChatGPT will then ask you questions that you will answer. After you supply all the answers, keep talking to (training) ChatGPT about your business until it has enough information to create a strategy.

StoryChief

AI Content Strategy Builder: With just a click, you can unlock a custom-made content strategy with StoryChief. StoryChief delivers a personalized content strategy and content calendar filled out with ideas that align with your brand and speak to your audience. (By the way, that link on the name is our affiliate link. I'm just being transparent.)

AI Content Ideation Tools

BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo allows users to discover trending topics and content insights across social media platforms. While I don't currently use it, I have used it for client projects in the past. It is a helpful tool.

ChatGPT

I really find ChatGPT useful for several areas of the AI content creation process. If you want to leverage this platform for ideation, start by giving it your persona. Or ask it to create a persona for you starting with a simple request like, "Create a persona for a COO at a B2B SaaS company that has an annual revenue of $100,000,000." Regardless of your approach, you can begin a "conversation" (of sorts) by asking ChatGPT questions about the types of content this persona would be interested in.

You are an expert content strategist for [company/brand, description of brand -- WidgetCo, the top provider of industrial widgets in the US]. You are skilled at selecting topics that build awareness and trust with your target prospects. What information and advice does this [persona name] need to do their job well? What are their top concerns?

Suggest [X number] articles on the topic of [TOPIC]. These articles should be relevant to the persona based on their interests and pain points. The topics should also provide practical, useful information related to their needs.

And so forth.

SEMRush Topic Research Tool

SEMRush—when you say this, do you say S-E-M-Rush? I always spell it out—anyway, SEMRush's Topic Tool is fantastic. This AI tool finds popular headlines and questions related to your keywords and pulls all that good stuff together for your review. Consider this your scout in the field reporting back on what your audience is talking about and reading.

I have used this tool for client SEO and content work.

AI Content Creation Tools

ChatGPT by OpenAI: I like ChatGPT, a generative AI solution for writing drafts or editing. However, having a human content editor or writer use the output as a first draft would be best. Don't just rely on the initial copy it gives you.

Canva's Magic Write

I have a Canva Teams account, so I asked Canva Magic Write to describe itself for this blurb: "Canva Magic Write, the cheeky little secret behind stunning designs, is your go-to digital magician, turning bland text into visually captivating masterpieces with a snap of its figurative fingers. It's like having a friendly, confident sidekick in your creative endeavors, always ready with a clever quip or a brilliant idea to elevate your projects. Whether you're a design newbie or a seasoned pro, Canva Magic Write winks at the challenge, ensuring your message shines and dances off the page."

Lumen5

I really like Lumen5. This platform is an AI video maker that can turn your blog posts and other content into engaging videos. The videos are great for sharing on social media or featuring in other related posts.

AI Content Personalization Tools

Personyze

The Personyze personalization engine utilizes artificial intelligence and powerful targeting to provide personalized content to each visitor. In short, Personyze can show visitors the content or products they are most likely to be interested in, using predictions from data. I am currently testing Personyze on my site, but I just haven't had anything ready for primetime yet.

Rasa.io

Rasa.io is a platform specializing in AI-driven email personalization. It allows businesses to send personalized email newsletters to subscribers. The core of Rasa.io's technology lies in its AI algorithms, which analyze each subscriber's interactions with the content over time. Based on this analysis, the platform customizes each newsletter to match the interests and engagement patterns of the individual subscriber.

Instead of sending the same email content to every subscriber, Rasa.io enables businesses to tailor their newsletters' content to each recipient's preferences, potentially increasing engagement, open rates, and click-through rates. The platform can pull in content from various sources, allowing businesses to curate a mix of internal and external content tailored to their audience's interests. This approach can be particularly valuable for companies looking to maintain high levels of engagement with their newsletters, ensuring that subscribers consistently receive relevant and engaging content.

Optimizely

This platform offers AI-powered personalized content to ensure that your visitors see the content most relevant to them.

AI SEO Tools

The Usual Suspects: You've likely heard of these SEO tools. Each offers AI features, and I have used all three.

• Ahrefs
• SEMRush

I combined these two because everyone knows and talks about them. I'm saving my other slots for one you may not know.

Frase.io: Frase is one of my go-to tools for optimizing my content for SEO. It effortlessly analyzes your competitors' content through a user-friendly research dashboard and provides insights into essential SERP metrics such as word count, domain authority, and the number of headings.

AI Content Optimization Tools

Grammarly

You may not consider it a marketing tool, but Grammarly can serve a purpose for the content team. Beyond just checking spelling, punctuation, and grammar, The Grammarly Business plan allows you to create a brand style guide to standardize language rules and guidelines for your team. I love Grammarly, and I appreciate it for suggesting the use of the Oxford Comma. #TeamOxfordComma

Copyleaks

This cloud-based plagiarism detection and content authentication platform uses AI and machine learning to scan and compare texts online. Besides highlighting potential plagiarism, Copyleaks can detect how much of your content was written by AI.

Maybe you're wondering why it matters if a system can detect if AI wrote your content. After all, Google is cool with it. As of March 31, 2024, Google says, ". . .however content is produced, those seeking success in Google Search should be looking to produce original, high-quality, people-first content demonstrating qualities E-E-A-T. . . . Evaluating your content in this way, whether you're using AI-generated content or not, will help you stay on course with what our systems seek to reward." (E-E-A-T: expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.)

It's a Matter of Trust

Many people still don't trust AI-generated content. In fact, GPTZero has created a Chrome extension to help people determine if an AI or a human wrote a page. Therefore, using a tool like Copyleaks to review your AI-generated content can go a long way in maintaining your credibility. Have your human writers edit and revise your AI-generated content to make it ring true to your readers.

But as with all things AI, you can't fully depend on detection tools to help you identify where you need to make edits (assuming you used a fully AI-generated asset). I've run this post through three different detectors and received three different results: 100% Likely AI written, 58% Likely Human Written, and 100% Likely Human Written.

AI Content Distribution Tools

Mailchimp

Mailchimp email marketing platform can optimize your email campaigns for timing, content, and audience segmentation. It's like having a postman who knows exactly when your audience wants to hear from you. We use Mailchimp on behalf of clients.

Outbrain

Uses AI to place your content on top publisher sites across the web, ensuring visibility among interested audiences. It's like having a billboard on every corner of the digital highway.

And there you have it, the AI content marketing toolkit to rule them all. Each tool, with its unique capabilities, promises to elevate your marketing strategy, ideation, creation, and distribution to realms of efficiency and effectiveness previously unimagined. So, are you ready to wield these tools and reign supreme in the content kingdom?

Privacy & Ethics Considerations With AI Content Marketing

AI-powered content marketing tools can analyze tons of data to personalize user experiences and optimize campaigns. However, with governments tightening regulations on companies' use of personal data, discussions around privacy and ethical considerations are more important than ever.

We're fortunate to have some incredible tools to experiment with, but we should proceed with caution. For marketers, it's all about balancing leveraging data to engage with individuals and maintaining their trust by honoring their privacy. Following the regulations set by GDPR in Europe and CCPA in California isn't just about compliance—it's about building trust. Clearly communicating what data we gather and how we utilize it is essential. Empowering individuals to manage their own information plays a significant role in this process.

Privacy isn't the only concern. We must also ensure that our AI tools are unbiased and do not inadvertently discriminate against anyone. Ensuring equal treatment for all individuals through these systems is vital for establishing solid and enduring connections with our audience, regardless of how digital our environment becomes.

Best Practices in AI Marketing Governance

Establish Clear Policies and Ethical Standards

Start with a solid foundation by defining what ethical AI use means for your organization. These policies and standards should include respecting user privacy, ensuring data security, and avoiding biases in AI algorithms. These policies should be clear, actionable, and reflect your brand's values.

Ensure Transparency and Accountability

Ensure information about how you use AI tools is as transparent as possible. Your organization must be open about how algorithms make decisions, particularly those affecting customer interactions. Accountability measures should be in place to address any issues or biases that arise, with clear lines of responsibility within your team.

Prioritize Data Privacy and Security

Given the amount of customer data involved in digital marketing, safeguarding this information should be a top priority. This step includes complying with regulations like GDPR and CCPA and ensuring data is collected with consent and used in ways that respect customer privacy.

Implement Ongoing Monitoring and Auditing

AI systems should be regularly reviewed and audited for performance, adherence to ethical guidelines, and potential biases. Continuous monitoring helps catch and correct issues before they escalate, ensuring AI tools remain effective and fair.

Invest in Education and Training

Equip your team with the knowledge to use AI responsibly. This training should focus on ethical AI use, understanding biases in AI, and staying updated on legal and regulatory changes. A well-informed team is your best defense against misuse.

Foster Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagement

AI governance shouldn't be a siloed effort. Involve stakeholders from various departments (legal, IT, customer service, etc.) in governance processes to gain diverse perspectives. Collaboration ensures broader buy-in and adherence to governance practices.

Stay Agile and Open to Change

The digital marketing landscape and AI technology constantly evolve. Your AI governance practices should be flexible, allowing for adjustments as new ethical considerations and technologies emerge.

Focus on Human-Centric AI

Remember, the goal of using AI in marketing is to enhance human experiences, not replace them. Design your AI systems to improve customer interactions, offer personalized experiences, and support your team's creative efforts.

Ensure AI Content Aligns with Brand Guidelines and Content Mission

One of the keys to successful AI integration into marketing is making sure that all AI-generated content—whether it's copy for ads, social media posts, or blog articles—faithfully represents your brand's voice and adheres to your content mission. Set up systems and checks to ensure that AI content marketing tools produce content efficiently while maintaining the tone, style and values your brand stands for.

Regular reviews and updates to these AI systems are necessary to keep the content relevant and aligned with your brand's evolving messaging and goals. Integrating AI doesn't mean compromising on brand identity; it's about amplifying it intelligently and consistently across all platforms.

By following these best practices, your marketing department can use AI to its full potential while upholding ethical standards, protecting customer trust, and fostering innovation.

What's Next for B2B Marketers & AI?

It's clear that B2B marketers—all marketers—are entering a new era. The possibilities that AI brings to the table will reshape the way we think about content creation, strategy, and engagement. Artificial intelligence offers speedy content creation while enhancing personalization capabilities.

As AI becomes more entrenched in daily tasks, we must remember that artificial intelligence isn't a silver bullet. Instead, AI is another tool in our arsenal that requires a blend of human creativity, strategic oversight, and ethical consideration.

So, whether you're an early adopter or just starting to explore what AI can do for you, the advice remains the same: Stay curious, stay ethical, and always strive to add that human touch to your marketing endeavors.