As a content creator, it was difficult to ignore when Chat-GPT emerged as a fast-growing, seemingly permanent, addition to the artificial intelligence (AI) world. There was a lot of fear that arose from many creatives that Learning Language Models (LLMs) were about to take over our jobs and destroy our livelihoods as we knew it.
As time has gone on, the panic has died down (but not yet been eradicated!) and most of us realized that… if we can’t beat ‘em, we have to join ‘em.
But let’s get off the pessimistic stuff for the moment because the entire point of this article is to highlight the ways in which generative AI can actually work for you.
And, after some time using different ones myself, I’ve noticed - albeit begrudgingly - that there are definitely some advantages to utilizing generative AI within your content creation and planning which can streamline your approach to content marketing.
In this article, we’re going to explore the idea of harnessing generative AI for content creation and planning, specifically taking into account:
- How generative AI is used in content creation and planning
- Benefits of generative AI within content creation and planning
- Challenges of generative AI within content creation and planning
- How to get started with using AI for this approach
- 4 AI tools for content planning and creation
How is generative AI used in content creation and planning?
There are many different use cases for generative AI in general, but how can it be used to optimize your approach to content planning and creation?
Here are some ways that AI can be used:
- Suggesting unique concepts.
- Automating the writing process, generating articles, blog posts, social copy, and more.
- Delivering personalized content recommendations for tailored experiences.
- Streamlining optimization for SEO purposes.
- Providing data-driven insights to enhance content strategies.
It’s important to preface that you must take generative AI with a pinch of salt, especially when it comes to content creation. It isn’t 100% reliable, makes mistakes, and generates false facts and statistics.
You always need to do your own research to back up your claims to make sure you’re maintaining the credibility of your brand.
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the benefits it does bring, shall we?
Benefits of generative AI within content creation and planning
As a content marketer myself, from my own perspective, generative AI offers some exciting benefits for content creation and planning.
Saves time
First off, it can be a real time-saver. Instead of spending hours brainstorming ideas or writing content from scratch, generative AI can automate those tasks for you.
Though I wouldn’t trust it to write out a whole piece of content - after all, that’s where the human aspect shines through - if you’re stuck with some pointers, it can help to give you a basic outline to begin from. This can then leave you with more bandwidth to focus on the strategic aspects of your work.
Creative
One of the coolest things about generative AI is its ability to spark creativity. It can generate fresh and unique content ideas that you might not have thought of on your own. It's like having a creative partner who brings new perspectives to the table. This can help you explore innovative concepts that captivate your audience.
Personalization
Right, now you might be thinking - Charley, AI is anything but personal. And you’d mainly be right. But hear me out. Generative AI can be useful for tailoring your content to specific individual preferences and target audiences. You just need to make sure you’re providing it with the correct prompts so it’s taking these things into consideration.
Whether it's personalized recommendations, product descriptions, or marketing materials, it can help to add a personal touch to your work, making it more engaging and relevant for your audience.
Scalability
Scalability is another area where generative AI can shine. It allows you to scale your content creation efforts across multiple platforms and channels without sacrificing consistency. You can maintain a cohesive brand experience by using generative AI to ensure that your content maintains a consistent tone, style, and brand voice across different touchpoints.
I’ve personally used Chat-GPT to help me rewrite an original LinkedIn social post in the style of a Tweet, so it maintained the right tone of voice, kept the most important points of the copy, and kept to a specific character limit. Again, this cuts time but also helps me scale my content across all social platforms without scrimping on the quality.
Data-driven insights
Generative AI can also bring valuable data-driven insights to the table. By analyzing large amounts of data, it can extract meaningful insights about your audience's preferences and behaviors. This can help you optimize your content strategies and make informed decisions based on real data, rather than guesswork.
Handy, right?
Hannah Wesson
However, it's not all smooth sailing. There are some challenges to consider when using generative AI in content creation. This leads me to…
The challenges of generative AI within content creation and planning
Quality control
While generative AI can generate content quickly, it's important to have human oversight and editing to protect the quality and relevance of your output. After all, we don't want any embarrassing errors or inconsistencies slipping through. Which, if you’ve used a tool like Chat-GPT or Bard, you’ll know can be a big downfall of the platforms.
Is it all that ethical?
Ethical considerations are another challenge. Generative AI can potentially generate fake news, misinformation, or biased content if not used responsibly. It's essential to be mindful of these ethical concerns and implement safeguards to prevent any unintended harm.
In this episode of Let’s Talk Revenue Marketing, host Eve Chen and guest Ryan Boh explore the ethical considerations that generative AI brings.
Charley Gale
Limitations in its knowledge
Generative AI also can struggle to understand the broader context or nuances required in content creation. It’s more likely produce content lacking depth and emotional intelligence and fail to capture the intricacies of human communication.
As a content creator, it's important to add your unique touch, ensuring that the content resonates with your audience on a deeper level. It’s also important to note that using human voices that are both distinct and unique helps to contribute to your brand memorability and character. This, in itself, can be the reason your customer chooses your brand over another.
It isn’t a human!
Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, it's crucial to strike the right balance between automation and human input. While generative AI can improve efficiency, we don't want to lose the human creativity and intuition that makes our work stand out.
Remember, it's your expertise and understanding of your audience that brings authenticity and originality to the content.
To wrap this section up, it’s important to understand that while generative AI is an exciting tool for copywriters, you must approach it with caution, use it responsibly, and leverage it as a valuable assistant rather than relying on it entirely.
By blending the power of generative AI with your creative prowess, you can take your content creation and planning to new heights.
How to get started using generative AI for content creation and planning
Diving into the world of generative AI for content creation and planning can be an exciting endeavor. Here's a quick step-by-step guide to help you get started:
Start by clarifying your content marketing goals
Figure out which areas of content creation and planning you want to enhance using generative AI. It could be streamlining the writing process, improving personalization, or optimizing content strategies.
Do some research on different generative AI tools out there
Look for ones that suit your specific needs and align with your workflow. Consider factors like user-friendliness, additional features, and how easily they’ll integrate with your existing processes.
We’ve added a list of AI tools below which could be handy for you.
Familiarize yourself with the data requirements of the generative AI tool you choose
Understand what kind of input data it needs to generate content effectively. This could mean using things like existing content, user data, or industry-specific information.
Start small and experiment
Take on smaller content projects or experiments to get a feel for the generative AI tool. Play around with different prompts and parameters to see how it affects the output. It's a learning process, so take your time.
Provide clear instructions and guidelines to the generative AI tool
This ensures that the generated content matches your brand voice and style. Remember, you're still the creative director, and the AI tool is your assistant. Give it the right guidance.
Keep in mind that human editing and quality assurance are essential
Generative AI outputs almost always need some polishing and fine-tuning. Review and refine the generated content to ensure it meets your high standards and resonates with your audience.
Monitor the performance of your generative AI-generated content
Pay attention to metrics like engagement, conversions, and audience feedback. Based on the insights you gather, iterate on your content strategy and adjust the way you use generative AI.
Stay up-to-date with the latest trends and advancements in generative AI
Attend webinars and conferences, and engage with the community to stay informed. Embrace the opportunity to evolve your content marketing approach with generative AI.
4 AI tools for content planning and creation
Due to such an influx in popularity over the past year, it’s safe to say that you have plenty of AI tools to choose from when it comes to planning and creating your content.
To begin with, you have the more mainstream LLMs like Chat-GPT and Google Bard. However, we want to focus on the tools that have been created specifically for content and writing; because this is what they were designed to help with, it’ll give you more accurate and effective outcomes.
So, let’s dive in, shall we?
GrammarlyGO
I don’t think I’ve met a content creator who didn’t already have Grammarly within their content writing arsenal. In fact, I’m using the plug-in now to check for mistakes!
But now, they’ve come out with an AI-powered writing assistant called GrammarlyGO, designed to work in a similar way to its original tool for checking grammar, but instead gives you ideas for how to compose, ideate, personalize, and rewrite your copy.
The tool is split into four pricing plans:
- Free: For individuals easing into AI assistance, with 100 prompts per month.
- Premium: For individuals looking for more advanced assistance, with 1000 prompts per month.
- Teams: For small businesses looking to streamline their team approach, with 1000 prompts per user per month.
- Enterprise: For those looking to help their entire organization, with 1000 prompts per user per month.
WriteSonic
WriteSonic is another AI-powered writing assistant which can help you with a multitude of different content formats, whether that’s articles, landing pages, sales emails, social posts, product descriptions, and more.
It also has a handy tool that I’ve personally used, where you can get it to rewrite pieces of your copy into a certain tone of voice. This is useful when you want to change the messaging for different platforms.
The tool is split into three pricing plans:
- Free trial: Access to the standard chatbots, templates, and integrations with 10,000 words per user.
- Pro: Access to everything in the free trial, plus Chat GPT-4 and GPT-4 32K integrations, a personalized article writer, and more. With 100,000 words per user.
- Enterprise: Access to everything in the Pro plan, plus training sessions, custom options for words, users, AI development, and more.
Copy.AI
Copy.AI seems to run in a similar sphere as Chat-GPT. You put in a prompt for what you’re looking for, give it context it can use within its response such as your brand, product, and tone of voice, and then can look through the multiple options it generates to see what matches what you need.
The tool is split into three pricing plans:
- Free: Access to the Copy.AI chatbot, 90+ tools, unlimited projects, with 2,000 words per month. Only one user seat for this plan.
- Pro: Access to everything in the free plan plus the newest features, email support, 29+ languages, and unlimited words. This plan gives you five user seats.
- Enterprise: Access to the Pro plan along with prebuilt workflow library, custom brand voices, API access, and more.
Scalenut
Scalenut is an AI-powered SEO platform. With it, you can plan, research, create, and optimize your content in terms of SEO and topical authority. With this platform, you get access to competitive research, social listening, AI templates, and more.
There is a seven-day free trial, but there are three different pricing plans separate to this:
- Essential: For individual creators where you access 100,000 AI words, can create 10 SEO articles per month, SERP analysis, and more.
- Growth: For startups and growing businesses, you access everything in the Essential plan, with unlimited AI words, 60 SEO articles, can build 60 keyword clusters, audit and optimize 60 pages per month, and more.
- Pro: For larger businesses, you access everything in the Growth plan, can create 150 articles, 150 keyword clusters, 150 page optimizations, and more per month.
Final thoughts
It’s been a wild ride this past year, figuring out how to be a content creator alongside newly built platforms designed to do what you’re paid for!
But, the ultimate lesson from this is that these tools are nowhere near human level. They’re great to have as an aside - to help and assist with our process - but to rely on it entirely would truthfully be a mistake.
Generative AI content might be creative, but it isn’t original. This is something that we must remember.
Got any thoughts on generative AI? Let us know in the Revenue Marketing Alliance community!
