How Generative AI is Changing Content Strategy Tactics
Marketers have become accustomed to researching keywords that influence the editorial calendar, creating formulaic content for various campaigns, and feeling like despite a ton of hard work, organic and paid content isn’t generating as many quality conversions and sessions as the same tactics once did.
That’s because consumers are craving different types of content. And marketers across the entire mix, from performance to content strategy need to quickly adapt.
The shift in strategy requires rethinking content across not only all channels but across all departments as well; weaving in the amazing capabilities of Generative AI strategically to improve customer experience, generate more conversions, increase productivity, and maximize budgets.
Death of SEO and Rise of Generative AI
When it comes to brand awareness and demand generation, it used to be enough for brands to have a website. Then it was all about a blog. Then it was a shift toward content creation hyper-focused on keywords or common queries to earn those coveted top spots in the SERPs. Then it was paid ads. The iterations go on and on.
These tactics still have an impact, but due to more competition and more content, it is much harder to capture the attention of consumers, let alone move them through the funnel.
To differentiate, we keep promising ourselves we’ll start creating more thought-leadership content, and influencer campaigns.
But, let’s face it.
Thought-leadership content is hard, SEO content is much easier, and with the rise of ChatGPT, it’s easier than ever to crank out 2,500-word whitepapers with subheads, keywords, and boring, unauthentic content that goes unnoticed.
As consumer demands shift, and as accessibility to content surges, there will undoubtedly lead to a shift in the way content ranks and is consumed.
So where does that leave us?
Human Content vs Generative AI Content
I think the way we produce content and protect our marketing and product resources will become two very well-established silos, leveraging the capabilities of generative AI to create rapid variants of content for the experimentation mix, and shifting more budget toward meaningful content creation in other areas of marketing.
Human Content For the Authenticity
Back to the concept of thought-leadership content. We all want it. We all love it. Not everyone can create it. Still, the more authentic the content, the more it acts as a brand advocate, resembling another version of case studies, proof points, reviews, or testimonials that drives demand and closes deals.
Prospects want to know who they are going to work with, what those people believe, if they are trustworthy, if they’re capable, and most importantly, if they’re worthy of investment. The best way to do this is by communicating your thought-process, in truly authentic content.
We’ve already seen the success of thought-provoking content on social media sites like Reddit, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, et al, but, I believe thought-leadership will grow in importance, and will start to become more prominent on websites, and ToFu, MoFu, BoFu assets as consumers begin aligning themselves with individual influencers representing brands.
Generative AI is not close to being capable of producing original content with authenticity. It's about amplifying creativity and multiplying creative. Humans on the other hand now have a beautiful opportunity to spend time being creative, and creating content that taps into the types of talent you have at your organization - this closes deals.
Generative AI For the Tactical Stuff
Now think of some of the tactical copy needs that require high effort, with unknown ROI, or uncertainty around what will perform best.
For example, have you ever:
Suffered from writer’s block when trying to come up with blog titles?
Felt uncertain how to modify an email subject line for better open rates?
Bashed your head on the wall trying to come up with unique CTA copy?
Struggled to match tone to consumer preferences?
Now think of how powerful generative AI is at creating content at scale and with speed.
Creating prompts in LLMs tools to create unique variations of copy, initially developed by a human who is connected to the voice, authenticity, style of a brand, means multiplying copy options. While the copy recommendations will be rooted in a foundation of thought and authenticity from its initial author, the iterations can add to the deliverable - diversifying tone, approaching the problems from a different perspective, and creating outputs the original author may not have thought of the first time.
These copy tweaks may seem marginal, but when trying to understand what variations and combinations of words help convert customers, it’s not just a single copy tweak, it's tweaks at scale so you can experiment with conversions.
If you’ve ever gone through this process, you know it is challenging to come up with multiple ways to say the same thing, with the same sentiment and quality. (The thesaurus can only get you so far.) That’s why, from my perspective, this is one of the sweetest spots for Generative AI and content.
Content strategy is in the midst of a shakeup, but I don’t think it’s a shakeup that will remove creatives from the process of content generation. I think it’s more about being offered a tool that helps maximize budget, amplify creativity, and improve communications between brands and end consumers.
