One thing is certain in digital marketing: Just when we think we’ve mastered best practices, we realize they’re outdated, and we're falling behind again. Currently, the big "game changer" comes from artificial intelligence (AI) – a topic you cannot ignore if you are involved in content marketing.

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing involves creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience. This has always required creativity, strategic thinking, and a lot, a lot of work. This includes creating blog articles, infographics, videos, managing social media, and email campaigns. Every segment of the marketing funnel needs quality content to guide the user from first contact to becoming a loyal customer and brand ambassador.

Now imagine having an assistant who can analyze vast amounts of data in seconds, generate ideas, create drafts, and optimize your content so that it reaches the right people at the right time. Five to six years ago, this sounded like science fiction, before AI began to change the way we work.

In this article, we will examine not only the key benefits of AI in Content Marketing but also the challenges, misuses, and common misconceptions related to its capabilities.

Content Marketing in the Era of AI

Let's begin with a reminder: Content Marketing is not just writing blog articles, nor is it a one-off activity with immediate results. It is a strategic process of creating resources that solve your audience's problems and guide them towards your product or service. Part of your content marketing strategy can include social media posts, comprehensive articles and resources, e-book formats, and many others, each having its specific place in the marketing funnel.

Now add AI to the equation. AI, or artificial intelligence, is the ability of machines to imitate human cognitive functions such as learning, problem-solving, and perception. In the context of Content Marketing, AI gives us tools to do things that previously took hours or were impossible without a whole team of data analysts.

For which Content Marketing tasks is AI already a key player?

Here's what businesses and marketers most often use AI for when it comes to content marketing:

Research, Generation, and Formulation of Topics

AI can analyze current trends, user searches, customer questions, and competitor content to suggest topics that will surely be interesting to your audience.

Examples of tools: Platforms like Jasper, Copy.ai, as well as SEO tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs already have built-in AI functions for generating content ideas based on similar data.

Drafting and Writing Texts

Tools based on large language models can generate drafts for articles, emails, social media posts, and even more creative texts. This does not replace the copywriter or content creator but speeds up the process and helps optimize the entire workflow.

Example: You can start a conversation with a client or colleague, record it, transcribe it, and then have AI help turn it into an article much faster than writing from scratch.

Examples of tools: In addition to those already mentioned, we can add Rytr, as well as the language models behind ChatGPT for generating drafts.

See more from DGTalents' marketing blog: 7 AI Tools You Can Use Today for Digital Marketing Optimization

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)

AI tools can help with keyword research, SERP analysis, optimization of meta descriptions and titles, and even suggest structural changes for better visibility in search engines and understanding by chatbots.

Examples of tools: Surfer SEO, Clearscope, MarketMuse use AI to analyze content and provide optimization recommendations based on top search results. SEMrush and Ahrefs also integrate AI for deeper keyword and content analysis.

Content Personalization

AI can analyze user behavior on your site or in email campaigns and automatically display the most relevant content, increasing engagement and the chance of conversion.

Examples of tools: Many marketing automation platforms (HubSpot, Marketo, Mailchimp) use AI for audience segmentation and dynamic content. Specialized tools like Dynamic Yield (part of Mastercard) are leaders in AI-powered website and application personalization.

Data Analysis and Forecasting

Which content performs best? Which topics will be popular tomorrow? AI can analyze data much faster and more precisely than humans and provide insights that guide your strategy.

Examples of tools: Tools like Google Analytics 4 (with its AI-powered Insights) and platforms like Tableau or Microsoft Power BI use AI for analyzing and visualizing large datasets, helping to predict trends and identify opportunities.

Benefits of AI Integration for Content Marketing

We still talk to clients and partners for whom the introduction of AI into their work is not a priority. Here's what we most often advise them regarding the capabilities of AI in content marketing:

• You can improve efficiency and speed: You can create more content in less time. AI can help in the initial phase of generating ideas and structuring your content.
• You can achieve deeper and more accurate personalization: You reach each user with a message tailored specifically for them. Personalized content is always more effective than mass advertising, but before the AI era, it was much more difficult and expensive to create.
• Achieve better SEO ranking: AI helps you be more visible to search engines, driving more organic traffic to your site.
• Optimize costs: Automating routine tasks frees up your team's time, which can be invested in more strategic and creative activities.
• Make data-driven decisions: AI provides insights that ensure your marketing efforts are headed in the right direction.

Challenges and Main Objections to AI Models in Content Marketing

As with any change and technological revolution, AI is not only praised by proponents but also faces many opponents. Here are their most common arguments against the introduction of AI when it comes to content marketing:

• Quality and uniqueness of content: AI generates text, but it is not always quality, unique, and authentic content. It often generates "Google goulash" – a mix of existing information without depth or original thought. Human intervention for editing, adding a brand's own style, voice, and unique insights is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL. AI is a powerful tool, but creativity, empathy, and understanding of nuances are 100% human qualities that cannot be replaced.
• Ethical considerations: Who is the author of AI-generated text? How is the data that users leave on platforms used? Are there biases in the algorithms and favoring of certain results? These are important questions you need to answer before trusting AI-generated content.
• Need for human supervision and editing: Never publish AI-generated content without human review and approval. Errors, inaccuracies, or an inappropriate tone are entirely possible from any language model. A team (or at least one person) is needed to manage the process and ensure the content's relevance. We believe this point best explains why AI complements, but does not remove the need for a true expert who manages the Content Marketing process.

A few tips from DGTalents to successfully use AI in your Content Marketing plan:

Over the years, we have tested various approaches and AI tools to improve team work and the quality of content we create for our clients. Here are some key tips to stick to if you want to quickly catch the right rhythm and synergy between AI and the standard approach to your marketing processes:

• Start with a few specific tasks: Don't try to automate everything at once. Identify specific areas where AI can be tested quickly and objectively – for example, generating ideas, initial drafts, optimizing meta descriptions and SEO data, etc.

• Invest in the right tools: There are many AI tools on the market, and their possible applications are constantly growing. Research which ones best meet your needs and budget. Our advice is to look for niche tools, as they are usually in the most advanced stage of their development, unlike multifunctional solutions.

• Understand your team's attitudes and invest in training: You might be surprised to find that your team includes AI opponents, concerned about their position after the introduction of more automation. Make sure your copywriters, editors, and marketing specialists know how to effectively use AI tools as assistants, not as substitutes. Do not allow AI tools to be used for content creation or for any other purpose if the user of the information is not competent on the topic and lacks an analytical perspective on the generated response.

• Focus on added value: Use the time freed up by AI to concentrate on more strategic Content Marketing activities: in-depth audience research, relationship building, creating content that requires human creativity and empathy (such as customer stories, interviews, personal stories). As a business owner or marketing manager, do not let "saved" time turn into "free" time for the content marketing experts in your organization.

• Use AI for research and innovation: Relatively rarely do companies use the most significant potential of AI tools - processing and comparing vast amounts of data. AI can be a powerful tool for understanding the market, competitors, and your audience. Use it to discover new opportunities and always be one step ahead.

• Integrate AI into your process: Let it be clear to your team in advance when and for what purposes AI use is already part of your workflow, and for which  the Content Marketing specialist remains the main executor and responsible person, or the use of artificial intelligence is not recommended.

To Summarize..

For better or worse, artificial intelligence is already part of effective Content Marketing for almost every business. If you ignore it, your competitors will likely be more effective. If you misunderstand the idea, its use will probably harm you. If you decide to remove the human from the equation, the long-term result will not be in your favor, either.

However, if you want AI to help you be more creative, effective, productive, and relevant to your audience, we have the solution. Contact the DGTalents team for useful advice and the right approach to your Content Marketing strategy in the age of AI: with the necessary level of personalization and maximum return on investment for your business.