The intelligent use of AI in your content strategy

Content creation is hard.

Coming up with a fresh, unique and well researched article that’s going to have people hanging off your every word isn’t easy. Even expert writers churn out duds and junk content. While it’s incredibly tempting to jump over to the AI and ask it to churn out an article, email, video script or sales page… there’s a few reasons why we’re not there yet.

AI tools today are fantastic support tools

When I saw what the tools could do, it hit me like a gut punch. For years I’ve pounded the keys on my Microsoft Natural split keyboard expressing raw emotion. I used to say I typed 80WPM, and faster when I’m angry! (Joking of course)

eCommerce store owners can go straight to these tools and ask for an email in the style of some writer they love… and it spits out a piece of content at lightning speed. What purpose would guys like me who’ve spent the last 18 years studying psychology, sales, market shifts, persuasion and demand generation have to offer? Why hire a human at all?

Large Language Models (LLMs) aren’t perfect.

Here’s some drawbacks:

• These tools do not have lived experiences
• AI can’t really understand complex emotions
• Most hallucinate and need to be fact-checked
• They cannot anticipate the reception of a message by their audience

The last one is critically important

An experienced writer, content strategist or marketing person who’s been in the game a long time has seen the reactions from hundreds of content pieces. Guys like myself have sent over 1000 broadcast emails to thousands of people and written over 100 blog posts. We remember what hit, and what didn’t. We know the objections the audience is likely to have. Like a minds eye, we can read a draft the way customers are going to experience it and how they’ll feel about it.

That’s something that technology can’t really do

It misses cultural, community and general audience concerns. In fact, even business owners who are too close to their product and their industry can’t really tell the difference between good content or bad. What they can sense, is whether THEY like it or not. There’s nothing wrong with wanting content you like, but what matters most is if our customers enjoy it.

Ever heard an engineer play the piano?

Sure, they hit every note at the right timing points, but it sounds robotic. It lacks a certain finesse or artistry that comes from the artsy, flowy and creative expression that great piano players develop. Content made by human beings is a lot like that. Even if I give an LLM my exact formula for an incredible, edge of your seat, fascinating message that grips your eyeballs… it’s just going to sound like it did what I asked, without the feeling!

The tools speed up research.

They can help you come up with ideas or analyze topics. They can even help stall writer’s block, but they can’t fully replace the need for a human.

If you really want an audience to feel connected to you,  your brand and product you really can’t avoid hiring someone with years of experience. They’ll rally your tribe, make them feel connected to a bigger vision and have them looking forward to your next email.

That’s what I enjoy most. Finding things that create enjoyable experiences for the readers, and drive sales too!