Should I Use AI for My Content Writing?
Now that AI content generators are everywhere, the pressure is on to find a way to use them in your business. If you have been managing your own digital marketing strategy for some time, it might be pretty tempting to outsource your content generation to one of the more popular tools. After all, writing is time-consuming, so letting your computer do the hard work will give you the freedom to focus on other things.
It’s true that writing is time-consuming, especially when it needs to be done well. However, what AI saves in time, it loses in quality. AI might be able to compile a blog article or social media post that meets your basic criteria – and do it quickly. But that does not mean it can deliver something that is effective for your brand or your SEO efforts. In general, it’s not the optimal solution for content writing. If you are truly ready to outsource your content creation, hire a human writer to maintain your brand voice and SEO goals.
Why Does it Matter if a Person or AI Writes My Content?
Some business owners want to know why it matters whether AI or a professional copywriter writes their content. If it’s not coming directly from them, what’s the difference? This is an excellent question, and it’s one that marketing professionals have been thoughtfully answering ever since the launch of these popular tools.
The answer boils down to the fact that humans have original and creative ideas, while machines can only rearrange and reproduce what already exists. AI technology cannot do any of its own thinking. It can only generate content from compiled ideas, words, and structures that are already on the internet. AI can’t produce truly fresh content, and it can’t run with your unique ideas. A human writer absolutely can.
AI platforms can only work with the prompt a user enters and the existing language on the internet as of its last training update. AI does not know what words that person typically uses, nor does it understand their business tone and personality. It simply performs the task assigned by a prompt.
Professional writers who work with small businesses take the time to get to know each brand’s voice. They do their research to capture that particular business owner’s differentiators, preferred phrases, and key ideas. They create content with the intention of matching the tone and style to all other content under that brand in order to give the target audience a consistent user experience.
While there are some more sophisticated AI platforms that can take a significant amount of background information to return a more natural style of writing, they aren’t the right application for most business owners. High-end AI comes at a price, plus the content still requires editing and fact-checking. The all-in cost of using this type of service might not yield any savings over working with a professional team that submits content ready to publish.
Is AI Ever Useful in Marketing Content?
Even though we can’t recommend AI tools to handle your content writing, it is still useful for some applications. AI comes in handy for many business owners in the idea-generation phase of content creation. With a simple prompt, it’s fairly easy to get a list of ideas for your next several blogs, social media posts, or videos.
AI might also be handy for developing ideas for introduction paragraphs or post structure. Sometimes, AI can solve writer’s block just by answering a prompt. After considering its suggestions, rephrase it into your own words and style. Resist the urge to simply copy and paste – remember that the machine didn’t produce anything original.
Speaking of originality, AI definitely seems to have certain identifiable properties. Most marketing insiders are getting very adept at recognizing AI content quickly. If we catch it, you can bet that the search engine crawlers notice it also, and they might move you down the search results page as a result. Worse than that, everyday users are becoming very savvy at picking up on AI content clues as well. This will always have an impact on their ability to trust the business that published it.
Ultimately, keep AI in the background. It might be helpful for planning and brainstorming, but humans should always produce the final product.
Outsource Content to Creative Professionals Who Listen
It’s hard to beat the results that can only come from human communication. When people put their minds together, they create truly original ideas. Creative professionals have the skills and experience to create content that is unique to your brand and intended for your audience.
If you have reached a point in your business where content creation needs to be outsourced, contact us for a consultation. Mottofy Marketing tailors your content marketing plan to reflect your brand’s style with professional writers who capture your voice.