Digital Marketing: As the Generative AI Content Pendulum Swings
Generative AI is reshaping content marketing as we know it. Whether that’s for the better isn’t apparent yet. AI technology makes marketing content easier to develop, execute, and track. Now that technology has reached the very human act of writing, where do we draw the line? Or do we draw a line?
Generative AI marketing content has become the norm seemingly overnight as companies push content creation limits to flood marketing channels with articles, blogs, ebooks, and social posts. Cluttered digital channels are prompting search algorithm updates, catching search-rank seekers off guard, and shifting marketing teams’ SEO best practices to help companies rise in search rankings or maintain their position. As a passionate writer, I’m sharing my thoughts on the impact of AI’s content creation extremes and a future prediction for marketers and AI.
In my opinion, human writing is more authentic and tells a more compelling story, so I was surprised when a Fast Company article mentioned Google’s inability to tell AI and human-generated content apart. This brings me to the first extreme—the shift in who or what is creating our content.
AI’s Marketing Content Extreme: Yesterday’s vs. Today’s Content Creation
Yesterday’s content marketing was a team effort that started with several people brainstorming topics and ended with someone writing the materials. Consumers knew that a human had written the article, blog, or social post they were reading. In today’s content marketing, one person can leverage AI technology to plan topics and craft the content, impacting the amount of human contribution. Consumers don’t know if a human or AI technology created the content they’re reading. If you’re scaling and posting more content with AI, ask how much technology impacts your content’s humanness.
An Unexpected AI Extreme: Rankings vs. Audience Benefit
This flurry of technology-generated content creates a vicious cycle between increased AI content volumes, search engine algorithm updates, and marketing SEO best practices that keep up. Companies are scaling and publishing copious amounts of content, so Google updates its algorithm more often. Companies lean on AI-generated content to maintain their rankings, and Google’s updates make it harder for them to rank. The focus shifts from educating and connecting with consumers to publishing more articles, blogs, and social posts to stay afloat in a sea of content. This extreme change leads us to the question: Are you writing content to rank or to serve your audience?
My Extreme Prediction for AI Marketing Content
Digital marketers are great at shifting, stretching their creative muscles, and incorporating technology into strategies and processes. The AI marketing content storm will blow over, and marketers will examine their AI content to find a balance between AI and human writing. Human content writers like mom jeans and vinyl records will make a comeback. We’ll rediscover the value of the human touch in our content and narratives. True to the “all in moderation” adage, companies will balance humans with generative AI, using AI for ideation and outlining articles, blogs, and social posts but leaving copywriting up to humans.
Let’s schedule a call with The Art of Marketing to discuss supplementing your in-house team’s content creation.
AI Marketing Content Conclusion
Generative AI disrupts content creation processes and enables in-house marketing teams to publish more content. The amount of AI content is growing along with changes in SEO best practices to help companies rank against competitors. Innovative technology and change are two things that marketers can always count on. As with previous innovations, the marketing industry will adapt to generative AI and figure out how it best fits in content creation.
