[ad_1]

It’s no secret that artificial intelligence is quickly transforming the field of content marketing and search engine optimization. While AI tools can make the content creation process more efficient and less time-consuming, businesses still need to be aware of the potential risks and pitfalls of using AI-generated content.

In hopes to make the B2B world a better place, Brody Dorland, co-founder of DivvyHQ, and I hosted a webinar to discuss our experiences and cautionary tales of using AI tools in content marketing and SEO. We kicked off our conversation by acknowledging the many new tools we have seen emerge in recent months, and wrapped things up by addressing the increasing number of questions and concerns from clients.

As passionate content marketers and creators, our goal is to educate our audiences on the tools we’ve been testing and dispel any myths surrounding AI in content marketing. We specifically designed the webinar to be interactive, and encouraged participants to ask questions and share their own experiences.

If you missed out on our discussion, you didn’t actually miss out. Here’s a summary of our hot take on the latest and greatest topics surrounding AI and content marketing.

Quick Takeaways

  • The use of AI tools for content creation and editing can provide certain benefits, but it cannot replace the expertise and personal touch that comes with human writing 
  • Effective prompts and context are crucial when using AI tools, still making human-generated content essential in the content creation industry
  • Testing and exploring the power of AI tools (while remaining mindful of their limitations) will help businesses stay ahead of the curve in the content marketing and SEO industries

Understanding the relationship between AI and content marketing means balancing the benefits and risks, while keeping in mind its limitations.

The Future of AI and Content Marketing

Will AI and content marketing live happily ever after? Or fall into a toxic situationship destined to fail? Here’s the hot gossip.

AI and SEO

One of the first topics we addressed was the use of AI in SEO. I cited a prediction by a leading industry expert that SEO is dead and that AI will take over the world. We acknowledged the potential of AI, but disagreed with some of the more extreme predictions. We also cautioned against ignoring the risks.

AI and Content Creation

We also discussed the limitations of AI for content creation, particularly in its ability to verify facts and access live internet databases. Even with plug-ins and Chat-GPT 4 access to the internet, AI simply predicts responses based on its past learning, which comes from reading everything on the internet (only through 2021).

AI and Ownership

Another important issue we raised was the ownership of AI-generated content. We noted that if businesses use AI to generate content, they do not own it. As a result, agencies like ours cannot create content using AI for clients, as our contracts require us to create bespoke content that is owned by our clients.

Alt-text: screenshot shows that Paul Roetzer reported using ai tools to create content results in non-ownership

As an agency owner, I also worry about our writers relying too heavily on AI tools to generate content. We have guidance, training, and plagiarism checking tools in place to ensure our content is 100% original, human-generated, authentic, and written based on client needs.

The Cautionary Tales of AI and Content Marketing

Next, we shared some cautionary tales about the use of AI in content marketing. One example was a test conducted by a marketing expert who used the GPT-3 API to create content for an industry niche website. While the content generated traffic in the short-term, Google eventually penalized the site for not having human-generated content.

screenshot shows that Google penalized a website for not having human-generated content

Source: SMX Munich

Despite these risks, we still emphasized the potential benefits of AI in content marketing and SEO. We encouraged businesses to test these tools and explore their capabilities, but to do so with caution and consideration.

The Challenges of AI-Generated Content

While there are potential benefits to using AI tools for content creation and editing, like saving time and generating ideas, there are also some challenges we need to keep in mind.

Lacking Human Experience and Expertise

One of the main advantages of AI tools is their ability to generate instant answers to user queries. Google has been using AI for years to serve up instant answers and search results.

However, while AI can provide quick and efficient solutions to simple tasks and queries, it cannot convey what only humans can provide:

  • Logical assessment of the truth
  • Emotion
  • Humor
  • Thought leadership
  • Personal experience

Because of this, the use of AI tools for content creation may lack the personal touch and expertise that comes with human writing. Even though chatbots, style checkers, and summarization tools can serve as a great starting point for writing articles or generating ideas, they may not be able to produce high quality content that resonates with your audience.

But what if you just want to go into “bot mode?”

Creating Effective Prompts

Because AI lacks human experience and expertise, effective prompts and context are crucial when using AI tools. Providing clear prompts and context can help AI tools focus on a specific subject matter and generate more relevant, useful content.

Brody and I even explored the idea of “effective prompt-creation” as a skill that may become increasingly important in the content creation industry, ultimately giving individuals a competitive edge in the job market.

We explained that prompts are a way to generate ideas for content and can be tailored to specific niches or industries. The key is remembering that prompts should not be relied on too heavily, since they can produce derivative or “low quality” content.

Some AI-writing tools allow for something called “bot” mode where the tool writes based on a limited set of information. The output is about what you would expect. Very bot-like.

Navigating AI’s Response

While AI can be helpful in the early stages of content creation, like planning and idea generation, it can’t do everything. When it comes to marketing strategy and lead generation, AI is not going to replace human expertise and experience.

AI can recommend amazing recipes. But it can’t make you dinner.

We also have to keep in mind that AI-generated content may violate spam policies if its intent is to game the search results.

AI and Content Marketing: Just Friends

All of this is to say that there is a paradox of AI that we have to consider. Yes, AI tools can be helpful in some areas of content creation– but they can’t replace human-generated content that demonstrates expertise, authority, and trust.

graphic with quote from Michael Brenner: "The paradox of AI: The more automation and artificial intelligence we use, the more human our audience will expect us to be."

Despite the challenges, we can still benefit from several noteworthy AI content marketing tools and integrate them into the content creation process, in hand with workflow tools like DivvyHQ. These tools are ideal for tasks like:

  • Checking spelling and grammar
  • Adhering to a style guide
  • Generating alternative blog headlines
  • Creating email and social copy

To conclude the webinar, we shared some final takeaways and encouraged participants to ask any remaining questions. We emphasized the importance of balancing the benefits and risks of AI in content marketing and SEO, and the need to remain aware of the limitations of these tools.

While these tools have the potential to revolutionize the field, businesses need to stay cautious and aware of the potential risks and pitfalls. As we continue to collectively test and explore the power of AI tools (while remaining mindful of their limitations), we can stay ahead of the curve in the competitive world of content marketing and SEO.

Itching To Learn More?

Watch The Webinar Here:

Download Our Webinar Slides Here.

Some Questions and Answers From The Webinar

Q: What are some good resources for learning and using prompts?

A: There are many resources available, including many chrome plugins for Chat-GPT. We also recommend using Chat-GPT as a prompt engineer and searching for articles to learn about prompts.

Q: Who owns content created by Chat-GPT?

A: Ownership is unclear, but according to the copyright office, if Chat-GPT transforms a webinar transcript into an article, the creators of the webinar would NO LONGER own the article. I used AI to create a summary of a summary of a summary of this article. It took me 3 tries and about an hour. Then I re-wrote everything it spit out. So I own it.

Q: Will using AI-generated content be penalized by search engines like Google?

A: Search engines are looking for high quality content that displays expertise and human experience. It’s recommended that content creators focus on creating quality content that provides the best answers for readers. Google says it won’t penalize AI content for things like stats, weather and sports scores. But it states very clearly that AI-generated content created for the purpose of gaming search rankings will be penalized.

Q: Is it necessary to use multiple tools for prompt writing?

A: It depends on the user’s needs and use case. Experimenting with different tools and finding the ones that provide the best output will help save time in the long run.

Q: How can writing for people and writing for search engines be incorporated into using Chat-GPT?

A: Writing for people and search engines have similarities, since search engines aim to rank engaging content – the key is focusing on creating high quality content that educates your audience. Tools like Chat-GPT can be great for generating outlines and FAQs, but should not be used to write full-length content.

Get To Know AI and Content Marketing

Our senses are telling us that AI and content marketing have a long, healthy friendship ahead of them.

AI has certainly changed the game when it comes to content marketing and SEO, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. While AI tools offer certain benefits, we need to strike a balance between its benefits and limitations.

Want to learn more about testing and exploring the power of AI tools in content marketing? We can help you stay ahead of the curve in the competitive world of content marketing and SEO. Get started today by checking out our weekly blog content service, or schedule a free consultation now to learn more!

 

This article was written from a webinar transcript summary of a summary of a summary draft from Chat-GPT.

[ad_2]

Source link