AI is accelerating the rate of content creation in the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey. Not all of the content produced is good quality, but it’s definitely changing the way we approach content marketing.
Ever since the launch of Inbound Marketing, and alongside it the prominence of content marketing being used as a core part of B2B marketing strategies, companies have strived to develop content that helps them attract an audience and appear knowledgeable and trustworthy.
In the early days, it was relatively simple to rank on Google, but as more and more businesses turned to content generation, Google and other search engines became much more competitive landscapes. Some focused on advanced keyword analysis, positioning and optimising for specific key terms, while others focused more on writing good, contextual content that answered questions and appealed to human readers.
Gone are the days of “create it and
they will come!”
In the world of AI, both of these strategies are beginning to become void with all eyes turning to AI Engine Optimisation (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) - essentially, optimising content to be referenced by AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity etc.
It’s for a good reason as in the first half of 2024, more than 50% of Google searches resulted in zero clicks. While you could theorise that this is simply because people didn’t find what they’re looking for (which might be true in some cases), it’s also likely that people are beginning to find the answers to their questions in the AI summary.
Furthermore, as users begin to become more reliant on AI tools such as those mentioned above, they are more naturally inclined to use these tools to ask questions that previously went into Google. Not only does this change where people are finding the answers, it also changes how people ask the questions.
Google (and other search engines) have been designed to provide links to relevant information and websites based on the search query. We’ve all spent years honing our Google search skills, often knowing what to search and even looking for a particular answer. With AI tools like ChatGPT, the tool is designed to respond to queries using human language, ultimately trying to provide an answer in full, rather than provide links, and instead sharing information sources.
With this being the case, you are less likely to be provided a long list of countless pages of information to choose from, but instead, you’ll receive a nicely structured answer to your query in an easy-to-understand format. As a result, in learning to use AI tools effectively, we’re also being taught that the prompt you give is extremely important and longer questions with more detail are going to provide more precise answers (in theory).
How does this impact content marketing?
In HubSpot’s Loop Marketing methodology, it’s suggested that AI essentially covers the awareness and early stages of consideration in the buyer’s journey, meaning that by the time a prospect comes to your website or comes across your content, they are already in the later stages of their journey.
While you could then argue that content still needs to be created to feed AI source data, as it turns out, awareness content is also something AI can generate based on user prompts. With such a vast amount of reference data, coupled with the ability to write like a human, marketers can turn to AI to not only help people understand what their industry does, it can also create the content for them.
Concentrate on the later stages
of the buyer’s journey
If we agree that between the mass of content already available today combined with the ability for AI to create awareness content (based on prompts), then we need to switch our focus to later stage consideration and decision content.
This is when content matters. It’s the point at which AI switches from content creator to content assistant as these later stages of the journey rely far more on authenticity, human stories and real conversations.
Anyone, including AI, can write “what is generic industry term?” or “why you should care about industry jargon” but not everyone can create content that is hyper specific to a challenge or product, targeting very specific or niche audiences. As soon as the story becomes something unique, or something you can’t Google, AI begins to struggle.
An oversimplified example
If you wanted to write a story about what Deeply Digital does and how that’s changed over the years, then AI could do a good job at pulling information from the company website, LinkedIn, blogs written and shared by Deeply Digital over the years.
It can't, however, come to the source. AI isn’t calling someone at Deeply Digital and asking “How do your services today reflect your beginnings as an agency?” or “Why do you primarily choose to work with HubSpot and what are the opportunities this has provided?”
It might find some of the answers online, but it can’t originate from the original source. The AI output therefore lacks authenticity and the human touch, even if it can write like a human.
A quick tangent
When journalists learn how to conduct interviews, they are taught to listen. They’ll already have questions prepped, but the real skill is in listening and understanding the answer and knowing when to go away from the written down questions to elaborate on something that was said in response to a question.
This is where the true stories often come from, and there’s a key understanding that you don’t just move to the next question because it’s next on your list.
Listen, react and draw more from the story.
This is still a human skill. Even if you can teach AI to do this, we as humans are listening to every word said by the interviewee, looking at facial expressions, differences in tone of voice to understand when to interject.
The impact AI is having on content
AI still has an important role in content marketing, from helping marketers brainstorm ideas and write interview questions to producing first drafts or summarising transcripts. What it cannot do is create context.
This is left to us as marketers to think of the ideas that will resonate with the audience during the later stages of the journey. To create real, contextual stories that are authentic and interesting to consume.
Rather than focusing on "more," focus on "meaning." By focusing more on customer stories, key product and service benefits, sales enablement content and driving prospects further into the decision making stage of their buyer’s journey, the content you create is more likely to add value to the overall marketing and sales process.
