Perceptions of AI Generated Content Marketing May Surprise You

Content forms the foundation of nearly all marketing initiatives. Outreach campaigns, SEO initiatives, paid ads, link building plans, and lead gen strategies all require a constant flow of new content. Most marketing firms rely on in-house and freelance copywriters who are under pressure to deliver near-perfect content not only quickly but also continuously. And writing, believe it or not, tends to be time-consuming work when done right.

Is it any wonder that VPs and executives are looking at ways to speed up content creation with AI tools? Copywriting platforms like Tome, Writesonic, and QuillBot promise that with the right AI writing prompts, marketing departments can churn out blog posts, ad copy, and more in a fraction of the time it takes human copywriters to deliver the same content—and at a fraction of the price. This is especially appealing to small or midsize firms that don't have the resources to maintain a robust staff of writers and editors.

What Marketing Copywriters Need to Know About AI

Right now, a lot of writers and editors in marketing are operating under the impression that artificial intelligence will never be as good as human beings at understanding intent or creating persuasive copy or optimizing marketing assets. The unfortunate reality is that generative AI is getting better—and more specialized—all the time.

There are already AI tools for marketing automation, AI tools for editors, and AI tools for SEO in addition to AI writing assistant platforms that can adjust output based on the asset being generated. For most copywriters, It's only a matter of time before a marketing manager, VP, or the CMO suggests integrating AI tools into existing processes.

What Do Marketers Think of AI Copywriting Tools?

Software search resource Capterra surveyed 185 marketers already leveraging artificial intelligence in their copywriting efforts and found that:

• 82% of marketers believe AI generated content is just as good, or better, than human-generated content.

• 49% of marketers say AI software is "very successful" at producing easy-to-read content.

• 57% report it took their organizations less than six months to learn how to use AI writers and other tools.

• 88% found that using artificial intelligence saves their organizations time and money.

Keep in mind that survey respondents were come from across marketing, advertising, customer service, HR, finance, sales, and IT but are involved in marketing-related activities. These are people who spend a significant portion of their time creating marketing content—nearly half the workweek, according to Capterra—but aren't necessarily decisionmakers in their organizations. They may be at companies that require them to use AI copywriting software, or they may have decided to use it on their own.

Many marketing copywriters who won't even experiment with ChatGPT, Jasper, and other tools are hoping their organizations will value the human touch over efficiency and cost. In a perfect world, businesses and academic institutions would look at the limitations of AI copywriting tools and missteps like Vanderbilt's ChatGPT gaffe, and act accordingly. In the real world, organizations are increasingly excited to integrate AI into any and all processes—including creative processes.

When Will AI Marketing Tools Hit the Mainstream?

"I expect that the number of people considering using and starting to use AI tools will increase as more and more use cases are discovered and advertised for these types of tools," writes SEO consultant Lazarina Stoy in a breakdown of Aira survey data focused on AI integration in marketing. Aira found that nearly half of the organizations polled planned to start using AI for generating content in the next three years.

What that means for human copywriters is still unclear. Survey responses suggest that the organizations not planning to roll out AI generated content any time soon are primarily worried about output quality.

According to agency advisor Mat Bennett, however, "higher quality output could be just around the corner. Almost all of the tools mentioned by respondents use the GPT3 algorithm. GPT3 is impressive, but already dated. GPT4 is expected to be released in the next few months and likely to be nearly 600 times as powerful (measured in terms of parameter count). Google's LaMDA is already available in limited form and producing output that appears significantly more "human" than we are seeing from the commonly used tools. Those waiting for higher quality output to jump into AI might not have to wait long."

How Scared Should Marketing Copywriters Be of AI?

Right now, AI probably isn't a threat to marketing copywriters—provided those copywriters are proactive in their approach to working with artificially intelligent marketing tools. AI can streamline workflows and make it easier to create content that resonates with a specific target audience. AI can also help copywriters identify and analyze trends, allowing them to create more nuanced and engaging content. And AI can provide compelling insights into customer behavior, helping copywriters create highly targeted content that drives sales and engagement. What AI can't do is replace an entire team of human copywriters. As long as writers and editors can articulate what human writers can do that AI can't, their jobs should be safe.