Businesses leveraging AI for content creation have reported a 50% reduction in content production time. They also report a 20% increase in engagement rates. It’s no wonder, therefore that expectations are that, by the end of 2025, as much as 90% of content could be AI-generated. All this content only counts if it’s consistent with brand messaging, discernible as your brand, and is telling the same narrative you’ve invested years building.

What is Generative AI?

Generative AI creates things. Prose, images, web content, videos, scripts, even audio. We’ve been working with analytical AI for a while now, but Generative AI is relatively new. With it comes promises of original content that aligns with your brand messaging and consumer engagement goals.

The thing with generative AI is that it doesn’t understand words. It has no comprehension of what a cat is, or a dog, or your business. Its understanding is literally created by the Large Language Models (LLMs) used to train it and the tokens it uses to interpret your prompts.

Yet, as businesses, we work hard to create and nurture the right brand image.

So, how much can and should we entrust our brands and our profiles to technology? Since its launch, the use of Generative AI for marketing content development has seen exponential growth. There are already more than 1,000 books listed on Amazon that quote the author or co-author as Chat GPT.

However, just because we can, doesn’t always mean we should.

Generative AI in content creation

Any organisation that actively markets its product or services sinks valuable funds, time and energy into ensuring that they are showing its customers who it is. You have to use the right HEX colours and Pantones. You also have to find the right words to show the fun and authority you want to convey. Your brand is an investment. This was recently seen first-hand by DPD when their AI-powered chatbot recited poetry detailing its own poor performance to a frustrated customer. As we know, it’s much faster to damage a brand than to build one.

The biggest mistake made by those looking to use AI for their content development is to think using AI will save them time. It will in the long run. But, in the short term, using Generative AI for content takes lots of time and effort. You must use trial and error to find what works… and what doesn’t. Which prompts deliver and which really don’t. It requires responsible testing and ethical migration to AI-supported workflows.

Of course, there are many more ways you can save time by using generative AI in the content development process. Research, for example. Editing, too. But even these still require human input.

Many people say that if Generative AI isn’t giving you the right results, then you must be prompting wrong. However, to get the best results from AI-powered platforms you need to understand Generative AI and how it works.

Only with this will you comprehend the potential shortcomings of AI that could leave you red-faced and fumbling for answers. By understanding what you are using, you’ll be able to get the answers you want and ensure you’re sharing accurate information.

Often-forgotten tips for using Generative AI for faster content creation

So, if you’re serious about using Generative AI to improve or reduce your marketing workflows, here are 5 things you should do BEFORE YOU EVEN PROMPT a generative AI platform:

1)    Set some time aside to [LINK]learn about Generative AI in content development and how it works.

 2)    Take advantage of the vast number of free resources available right now. Don’t assume that one course on Generative AI content development will be the same as the next. I’ve already taken four, from four different providers. Each has had a different focus and included different tips and information on how to get the most out of using Generative AI In marketing.

 3)    Keep up with what’s going on in the AI industry. News and features will help you ensure you’re targeting your efforts in the most efficient way possible.

 4)    Put safeguards in place – human safeguards will ensure that everything you post and share is representative of your brand and the story you want to tell.

 5)    Then, and only then, play around with some of the generative AI tools. Test several such as ChatGPT, ChatGPT4, Gemini, Claude and Copilot against the same prompts and see which returns the most useful output. Find which one works best for you. And remember, with updates, they change, so make it a habit to test them regularly.

My Whitepaper ‘Embracing Generative AI in Content Development: the Whitepaper’ is a great place to start learning about generative AI, how it works and the challenges it presents in content marketing. And it’s all written in non-techy speak, so you won’t need to ask AI to explain it to you.