September 25, 2023

AI Marketing: How to Achieve Authentic Thought Leadership in Your Generative AI Content

by Guest Post

Written By Nicole Leffer, CMO AI Advisor, with the assistance of ChatGPT Plus.

While AI tools promise to revolutionize marketing efficiency and quality, they are often met with skepticism or outright refusal. I often encounter a sentiment that sounds like this: “Generative AI models like ChatGPT can’t capture human nuance or drive thought leadership.” But let’s shift the perspective—it’s not about AI marketing technology. It’s actually about how adeptly you wield it.

I’ve spent over two years applying generative AI technologies across a wide spectrum of marketing tasks and guided multiple CMOs and marketing leaders on effectively integrating these powerful tools into their teams’ strategies. My hands-on, real-world experience confirms that the secret to generating high-quality AI marketing content isn’t the AI tools themselves; it’s your mastery of how to use them.

This blog post serves as more than a guide; it’s a practical demonstration that reveals both the process and the powerful results you can achieve when you leverage AI in your marketing. We’ll debunk myths, highlight the imperative of personal idea input, decode the art of precision prompting, and even pull back the curtain on the creation of this very post (which was a collaboration between myself and my ChatGPT Plus account). As we explore this topic, we’ll discover how combining human creativity with AI capabilities can improve efficiency and set a new standard for marketing.

Using AI To Write Marketing Thought Leadership

Marketers often dismiss the powerful AI technology they love as incapable of creating some of the most valuable marketing content there is: thought leadership. The common refrain suggests that AI in marketing is untrustworthy, lacking the human touch that defines persuasive and authentic communication. But such judgments obscure the real issue: a lack of understanding of the AI’s extensive capabilities.

Common Myths Debunked

Myth 1: AI Content Lacks Originality

The notion that AI lacks originality is one of the most persistent criticisms I hear. Critics claim that AI tools only recycle existing ideas, without offering anything genuinely novel. But let’s refine our understanding of “originality.” It’s not just about creating something out of thin air; it’s also about presenting established ideas in a novel way or combining elements in an unprecedented manner.

AI can sift through a plethora of information, refining outputs based on the quality of your prompts and the expertise and ideas you bring into the mix. If you guide the tool effectively, it can produce content that is truly original and resonates deeply with its intended audience.

Myth 2: AI-Generated Content Can’t Excel in SEO

Another misconception making the rounds is that AI-generated content can’t measure up in the SEO arena. While it’s true that understanding search engine algorithms involves a complex set of factors, this doesn’t bar AI from being a key player. With the right AI tools, you can even identify SEO gaps and refine your strategies, giving you an edge in ranking for both generic and long-tail keywords. And a lot of what drives this SEO myth is really Myth 1, which just plain isn’t true.

Reality Check: It’s Not the AI Marketing Tool, It’s You

If you’re stumped on why your advanced large language model AI system isn’t living up to the hype when it comes to thought leadership, it’s time to flip the script. The issue probably isn’t the tool’s limitations but your understanding of how to use it. When you shift the focus from what the technology can’t do to what you can achieve when you share your own ideas with it, the landscape changes. AI is a potent ally, but remember, the strategist wielding it—that’s you—is the linchpin of success.

The Imperative of Personal Input

AI’s immense intelligence shouldn’t lead us to take a back seat in the creative process. Yes, AI can perform myriad tasks—from optimizing your email campaigns to fine-tuning your content strategy to drafting compelling campaign briefs—but the value of human intuition, expertise, and creativity remains irreplaceable. I urge you to consider AI as an amplifier of your ideas, not a substitute.

AI as a Collaborator, Not a Replacer

Reframe your perception of AI as a collaborator in your marketing journey. Its role is to enhance, not replace, your creative vision. It amplifies your efforts, allowing you to achieve optimal results with reduced time and energy expenditure. Importantly, it transforms your raw input into strategically fine-tuned content.

Streamlined Ways to Infuse Your Unique Perspective

Contemporary AI tools come with an array of methods for you to input your vision if you think outside the box.

A simple transcribed voice memo laying out your thoughts can be enough for the AI to craft a coherent and strategic output. A straightforward bullet-point list of ideas you want to include in your output can similarly steer the tool toward crafting content that closely aligns with your objectives. A transcript of a virtual event can serve as an ideal springboard for your AI written content. Remember, it’s your unique ideas and way of framing concepts—your idiomatic expressions, your particular tone—that will make the end product unmistakably yours.

Precision Prompting—Your Pathway to Success

AI’s effectiveness is directly proportional to the clarity and precision of your instructions. Given this, it’s invaluable to set the right persona and provide sufficient context.

Importance of Setting the Persona for Your AI

A persona is much more than a character sketch. It acts as the foundation for tailoring AI into your dream project collaborator. Think of who the ideal person to work on this task with you would be. Tell ChatGPT (or Claude, or Bing, or Bard) that’s who it is at the beginning of your first prompt in the conversation. Watch it transform into the expert you want it to be.

Necessity of Context in Your AI Marketing Prompting

Context acts as the essential framework for crafting your quality AI-generated content. A robust contextual foundation not only ensures coherent output but elevates it to resonate deeply with your audience. Context includes everything from the persona you’re speaking to, to the ideas you want to write about, to the writing tone, style, and thematic focus you desire. Context turns your AI tool into an extension of your creative thinking.

Crafting AI Marketing Prompts for Maximum Impact

Tips for Effective Prompting

Clearly Define Your Objective: Set a well-defined goal for your content.
Zoom in on Details: Specificity is your friend. The more detailed your prompt, the more targeted the AI’s response will be.
Provide Comprehensive Context: Don’t skimp on background information; it’s the scaffolding that gives your content its structure.
Fine-tune Your Creativity Settings: Different projects call for varying degrees of creativity. Make sure to communicate to your AI just how creative you want it to be.

Give the AI Effective Feedback

Post-output, your job isn’t done. Giving constructive feedback to your AI tool is crucial. Be explicit about what didn’t meet your expectations and how it can be improved by using the “edit prompt” button (or chatting if you have to with your tool). It’s through this continuous loop of feedback and adjustment that the tool truly becomes a part of your team.

Behind the Scenes: Crafting This Blog Post with ChatGPT

If the nuances of AI-aided marketing fascinate you, then you’ll find this reveal intriguing. The genesis of this blog post involved a thoughtful blend of ChatGPT’s capabilities and my professional insights, meticulously recorded in a voice memo.

Leveraging ChatGPT: Mastering the Art of Precise Prompting

Once I had my transcribed voice memo, I wrote my prompt and shared the memo with ChatGPT as part of it. The memo served as a precise blueprint, guiding ChatGPT Plus in turning my ideas into this post. This approach ensured that the AI’s output aligned not just with the topic, but with my unique perspective and expertise as well.

The Magic Touch: Human Refinement Post-AI

While ChatGPT delivered a draft ripe with potential, it couldn’t fully capture every detail I wanted in this post, in my exact words. That requires an extra layer of human touch, something algorithms can’t replicate. Here, I read through the text to ensure that every word and sentence aligns with my intended narrative and sounds like me.

Efficiency Meets Excellence

Let’s retire the dated notion that speed undermines quality. The efficiency of AI is evident in the time it took to write this post—just 1 hour and 45 minutes. This saved me two hours that can be spent on other high priorities (like playing with my kitty). During that efficient span, I also got a lot done beyond this post (suddenly with AI I can actually multitask like a pro). In between writing prompts, I took a bathroom break, prepared and ate a snack, cleaned the kitchen, responded to a couple of Slack messages and emails, and refilled my coffee—all while ChatGPT was hard at work.

Time Investment: The AI Advantage

Compare this to the conventional route, where generating a piece of this caliber would take approximately 3.5 hours. That’s a glaring discrepancy in time investment, but don’t mistake it for a sacrifice in quality or originality.

Balancing Act: Speed Without Compromising Quality

The interplay between speed and quality is where AI shines as a content creation tool. And let’s not underestimate the role of my voice memo here—it wasn’t just a guide for thematic direction but also a tool for efficiency. My 5-minute thought dump allowed me to brief ChatGPT quickly, so it could produce content that was not only faster but deeply resonant with my own expertise and vision.

You’re The Witness To The Power of AI in Marketing Copywriting

Navigating through this post, you’ve witnessed firsthand the transformative impact that comes from truly understanding how to apply AI to marketing thought leadership content. This isn’t mere speculation; it’s a methodology put into practice, with results displayed in every paragraph you’ve read. If you’re a marketer looking to carve out your niche in thought leadership, AI is not just a supplementary tool—it saves significant amounts of time, which is transformative to your entire life.

No more hesitations. The opportunity to become a trailblazer in AI-empowered marketing thought leadership in your own arena is here, and it’s real. Equip yourself with the right tools and skills and watch your influence grow exponentially. Take the first step on this transformative journey by equipping yourself with advanced AI tools and engaging with your first thought leadership precision prompt today. You’re not just joining a movement; you’re setting a new standard for marketing excellence.

AI TOOLS USED TO HELP BUILD THIS POST: ChatGPT Plus (GPT-4 in default mode), ChatGPT iPhone App Voice Transcription

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ABOUT THE HUMAN AUTHOR: Nicole Leffer is a CMO AI Advisor and marketing strategist known for harnessing the power of AI to revolutionize marketing success. A pioneer in AI-driven marketing, Nicole has over two years of hands-on experience deploying AI across content, performance, demand generation, social media, product marketing, and more. Her passion for empowering marketing teams with cutting-edge AI skills and strategies has established her as a trusted collaborator for CEOs, CMOs, VPs, and marketing and GTM leaders.

WEBSITE: https://nicoleleffer.com/
LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoleleffer/

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