The Future of AI in Content Marketing: 3 Noteworthy Trends

Artificial intelligence -- It's all anyone seems to talk about. On a regular basis, you see articles about how AI is going to help content marketers streamline processes. You read how it will essentially replace the need to hire actual human writers. People tell stories about how it will drive unprecedented growth in today's competitive market environment. Given how ubiquitous it's become, I still marvel at the fact that ChatGPT -- the solution essentially becoming synonymous with AI at this point -- only launched to the public in November 2022. A lot has changed since then. Regardless of the hype, it's especially important to remain current in constantly changing industries like content marketing. The following trends are worth a look -- they reshape how content is created, distributed, and consumed across platforms. 1. Content Repurposing: Video-to-Article Generators Content repurposing, a long-standing practice in marketing, involves transforming existing content into different formats to extend its reach and relevance, maximizing its value and impact across various audiences. It's a way to extract even more value from what you've already invested in. Without AI, this can involve clipping a long-form video for social-media posts or taking points from a blog and creating infographics. With AI, marketers have even more options, such as utilizing video-to-article generators to seamlessly convert visual content into a written format. Consumers in virtually all industries expect video content. The ability of a video to captivate audiences and convey information is really unmatched. Still, producing a high-quality video that resonates can cost a lot of money. You need to take care of lighting and sound equipment, cameras, talent, and more. Even a supposedly modest video can represent a significant upfront investment. In fact, some sources say producing a video can cost anywhere from $500 to $3,000, depending on quality and length. When you spend that kind of money on content, you want to repurpose it. A contact of mine founded ArticleX, an example of one of several available AI podcast summarizer tools I've heard great things about. This particular tool uses AI to take a video you've already worked on and quickly turn it into a polished article that can be posted on social media, shared on your blog, or published elsewhere. With the help of AI-powered solutions like this, high-value offerings like podcasts or any other video/audio content can be transformed into a versatile asset capable of engaging audiences across multiple platforms -- without additional money or effort. 2. Improved Content Creation Processes In addition to taking the content you already have and making it even more valuable, AI is also being used to create totally new content from the ground up. AI is great for creating short, data-driven news stories that are tailor-made for an intended audience. Organizations like The Washington Post have already used it for tasks like reporting election results and sports recaps. The Post's AI-powered tool, Heliograf, allows the publication to create more content with fewer resources. It allows the reporters to focus on more in-depth articles. Does it provide the same flair that a human writer would? No. But sometimes that's not exactly what you need. When your only goal is to report the facts in the most straightforward way possible, AI can save you a lot of time. In content marketing, AI can be used to create newsy, fact-heavy pieces. It can also help with microcopy, like captions and headlines, product descriptions, certain listicles, and FAQs. If your organization's tone is required in these pieces, copywriters can leverage AI to get a head start on researching and outlining. The key here is to ensure you have an adequate balance between AI and human content. It's especially important to prioritize the reader when creating content -- over-using AI can diminish that value if you aren't careful. 3. Automated Optimization and Personalization AI is making it easier than ever to get the right message in front of the right person at exactly the right time. AI can quickly analyze and contextualize the real data your existing content marketing campaigns are generating. You don't have to pay someone to interpret what your users like -- you'll know exactly what they respond to, which can help inform your campaign strategies in the future. AI can also be used for automating SEO strategies. You can optimize your website content by employing machine learning algorithms to analyze search engine ranking factors, such as keywords and user experience metrics. These can continuously learn and adapt to changing search engine algorithms, allowing for dynamic and effective SEO strategies without the need for manual intervention. In addition to optimizing content, AI can assist with personalization. By leveraging user behavior, preferences, and demographic data, AI algorithms can tailor marketing messages to users in real time. Whether through personalized email campaigns, targeted social-media advertisements, or customized website content, AI-driven personalization empowers marketers to deliver the most relevant and compelling content to each user, driving better results. Embracing the AI Frontier As AI continues to evolve, it's reshaping the content marketing landscape in unprecedented ways. But as long as you stay informed about current trends, you should be able to ride the wave. From content repurposing to improved content creation and automated optimization, AI-driven solutions are revolutionizing how businesses create, distribute, and engage with content. Embracing these trends empowers marketers to stay ahead and deliver more personalized and impactful experiences to their audiences. Expert Opinion By John Hall, Co-founder and president, Calendar @johnhall