Your content is the soul of your brand, and that’s not something to take lightly. For years, we’ve been warning businesses of the dangers of outsourcing content creation to an agency. When you do, you end up with a small volume of generic content that doesn’t capture what makes your brand unique.
If you’re using AI without a clear set of best practices, you could run into the same problem.
So, how can you benefit from AI technology without falling victim to its flaws? The key is to find ways to integrate AI into your creation process rather than building a process around AI.
Below, I’ll walk through the steps we teach our clients to follow — and we’ll see ways you can bring AI into the work you’re already doing.
This way, AI is a multiplier, not a potential liability.
1. Brainstorming with AI to spark new ideas
In our world, content always starts with a brainstorm. We tell our content managers to meet with other teams (sales, service, product development, etc.) to get a sense of what the customers are asking. Then, they use a tool like Semrush to do keyword research.
Here’s something else you can try. Use ChatGPT-4o, which is my go-to for most content needs.
Put in a product or service page from your website. Ask ChatGPT to generate a list of 50 questions your potential buyer might have who had just visited your site. Don’t forget to describe your ideal buyer to ChatGPT to make the output even more tailored to your needs.
As a bonus, this is a great way to evaluate your messaging. If AI is finding holes in your copy, you know what updates you need to make!
2. AI for SEO: Real-time keyword assistance
Once you’ve begun your writing, turn to SurferSEO for real-time AI-powered SEO assistance. Sure, you can do keyword research anywhere, but too often you end up with vague best practices or mountains of data that’s hard to sort through.
Surfer gives you real actionable insights delivered as you write. The software provides short- and long-tail keywords, along with the suggested frequency of use. You also get word length recommendations, tone suggestions, and an overall score that shows you if you’re on target.
Because the software is continuously updated and powered by current AI, you know you’re getting advice that applies today, not 12 months ago.
3. AI transcription tools that turn interviews into text
For content managers who rely on interviews, tools like Otter AI, Cockatoo, and Fireflies AI are lifesavers. You can get an accurate transcript in minutes, all for just a few dollars a month.
Two things to remember about these tools.
- First, they have free versions for you to check out before you buy.
- Second, they do other things too, like take meeting notes.
If you’re not sure about spending the money, see what else the tool can do for you and your team and decide if it's worth it.
4. Editing and fine-tuning with AI
If you need help with the actual writing, head back over to ChatGPT and try creating a custom GPT to match your brand’s style. My colleague Mandy York made one for content review, and she walks you through the entire process in a recent post. 
There are tools like Jasper. Claude, and Content at Scale that can do this too, but I like the control you get in ChatGPT, so that’s where I usually go.
5. AI for keeping everything on schedule
Content marketing has a ton of moving parts. You’re scheduling interviews, brainstorms, publication dates, and more. At IMPACT, we’re big fans of Reclaim, which is an AI scheduling tool for your calendar.
Once you go through a few steps and it learns your preferences, Reclaim sits in your Google calendar and helps you schedule meetings and stay organized — while also making sure you have breaks and time for decompression.
For busy pros, it’s a must.
6. Content distribution: CRM and AI integration
Gone are the days when content just lived on your blog. Today one written blog post becomes a podcast, a social post, a YouTube video, and a newsletter.
When it comes time to distribute your content, having a CRM like HubSpot is a game-changer. HubSpot has made a big push into the AI space in the past 12 months, and they always seem to be rolling out new updates — including content remix, which is amazing! So, if you’re coordinating the publication of your article with a LinkedIn carousel and an email blast, HubSpot can help.
You can also use AI to help you tweak an email subject line, craft a meta-description, or even write a whole blog post. But just as with all AI, use it carefully.
Speaking of which…
AI best practices (**for you to bookmark**)
Our own Marcus Sheridan put together a full list of AI best practices and policies that your company should consider. You can read the whole post here, but below are the most important guidelines.
I’ve quoted them directly from Marcus:
If you use generative AI, these things must be true
- Everything is edited by a human before it’s published. This is an absolute must for me, even with the best tools. You need real human eyeballs on anything that’s going out to make sure it sounds like you and fits with your goals. You want to stand behind anything you say, but it’s hard to do that if it was composed by an LLM.
- We always fact-check every claim we make. AI tools “hallucinate.” This means they can make up facts — but they can also make up the sources of those facts. Scientists are not sure why. ChatGPT can cite research that never happened, reference books that don’t exist, and court cases that are totally phony. It’s up to you and your team to verify everything. This means rigorous fact-checking and a skeptic’s mindset.
- We run a plagiarism checker to make sure our AI didn’t steal anyone’s work. This connects to the first two. Some tools have plagiarism checkers built in. Many do not. There are independent tools like DupliChecker and Plagiarism Detector where you can paste in text and get a percentage score for how much is plagiarized. Your standards for plagiarized work should be extremely stringent. You don’t want a machine to steal someone’s work and you end up passing it off as your own.
- We pay attention to potential biases in anything AI-generated. This one is harder to check for, I know, but it’s good to have in the back of your mind. Remember, it’s great to share the opinions and insights of your team. It’s bad to inadvertently put out biased content you can’t back up.
- We always keep our goal (and our audience) in mind. The goal of any content should be to educate buyers and build trust with your audience. AI can help you do that faster, but it’s just a tool. If it’s misused, it will hurt you more than help you.
For any AI that you use, keep these best practices in mind:
- Evaluate any tool before you use it. New tools are emerging at an overwhelming rate. Not all are trustworthy. Not all will be around in six months You should test and evaluate any tool before using it for work. If you’re in doubt about it for any reason, don’t use it. There’s likely an alternative.
- Protect company and client data at all times. Certain levels of ChatGPT and other tools are not secure places to put sensitive data — something certain businesses have found out the hard way. Be extremely careful about what you input, especially when it comes to financial data, employee evaluations, and other such material.
Become an AI-assisted content marketing master
For all the advances of AI, we have to remember that it is a tool, not a strategy. Even the most sophisticated tools are best used to enhance human creativity, not replace it.
The best way to move forward is to look for ways you can integrate AI into an already well-built process. Just make sure you’re ‘the human in the loop’ to second-guess, double-check, and run quality control.
At IMPACT, we train teams to market better — including how to use AI to build trust and improve outcomes. Want to talk further? Reach out to us at IMPACT and let’s chat!
* This article was originally published here
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