Is AI the Future of Content? A Fascinating Comparison to Human Achievement.
Why hire a copywriter if I can write the content myself or just use AI?
This is a question that comes up a lot in my field of work. People have this idea that AI is sophisticated enough to replace human creativity.
It sounds like a great concept. Definitely a money saver.
But is it something that actually works?
Have you ever read something written by AI and mistook it for something written by a person? I’m not sure that I ever have.
Compare AI to a Real Person Copywriter
Let’s use an example. I experimented to see if ChatGPT could generate good ideas for my next blog. It did, but not in the way I originally expected. Here is a part of a blog written by AI for the topic “spiritual copywriter”:
Spiritually empowered content taps into the deeper emotions and desires of the reader, connecting on a soul level. It transcends mere information-sharing and instead creates a genuine connection that resonates with the reader's values and beliefs. This approach allows copywriters to create an immersive experience, where their words have the power to inspire, motivate, and ultimately convert.
That sounds like either a robot or a person who is used to writing college essays. It is distant and arms-length.
If we’re going for approachable, this is not it!
Here’s what I would write on a similar topic:
Looking for conversions without the icky sales tactics? You might want to try spiritually-empowered content.
What do I mean by that?
I mean marketing writing that keeps the soul, genuine connection, and authenticity at the forefront.
If you don’t have experience with this type of writing, you might want to consider hiring a spiritual copywriter. This person specializes in bringing your message to a wider audience — all while keeping your values in mind.
Their words have the power to inspire, motivate, and ultimately convert leads into customers.
Do you see how I took that last sentence as an idea from the AI, but I made it more relevant in the context of the rest of the piece? My piece is more persuasive and less informative. It’s more human and relatable.
AI can take a concept and write about it, but it does not build a sense of trust or an effective Call to Action.
Marketing falls completely flat without an effective Call to Action.
Is Marketing and Copywriting Expertise Worth It?
Recently, my copywriting teacher, Sarah Turner, talked about being hired by Meta (yes, the ones who run Facebook and Instagram) to consult about their marketing strategy. She asked them why they hired her instead of using AI, and they pretty much said they understood AI’s limitations and that it couldn’t replace the human touch.
If one of the biggest companies out there in content understands that, then we should, too.
When you hire a marketing strategist or a professional copywriter, you’re getting many advantages:
1. An invaluable outside perspective on your business
Sometimes, we are too close to our creation to know what our audience is thinking about us. A copywriter can help us zoom out and see things from the perspective of the people who are buying from us. This will help us serve and market to our audience better.
2. Market research that can inform your strategy
What if your audience has completely different needs and desires than what you think? A marketing strategist in the form of a copywriter will do the legwork to ensure that your content is targeting the right audience and catering to their needs. A copywriter can identify areas of potential expansion and help you come up with new ideas.
3. Writing that connects to your audience and converts
If you haven’t studied writing for marketing, you might sound more stuffy than you think. Most of us learned to write in school and our writing sounds very formal on the internet. Formal writing does not tend to convert as well as speaking in the language of your audience. A copywriter has worked hard to learn how to speak in your brand voice, and that type of writing will lead to more conversions.
4. Your time back to focus on other aspects of your business
If effective marketing is being run by someone else and it’s bringing in more and more customers, you get to spend your time doing the thing you really want to do, which is run your business. You get to work on the creative, inspiring, fun parts of your business and leave the marketing work to someone else. That delegation can free up precious time you need to keep growing.
Is There a Place for AI in Marketing Content?
Absolutely.
Does that seem like a contradiction to everything I wrote in this blog up until now?
The place for AI in marketing content and copywriting is as an idea generator.
The way I could take a sentence crafted from AI, make some tweaks, and repurpose it into effective content shows you that.
At this point, though, I can’t say it was necessarily a time-saver.
In my case, the AI-generated blog was over 2,000 words long, and the time it took me to sift through and find what I could use honestly could have been spent drafting my own writing.
If I were stuck or in need of ideas and I had a deadline to meet, maybe I would turn to ChatGPT to help me get out of writer’s block.
Maybe.
In the future, we are probably going to see more sophisticated writing coming out of AI. Will it be able to replicate the human touch to writing that draws us in and builds our trust in a brand? I can’t really say. But I think not.
There will always be a place for a human writer’s creative mind and heart.
If you’re considering using AI to write your marketing content, you should consider whether it will actually save you time and money. You should also consider whether the content created will help with your conversions or not.
You would be better off hiring a real person who can strategize with you and use their marketing magic to build your customer base.
If you’ve gotten this far in the article, it’s probably worth sharing that I am one of those real people!
Hi! I’m Amanda. I have two adorable Chihuahuas to feed, and if you want to contribute to the treat fund, you can hire me to write blogs, social media posts and ads, email campaigns, website copy, and more for your business. I love amplifying businesses with heart.
You can book a discovery call with me here.
Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn for copywriting tips.
Many blessings!