Nov 21, 2023

5 Ways to Safely Leverage AI in B2B Content Marketing

By Matt Dodgson

Co-Founder - Recruiter & Marketer

Introduction

With the current correction in the B2B technology market, finding the right balance between creativity and efficiency is crucial for success. This is especially true for B2B content marketers, who are seeking innovative ways to engage their target audience while optimising their resources. One tool that has revolutionised this field is artificial intelligence (AI), which offers immense potential for driving both creativity and efficiency in B2B content marketing strategies.

Giuseppe Caltabiano, the VP of Marketing at Rock Content, is joining us in this podcast. Giuseppe has over 20 years of experience spearheading B2B and B2C operations and has produced world-class content and digital marketing strategies for companies like Schneider Electric, Google, Capgemini, and Virgin Media. 

Today’s Guest

Who they are: Giuseppe Caltabiano is VP of Marketing at Rock Content.

A bit of background: As well as being VP of Marketing for Rock Content, Giuseppe is an innovative creative strategist with a passion for advising top global brands across the financial, technology, industrial, and consumer sectors to produce world-class content and digital marketing strategies. 

Where you can find Giuseppe:

Connect with Giuseppe on LinkedIn 

Prefer Video? Watch a full video of the podcast here…

The rise of AI in B2B content marketing

AI has emerged as a game-changer in B2B content marketing, reshaping how businesses approach creativity and efficiency. By leveraging AI technologies, companies can tap into vast amounts of data, gain valuable insights, and automate various aspects of their content marketing strategies.

Why do content marketers need to tread carefully when using AI?

I think it’s fair to say that AI is here to stay and will potentially be the catalyst for one of the biggest transformations in how businesses are run. But what about content marketers? How should they use AI safely?

Giuseppe goes on to explain, “We follow the basic rule, which is that AI content generation will not replace humans, but it will make them more powerful. When we talk about using AI in content marketing in a safe way, I think there are a few considerations we should keep in mind.”

  1. You need to be aware of potential bias, misinformation, unintended consequences, and all those things that may be included in the definition of ethical conduct.
  2. You should continuously monitor AI-generated content to ensure it is aligned with your brand value and messaging, just to avoid any potential reputational risk. And brand alignment for Giuseppe means that content generated with AI should consistently reflect your brand voice and values.

5 ways B2B content marketers can use AI 

With the ability to process vast amounts of data and learn patterns, AI can provide valuable insights and automate time-consuming tasks. During the podcast, Giuseppe and I explored five areas where B2B content marketers can leverage AI to enhance their strategies and streamline their workflow.

The impact of AI on B2B content marketing strategies

The implementation of AI in B2B content marketing has transformed the way businesses approach their strategies. AI provides marketers with valuable insights about their target audience, helping them understand customer preferences, pain points, and motivations.

Giuseppe adds, “So if you think about your content strategy approach, you start with diagnosis. You put together your strategy, and then you write and execute stuff. AI can absolutely assist with and automate the diagnosis.

So the diagnosis for me is whatever informs your strategy, which may include multiple points. For example, understanding competition, understanding the market, understanding your brand and brand heritage, and, of course, understanding your audience, which is probably the critical point of each content strategy—what content does your audience consume and where? So I use AI to inform me in advance before I even start with any kind of content writing process.”



Using AI to help with keyword research 

A B2B content marketer can leverage AI in numerous ways to enhance keyword research, a critical component of SEO and content strategy. 

First, AI algorithms can analyse large sets of data to identify emerging trends and keywords. They can sift through search data, social media conversations, and competitor content to find relevant and up-and-coming keywords. This proactive approach helps marketers stay ahead of the curve in targeting keywords before they become highly competitive.

Secondly, AI can optimise keyword selection based on search intent. By analysing search queries and user behaviour, AI tools can distinguish between informational, navigational, and transactional search intents. This enables marketers to tailor their content more precisely to meet the specific needs and interests of their target audience.

Moreover, AI can provide insights into long-tail keywords, which are less competitive and more targeted. These keywords often convert better as they align closely with specific user queries. Traditional keyword research techniques might miss long-tail keywords because of AI’s capacity to process natural language and comprehend semantic relationships.

Giuseppe explains how this impacts your day-to-day work. 

“If I think about what I’ve done in the past manually, when I was head of strategy for some content marketing companies, working with my clients, I literally spent weeks building keyword strategies for the clients. Now you can automate these tasks.”

Further Reading: Expertise-Based Positioning: How to Create Content to Engage the C-Suite

Creating an outline to send to a copywriter using AI

A B2B content marketer can effectively use AI to create detailed outlines for blog posts, streamlining the process of briefing copywriters. AI tools can analyse existing content within the industry, identifying gaps and suggesting relevant topics. By inputting a general topic, the AI can generate a structured outline, including key headings, subtopics, and questions to address, tailored to the target audience’s interests and search behaviours.

This approach ensures comprehensive coverage of the subject matter, aligning with SEO best practises. Additionally, AI can suggest data and case studies to include, making the content more authoritative and engaging for the reader.



Using AI to write for you

Getting AI to write for you is probably the most contentious aspect of content production. Some people have gone as far as saying it will eradicate a writer’s job.

But Giuseppe thinks differently; he goes on to explain.

“In general terms, I think many businesses today are capitalising on software like Chat GPT, just to give an example, to pump out content much faster than they would be able to do themselves. On the other hand, the content and the software tools like Chat GPT that people are using today can produce content that is very mid-quality, if not terrible. So generally speaking, just because AI software can write a webpage or blog post doesn’t mean it should.”

Further Reading: When to use AI and when to use freelancers to write your content

Optimising for SEO

On-page optimisation plays a crucial role in determining the visibility of a website, or webpage, in search engine results. This is particularly important for B2B content marketers, as they produce content to build brand awareness and consideration and ultimately drive leads and revenue. 

AI can assist in optimising their website structure, meta tags, headings, and content to align with SEO best practices. These AI-powered tools analyse the content and suggest improvements, such as keyword placement, internal linking, and readability enhancements, to boost organic visibility.

Giuseppe describes his experience. “When we were building this month’s calendar, and it was around SaaS-related keywords, Chat GPT helped identify mobile SEO and application store optimisation as additional keywords related to the theme, which, quite frankly, we didn’t think of at the very beginning of the planning exercise.”

A few other highlights to look out for in this episode:

  1. AI tools that Giuseppe recommends using
  2. Can we identify whether or not artificial intelligence (AI) created the copy?
  3. What skills and attributes does Giuseppe look for when hiring B2B content marketers?

Hiring? Market Recruitment is a leading AI recruitment agency that can help you source and hire the marketing talent you need to scale. Contact us here.