Last week, I presented my perspectives on using AI to differentiate your brand voice and ensure consistency in using that voice across every communication channel and touchpoint. It was so much fun to share what I’ve learned in my AI journey over the past few years. as part of the amazing MarketingProfs AI for Marketers webinar series.

It was a big topic, and I packed my presentation with a TON of practical actions and fill-in-the-blanks prompts. And, perhaps somewhat controversially, I included a slide that shared which AI tools I use in my everyday work to ensure I keep our consultancy’s brand voice—and our clients’ brand voices—consistent

Here’s the slide:

What was interesting to me was the discussion that ensued about Grammarly. The primary sentiments shared by those who don’t like the platform were:

1. It isn’t 100% accurate
2. I don’t agree with its suggestions
3. As writers, we should be able to edit things ourselves

These three things come up, albeit with different wording, in just about every conversation I’ve seen about a specific AI platform or tool. And it shows where we need to do a better job of educating ourselves and our teams. The big thing these comments show me is marketers are not thinking of AI as a tool to help them do their jobs better. It isn’t a replacement for humans. Let’s talk it through.

It isn’t 100% accurate.
​Spoiler alert: neither are humans. AI tools require a human to review, fact-check, and correct their outputs just like you would with humans!

I don’t agree with its suggestions.​
That’s OK! We don’t agree with every suggestion those who review our content make either. But unlike those human reviewers, we can tell the AI when we don’t agree with its recommendations and give it guidelines, frameworks, and parameters to train it to deliver suggestions we *do* agree with.

As writers, we should be able to edit things ourselves.
​As a writer, I do edit my work. And I often have another human editor review my work, too. But I always run copy through Grammarly as a final check to ensure I haven’t let someone slide by with too many passive voice instances or a split infinitive. When you’ve been working on a long piece of content and gone through multiple rounds of suggestions and edits, it can be hard to see it with fresh eyes. And again, as you reject the AI’s suggestions that you disagree with, you help it get better at its job.

Like so many other professions, marketing is in a stage of accelerated change to adapt to increased customer expectations. We have a choice to make. We can either spend our time fighting the AI tools that can help us get back precious minutes in our day, or we can work on training them to be more useful to us and do a better job of engaging our customers. Which one are you picking?

Coming Up on #ContentChat

Content Chat is my weekly (site formerly known as) Twitter and LinkedIn video chat focused on sharing expertise and ideas amongst the content marketing community. Join the conversation on Mondays at noon Pacific / 3 p.m. Eastern. Be sure to mark your calendar to join the #ContentChat community and me for these upcoming guests:

• Today on #ContentChat, Bernie Borges (@BernieBorges) and the community will discuss how to navigate a fulfilling career change as a midlife marketer. We’ll share the signs that it’s time to consider a career change, ways to identify a potential new career path, and tips for a successful switch.
• There is no #ContentChat next Monday (August 7) because it is my birthday, and I’m a firm believer that people should not work on their birthday! I plan to celebrate by visiting a Midcentury vintage mall that is new to me, hanging out with our bulldogs on the sofa as I play Hello Kitty Island Adventure, and having a fancy gluten-free dinner with my sweetie.

​Get Involved with #ContentChat

Want #ContentChat on your calendar? Use this link to follow our calendar, so you never miss a chat.

We're booking guests for August and beyond—send us your pitch!
​Are you a content marketing practitioner or consultant who is interested in being a guest for an upcoming edition of #ContentChat? We’d love to see your topic pitch via our Content Chat guest submission form.

Content Marketing + Related Jobs

​Content Marketing Lead, Webflow.
​Webflow enables people to build custom blogs, portfolios, e-commerce stores, and more through a visual interface that generates clean HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code. The company is searching for a content marketing lead to develop, own, and run the content strategy and editorial roadmap for the service provider audience (freelancers and agencies).

​Head of US Content, Stocktwits.
​Stocktwits is a social network of individual investors and traders with a mission of helping this community connect, learn, profit, and have fun. Its team is hiring a head of U.S. content to drive the vision, strategy, execution, and growth of all content arms for the brand, including multiple newsletters. The role is remote, but expected to work East Coast hours.

​Senior Manager, Content Marketing, Splunk.
​More than 11,000 organizations use Splunk’s Unified Security and Observability Platform to keep their digital systems secure and running. The brand is seeking a senior manager of content marketing to drive its thought leadership content strategy, including managing a team of writers and content strategists to deliver world-class reports, insights, and stories that generate media and customer attention.

​Senior Branded Content Editor, Forbes.
​If you’ve wanted to work at one of the world’s most notable media brands, this could be your way in! Forbes is looking for a senior branded content editor to assign and edit (and write, if needed) sponsored content for the site, including paid inclusions in product guides, roundups, reviews, newsletters, and social media campaigns.

​Content Marketing Manager, Redjack.
​Redjack is a cyber resilience company that solves security, regulatory, and efficiency problems for its enterprise and government customers. Its team is hiring a content marketing manager to drive engagement and inbound traffic by creating blog posts, email copy, long-form articles, whitepapers, and product sheets.

​Manager, Content Team, Smartsheet.
​Smartsheet (a frequently recommended tool by #ContentChat members) helps teams manage their projects and automate workflows through its no-code tools. The company seeks a content team manager to work cross-functionally with its product, engineering, marketing, and field operations teams to create and manage content for new and existing product features.

Are you hiring? We can help!

If you have a content marketing contract position, full-time job, or freelancer opportunity, reply to this email and let us know. We are always happy to share jobs with the community.

ICYMI

​Why Infuence(r) Marketing Is Still a Smart Content Marketing Strategy.
​Many brand marketing teams have a bad impression of influencer marketing. It’s understandable, considering that some influencers pay for followers and engagement. But that’s only a tiny portion of all the incredible creators you can work with to engage new audiences authentically. In this #ContentChat recap, I join Jason Falls to chat about all things influence marketing—Jason recommends we focus less on the influencers, and I agree!—and how to find smart influencer content collaboration opportunities.

​The Woefully Incomplete Book of Generative AI.
​I frequently share content from Christopher S. Penn and Trust Insights because they’re one of my go-to resources for all things AI and marketing (the Marketing AI Institute is on that list, too!). Christopher recently packaged recent content about prompt engineering and practical use cases for AI in marketing into this handy ebook. Download it today, and tell me how you’re using AI in your marketing workflow.

​Research Says These Two Choices Determine Your Content’s Shelf Life.
​How long does it take for an article to reach 80% of its lifetime views? According to new research from Chartbeat: within 24 hours. This means that marketing teams need a strategy to consistently link back to important articles and create complementary content to extend its value. Learn more about the research and what Robert Rose says it means in this Content Marketing Institute article.

​Creating Valuable Website Content (Checklist).
​I LOVE this infographic from Ahava Liebtag that provides a step-by-step checklist for creating valuable content. Check it out for five areas, each with four considerations to help your web content perform its best.

​Thought Leaders See With Clear Vision So People Will Follow.
​Many marketers hate the term thought leader, and it’s because people often use the term to describe themself when they really mean they are a self-proclaimed expert (often without concrete experience). Although you cannot become a thought leader overnight, there are proven ways to build your credibility and reputation. Check out this blog post from James Katzaman to learn more about building thought leadership, featuring insights from me and Madalyn Sklar.

​Is Twitter's Rebrand to X a Nail in the Coffin or a Necessary Change?
​The dumpster fire that is Twitter burns on as Elon adds new fuel: a chaotic rebrand to X. Get the TL&DR in this short article from Marketing Dive, which breaks down the key points of the rebrand and explores if this is finally the end for the network formerly known as Twitter. If you’re like me and now spend the least amount of time on the channel as possible, let me know if you’re on Threads, LinkedIn, or somewhere else that we can connect!

​Need a Website Refresh? Here’s What You Need to Know.
​When’s the last time you reviewed your website? I am painfully behind on updating my site, and I know how it can be difficult to get started. My friend Pam Didner recently shared this article explaining some key areas to focus on when conducting a website refresh.

Until next time, stay safe and be well!

Cheers,

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​Erika Heald, Founder & Lead Consultant​
Erika Heald Marketing Consulting​
Twitter: @sferika​​
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/erikaheald​
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/misserikasf/
​Threads: @MisserikaSF​