Beyond ChatGPT: 4 Powerful A.I. Tools for Content Marketers

Save time and optimize your copywriting.

Seemingly overnight (but actually, since this same time last year), artificial intelligence (AI) has gone from an abstract, futuristic-sounding concept to a very real, tangible presence. Depending on who you ask, it will either help content creators and marketers do our jobs--or put us out of them. 

Though it's understandable to feel a little uneasy about AI's increasing popularity, I'm definitely in the camp that says you can--and definitely should--learn how to make it work for you. As the co-founder and managing partner of a content marketing agency, I'm always testing new tools that can help my team and me improve our efficiency, which is why I'm embracing this emerging technology.

With that said, at my content marketing agency, we'll still be leaning on our best writers and editors as much as ever. Generally, AI works best for generating content based on writing or knowledge that already exists; it's less helpful for creating new, original, or creative work--and it's still pretty bad at capturing your specific brand voice! 

At my company, we're already using AI to support some of our internal workflows, or repeatable tasks. For example, I've found that for some sales-related content, where I'm writing similar text across multiple emails, AI tools are a big timesaver and can even suggest copy based on what I've written in the past. 

But for projects that require a little more creativity and trust-building with an audience, it's important to assign them to a real person, not a machine. As marketers, we know how multifaceted and complex an integrated campaign can be. Tailoring our messages to different platforms, communities, and audiences requires nuance and strategic thinking. In other words, it requires a human touch!

Though many of us are already familiar with popular AI tools like ChatGPT, my team and I curated a list of platforms specifically with our fellow marketers and content creators in mind. These platforms can help save time on a specific set of tasks, so you can spend your brainpower where it matters most.

Copy.ai

Copy.ai is ideal for drafting short-form content, like emails, blogs, and social media posts. The platform is intuitive, and even allows you to choose a tone for the copy, like "friendly" or "persuasive." (But again, it's not great at the specific brand voice, so you'll need to do some editing.) To draft an email via Copy.ai, simply type in a few lines of context about the product or offer, choose your desired tone, and the tool generates a few options for you to review and edit. Copy.ai is free for up to 2,000 words per month and one user, but most marketing teams will require the features of its Pro or Enterprise plans, which include multiple user seats and unlimited words and projects.

Sudowrite

If you're working in the creative space (think: novels, screenplays, and short stories), Sudowrite could be the right tool for you. Founded by two fiction writers, Sudowrite analyzes your tone and style and can even help you craft plot points and character names using its Canvas tool. But even if you're not trying to pen the next great novel, Sudowrite's suite of tools can help enhance any type of copy, breaking writer's block, and suggesting revisions. Sudowrite starts at $10 per month for 30,000 AI-generated words.

Craftly.AI

I'm particularly excited about Craftly.AI because it was founded by Iman Bashir, a 2021 Women in Content Marketing Awards (WICMA) winner! Billed as an "AI-powered copywriting assistant," Craftly.AI generates product descriptions, Google and Facebook ad copy, and can even help brainstorm blog topics. This tool is especially ideal for marketers who focus on e-commerce businesses and spend time developing digital advertising copy and concepts. Pricing starts at $25 per month for the "starter" set of tools.

Narrato Workspace

Beyond copywriting, AI can support content marketing processes, too. Narrato Workspace's AI-powered platform offers tools for content planning, including task assignments and scheduling, and generating content briefs for writers. Narrato has a limited free tier, and a Pro offering that starts at $9 per user, per month.

Perhaps some of these tools can give you a helpful head start or take a few tasks off your plate as you develop your next campaign or project. Though AI can't replicate our uniquely human ability to strike the right tone or expertly balance all the moving parts of a marketing strategy, it can help us devote more time to the creative work we do best.

Written by Amanda Pressner Kreuser. Originally published on Inc.com on March 8, 2023.