Why Your Small Business Should Embrace an AI Content Strategy
If you want new customers to find you and existing customers to love you, you need good content. And we all know content creation and marketing tasks can overwhelm a small business owner’s time, budget, and resources. But with an AI content strategy, the process is made simple and affordable to execute.
By Jared Frank | 9 min read
Sales are the lifeblood of your small business, and sales originate in many different places nowadays. It’s critical for any sales department to turn over as many stones as possible to find customers. They’re out there – you just have to look smarter, not harder, to find them. And you must make it easier for them to find you.
For all lead generation and loyalty generation, content is required to convert customers. As someone who has created content professionally for nearly 20 years, I understand it is a labor of Hercules at times. The time wasted staring at the white blank page can zap your creative will. And the money spent on graphic designers and SEO wizards simply isn’t available, or necessary, for some small businesses. Insert AI to unlock productivity and eliminate writer’s block forever.
AI makes content creation simpler, faster, and more effective for small businesses – without any technical know-how required. An AI content strategy enables your business to achieve more with less effort. Let’s learn how.
Key Takeaways
Think of AI as Your Digital Assistant: AI is NOT a solution. It is a tool, and one that’s helping small businesses create smarter, more efficient content strategies. AI tools do the heavy lifting, allowing you to focus on growing your business and connecting with customers.
Benefit from an AI Content Strategy: AI makes a big impact on how you can reach and engage your audience by creating better, more relevant content that ranks higher in search engines and boosts your reputation in the marketplace.
Outrun the Competition: Because we are in the early days of the AI economy, your business has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to beat your competitors before the late adopters onboard the technology. Don’t wait to get started with AI.
Introduction to an AI Content Strategy for Small Businesses
If you’re running a small business, you’ve probably heard popular buzzwords and jargon on artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep thinking, and how it’s all changing the business world. The whole topic is a bit intimidating, confusing, and conjures up visions of Will Smith battling an army of robots in a futuristic apocalypse.
But thankfully, free-thinking androids are not what we mean when we say AI. You’ve been using AI for years and not realized it by making simple search queries to Google. Search engines find relevant information from massive data sets to answer a user’s question – essentially AI. The giant leap made recently, especially as it relates to content creation and productivity, are chatbots. ChatGPT, for example, turns search queries into incredibly detailed, human-like conversations with AI language models. Additionally, generative AI software that turns simple prompts into in-depth text, believable voices, detailed images, and life-like videos has also propelled all creators forward.
The easiest way I’ve found to digest AI is to think of it as my digital assistant. AI is NOT a solution. It is a tool, and one that’s helping small businesses execute smarter, more efficient content strategies. AI tools do the heavy lifting, allowing you to focus on growing your business and connecting with customers.
For example, AI can:
- Accelerate your existing content strategy (blog posts, social media updates, videos, etc.) and automate many laborious tasks.
- Assist with the actual content creation itself if that’s what you want it to do.
- Discover the best topics to write about, based on what your audience is searching for online.
- Optimize your content for search engines so it ranks higher on Google.
- Recommend when and where to post your content for the best engagement.
- Personalize content for different customers, ensuring they see exactly what’s relevant to them.
The Benefits of an AI Content Strategy for Your Small Business
Beyond the hype built by tech emperors and investors alike, AI helps businesses run more smoothly and efficiently. When it comes to your content strategy, this assist makes a huge difference in how you reach and engage your audience.
Here are just a few ways AI can benefit your content strategy:
Save Time, and Focus on What Matters
As a small business owner, your time is one of your most valuable assets. Between running the business, managing customers, and maybe creating content, it’s easy to feel stretched thin. Because AI tools take over repetitive tasks like researching content topics, optimizing your posts for search engines, and scheduling content to be shared across social media, you have more time to focus on the other important priorities in your business.
Create Better, More Relevant Content
One of the challenging parts of content creation is figuring out what your audience actually wants to read or see. AI helps analyze data on what’s trending, what people are searching for, and what’s performing well in your industry. With AI, you can pinpoint the topics and themes that will resonate most with your target audience, leading to content that feels more relevant and engaging.
Improve Your Content’s Performance
Ever wonder how some companies always seem to rank high on Google while others struggle to get noticed? AI can make a big difference. AI-powered tools optimize your content for search engines by analyzing keywords, competitor strategies, and even the structure of articles. Your content becomes more likely to show up when potential customers are searching for products or services like yours.
Personalize the Customer Experience
One-size-fits-all marketing doesn’t work anymore. Today’s customers expect content that speaks directly to their needs and interests. AI allows you to personalize content based on factors like customer behavior, preferences, and even location. Whether it’s personalized email campaigns, product recommendations, or targeted blog posts, AI helps you deliver the right content to the right person at the right time.
Stay Ahead of Competitors
In today’s digital world, businesses that embrace AI have a competitive edge. AI allows you to be more proactive by spotting trends early, responding to changes in the market faster, and continuously improving your content based on real-time data. It’s like having a behind-the-scenes assistant constantly working to keep you ahead of the curve.
When getting started with any new technology, it’s important that your business doesn’t try to eat the elephant in one bite. Take your time to get it right before scaling any AI strategy throughout your entire organization.
AI Content Strategy for All Your Content Marketing Channels
AI automates time-exhausting tasks and improves your efforts across all the different marketing channels you are already using. Instead of hours of tedious activities, AI handles things like content scheduling, social media posting, and email campaigns for you.
By improving efficiency across all your marketing channels, AI ensures your messages reach the right people at the right time, ultimately enhancing your overall marketing performance. Embracing AI allows you to achieve better results with less effort, making it an invaluable asset for your business.
The number of AI content tools in the market currently is a little overwhelming. But the good news is most of them offer free trials or even free tiers for users to test multiple software offerings before breaking out the company credit card.
I recommend you start your exploration in the following domains:
Content Research and Blogging
AI tools help you quickly discover the topics your audience cares about by analyzing what’s trending and what people are searching for online. This intel allows you to improve your website’s user experience by creating more relevant blog posts without spending hours doing manual research. Some AI tools can even help with drafting and editing, speeding up the writing process.
Image Creation
If you need visuals for your website or social media channels, AI-powered design tools generate high-quality images in a fraction of the time. These tools create professional-looking images and graphics without needing advanced design skills, making your marketing materials look polished and appealing.
Email Marketing
AI also boosts your email campaigns by helping you write personalized emails and choosing the best times to send them. AI tools can recommend subject lines, automate follow-ups, and tailor content to individual customer preferences, helping you achieve better open and click-through rates.
Social Media
AI tools schedule social media posts, analyze which content performs best, and even make recommendations to maximize engagement. Some AI-powered platforms can also automatically generate captions or suggest relevant hashtags, making your social media efforts more strategic and less time-consuming.
How to Get Started with an AI-Driven Content Strategy
When getting started with any new technology, it’s important that your business doesn’t try to eat the elephant in one bite. Take your time, take small bites, and only take a few people (maybe even just one) to get it right before scaling any AI strategy throughout your entire organization.
I recommend designating a single individual on your team to lead your AI effort. This person will assess your unique business needs and evaluate all available tools for those use cases. Empower that individual to make decisions and then charge him or her to coach the rest of your team on how and where the new tools insert into existing workflows.
Is Your Business Prepared for the AI-Powered Future?
As AI technology continues to advance, its role in content creation will only grow. Small businesses can benefit immensely by adopting an AI content strategy to streamline processes, enhance creativity, and improve customer engagement.
Because we are still in the early days of the AI economy, your business has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to outrun your competitors before the late adopters onboard the technology. So start small with AI tools that fit your needs, focus on automating repetitive tasks, and leverage AI to generate relevant content and insights. But don’t wait to get started with AI.
And remember, most AI tools are intentionally user-friendly – you don’t need to be a tech expert. By embracing these technologies, you’ll not only save time and resources but also position your business for success in an increasingly digital landscape. The future is bright for those who are ready to harness the power of AI. And the future is now. 
Are you ready to get started with an AI content strategy? Let’s chat.
Write to Jared at [email protected].
Disclosure: ChatGPT helped ideate the first draft of this article. The author revised subsequent drafts and contributed original copy to better reflect the intended message and voice.
RELATED CONTENT
An Overview of the Best AI Marketing Tools for Your Small Business
Hundreds of AI marketing tools now exist to assist marketers with their craft. With the incredible volume of tools available, it can be overwhelming to shop for the right ones. Ditch the anxiety with this buyer’s guide of top tools.
How to Use Artificial Intelligence Fearlessly with Sound AI Ethics
The anxieties that accompany the excitement for AI tools cause some business leaders to keep them at arm’s length. But have no fear. Through a simple audit, marketers can unlock the full potential of AI for their teams.