With AI making strides every day, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore it. AI-generated content, or content that’s almost entirely produced by AI, is gaining a lot of attention in B2B SaaS marketing.
And while the use of AI is being greatly advocated for content creation, is this practice actually driving outstanding results for SaaS marketers or is it just noise that Google will ultimately filter out (or penalize)?
Apparently, VMWare uses Jasper to generate original content for their various marketing channels. This move has helped free up their writers for deeper research, ideation, and strategy.
For other companies, however, moving from human writers to AI hasn’t been beneficial. In fact, they’re now busy re-hiring seasoned writers to generate content that is more human-like and well-researched. Why is this important?
A recent consumer study found that 50% of consumers surveyed could easily identify AI-generated content. It was also found that while 56% of consumers initially preferred AI-generated content (when unaware of its origin), their engagement decreased upon suspecting it was AI-generated. Moreover, 52% of consumers demonstrated reduced engagement with content they thought was produced by AI.
Another lingering question about AI content is: Can it be good for SEO? The answer isn’t as easy as you might think.
Confused? We don’t blame you. The truth is AI-generated content comes with its set of strengths and limitations. Let’s learn more.
AI in Content Creation
AI-generated content typically refers to content that is created by algorithms and trained machine learning models. Whether it is creating blog posts, product descriptions, or even poetry, these AI models can do it all. In fact, when done the right way, the content produced by AI can get you significant attention and attract clicks and traffic.
In all honesty, AI-generated content isn’t “bad.” The outcomes largely depend on how it is used.
For instance, you can use ChatGPT to create a product guide for your SaaS platform and publish exactly what the tool produces. But will this general guide be useful to your customers? Most likely not. That’s because AI algorithms don’t know everything about your product. What you’ll get is a general answer, not a precise step-by-step guide.
But guess what? This isn’t an AI failure, but the lack of proper input instructions.
From the SEO point of view, the biggest limitation of AI-generated content is that it’s not 100% original. Especially in terms of research, insights, or data. As a result, AI-generated content might fail to resonate with your target audience or provide value. It is neither humanized nor customized for SEO best practices.
That being said, using AI-generated content is the smartest way to scale content production in less time, especially if you have limited writers.
At this point, it makes sense to consider some of the pros and cons of using AI-generated in SaaS.
Drawbacks of AI-Generated Content in SaaS
Just like every coin has two sides, AI has limitations as well. Let’s find out what they are.
- Lacks Human Touch
This is perhaps the biggest drawback of AI-generated content, which has bearings on
SEO performance as well. AI content is largely robotic and has a long way to go before it can create human-like content, share personal anecdotes, or convey emotional depth without being detected.
However, specialized AI writing tools are making it possible to humanize AI content and create text that resonates with the audience and goes completely undetected by AI detectors.
- Poor Quality Control
The lack of (or reduced) human control over content creation can mean text that is factually incorrect or incomplete.
Moreover, the content generated by AI may be a replica of the material that already exists online (plagiarism), which might not go well with search engines.
- SEO Concerns
Black hat SEO marketing practices, such as flooding (or rather spamming) the internet with poor-quality content to meet a certain quota, can be disastrous.
Worried SEO and content marketers, fret not! Fortunately, there’s a way to use AI-generated content to your advantage.
Benefits of AI-Generated Content in SaaS
Mentioned ahead are some undeniable advantages of using AI for content creation in SaaS.
- Speed and Efficiency
Want to produce fifty product descriptions with just a few hours at your disposal? AI is perfect for the job. It can generate tons and tons of content at lightning speed.
Semrush has found that 36% of marketers who use AI for content creation spend less than one hour writing a long-form blog post. Meanwhile, 38% of marketers who don’t use AI take 2-3 hours to write it.
- Consistency
The content produced by AI has a uniform tone and style across the piece produced. When the content is consistent in quality, it inspires trust among readers and they perceive the brand to be genuine.
As per Semrush, 79% of businesses report an increase in content quality because of AI tools.
- Personalization
The content produced by AI depends a great deal on the input instructions it receives. So, if you’re trying to create a highly personalized piece of content, AI could be your best ally. Your engagement metrics can receive a big boost while enhancing user experience and conversion rates.
After all, 77% of marketers who use generative AI say it helps them create more personalized content.
- Cost Effectiveness and Easy Scaling
When content creation is entrusted to AI tools, companies need not rely on human writers. This can lead to significant cost savings, especially for small businesses with limited budgets.
Furthermore, as these small businesses grow, so does their demand for content production. Here, AI offers a huge advantage to businesses in the form of scalability.
Best Practices for Using AI-Generated Content in SaaS
By following the best practices mentioned below, you should be able to generate valuable AI content and faster, too.
- AI As Your Assistant
It is best to consider AI as a tool or an assistant rather than a replacement for human writers. Instead of using it to create entire posts, use it to come up with ideas, keywords, and short title-wise drafts.
You can then combine and fine-tune the content, and humanize it to ensure authenticity and quality.
- Detailed Prompts
Any piece of content generated by AI is only as good as the prompt. So, if the output is lousy, it’s very likely the input was substandard, too. We recommend being highly specific with your instructions and prompts.
Inform AI models about your preferred tone, writing style, target audience, points to cover, and length. Also, mention what you don’t want in the post (for example, certain words/phrases, repetition, and so on). Try to provide examples wherever possible.
- Quality Over Quantity
With increased speed and efficiency, it can be tempting to churn out article after article but don’t fall into that trap. Know for a fact that Google’s algorithms are getting smarter and can detect low-quality, mass-produced content in an instant.
Aim to create quality content that keeps visitors on your site longer, reduces bounce rates, and encourages repeat visits. High-quality content will also help you establish topical authority in your niche and outperform other low-quality content over time.
Conclusion
When it comes to AI-generated content in SaaS, it’s not about the amount of words you can produce in a given time span. It has more to do with how much value the content adds to your audience’s lives.
And yes, AI-generated content can rank as long as it fulfills Google’s criteria for originality, quality, and user value. While AI cannot replace human writers, it can certainly expand their ability to produce more content in less time. So, make sure to take a balanced approach before writing off AI tools and human writers. After all, your SEO depends on it!
Featured image by Tara Winstead
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