I've Been Using AI to Write Marketing Content for Approximately 15 Months—Here's What I've Learned
The real story behind AI content creation—what the data shows, common mistakes to avoid, and practical tips that actually move the needle.
Look, I'll be honest with you. When ChatGPT first exploded onto the scene, I was skeptical as hell. Another shiny tool that promises to revolutionize marketing? Yeah, right.
But here I am, almost 15 months later, and I can't imagine running content marketing without AI-powered content creation.
Let me tell you why - and more importantly, how you can make this work without your content sounding like a robot wrote it.
The Numbers Don't Lie (And They're Pretty Wild)
Before we dive into the real stuff, let me hit you with some stats that made me double-check everything. I'm not talking about made-up numbers here - this is what different data inputs from organizations (using AI for content marketing) reveal.
The AI marketing space is sitting at $47.32 billion in 2025 and is expected to hit $107.5 billion by 2028. (Source: SEO.com)
But here's what caught my attention:
That's not "some marketers are experimenting"—that's "pretty much everyone is doing this now."
Personal reality check: Till a few months back, my content creation wasn’t much. However, now with AI-powered content creation tools, I'm writing 3x faster than I used to, and my site traffic jumped by 51.8%.
I was skeptical about the numbers until I saw them in my Analytics dashboard.
This made me realize:
The speed thing is real.
According to Zebracat, AI content tools are increasing production speed by 400% while cutting costs by 50% per article.
But remember, speed means nothing if the content sucks and doesn’t respond to the user queries, which brings me to my next point...
The "AI Content Sucks" Myth (Spoiler: It Doesn't Have To)
Okay, let's address the elephant in the room. Most of the first drafts that these AI tools generate are generic, lack soul, and indicate - usage of ChatGPT and other AI tools.
However, as per Coschedule’s “State of AI in Marketing 2025” report, 25.6% of marketers report that AI-generated content performs better than content created without AI.
Now, you may question: How is that possible when so much AI content is trash?
The Secret Sauce: It's Not About the Tool, It's About How You Use It
Do you know what differentiates a good marketer from an average marketer? It’s this: ⬇️
The art of how they write prompts on AI tools
Most of the great marketers out there getting killer results with AI-powered content creation aren't just typing "Write me a blog post about marketing" and hitting the “Publish” button.
Instead, they're treating AI like a really smart research assistant and first-draft writer.
Here's how I prefer using AI for content marketing (and this is where the magic happens):
Research and ideation: I generally ask ChatGPT or Claude to analyze trending topics, and competitor content, and give me 10 different angles on a subject
Structure and outline: The AI tool then helps me create detailed outlines that I know will convert (because I've trained these AI tools over time to give me the best possible outcome based on my best-performing content)
First draft creation: Here's where AI-powered content creation makes all the difference — it gives me a solid foundation to build on
The human touch: I infuse AI-generated content with personalization and add real examples to make it read like a human wrote it
What's Working Right Now?
Let me get things straight - After experimenting with different AI tools for more than a year, here’s my belief on what works and moves the needle for me:
Personalization That Doesn't Suck
It wasn’t long ago when “personalization” referred to putting someone’s first name in an email. Well, we’re way past that now.
As per Gartner,
52% of marketers are now using AI to improve customer targeting
And needless to say, the results are incredible…
As a matter of fact, content creators across the world are now creating different versions of the same content to cater to mass audience segments.
I am not referring to merely changing the headline, but taking a fresh approach every single time, depending on where their target audience is in their buyer journey, what their industry is, or their pain point.
Remember:
The best AI content doesn't feel like AI content. It feels like someone read your mind and wrote exactly what you needed to hear.
Content Strategy That Makes Sense
Here's another interesting find:
As per McKinsey’s 2025 State of AI Survey,
34% of organizations use AI for content strategy, not just content creation.
This is a massive shift…
Thanks to these AI tools, many folks like me are now using them to:
Analyze what’s working in their content
Predict what topics will perform well
Optimize their content calendar based on audience response time and when they are most likely to engage.
It’s like having a data scientist on your content team who knows what works and when…
Remember: Personalized content with real-life examples and stories performs better than AI-fluff.
The Mistakes Everyone's Making (And How You Can Avoid Them)
In the last decade, I have seen and worked with some great marketers. But with AI tools’ supremacy, I am seeing a lot of them butcher their AI content implementation.
Here are the 3 biggest mistakes I have seen over time:
Mistake #1: Publishing AI Content Without Editing
Oh yes, this is the biggest one. AI tools do give us a strong foundation to begin with, but never a finished outcome.
Most marketers now automate the entire process from AI-powered content creation to publishing, often compromising the content quality and its relevancy for their end readers.
Mistake #2: Not Training AI on Your Brand Voice
If you’re operating a business, you must feed your preferred AI tool with your brand guidelines or audience insights to ensure you don’t get generic content as an outcome.
You ought to train your AI tool with your preferred voice and tonality and feed it with the best references and examples to get an accurate outcome that meets your requirements.
Mistake #3: Forgetting About Personalization and the Human Element
Another common mistake that most marketers make is missing out on the “personalization” angle.
I did speak about this above, too, but if you’re not adding that required human touch, all your efforts go down the drain.
I'm talking about:
Personal anecdotes and stories that are exclusive to you
Industry insights from your personal/professional experience
Opinions that highlight your point of view and personality
Examples and validated data metrics from your work or clients
The Next Steps - What You Can Expect?
AI content space is evolving, and there’s no second thought about it. But what excites me the most is these two:
Multimodal Content Creation
AI tools are now creating:
Blog Posts
Social media graphics
Video scripts and proper videos
All from a single brief. So, by this year's end, I am expecting AI-powered content creation tools to be powerful enough to create entire content campaigns (across different formats) that are completely personalized and unique for each brand.
Predictive Content Optimization
I can’t wait for the time when AI tools are not just telling us what to write, but also how to optimize the generated content for maximum engagement.
We are not there yet, but we are getting close every day.
Should You Start Using AI for Content?
Well, if you’re still around, let me tell you what I think:
If you are still contemplating whether to use tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, or any other for content creation, videos, etc., you’re way behind your competitors and next-door neighbors.
You should at least start experimenting with these tools, not because they’re magic, but because your competitors are already using them to create bulk content faster, and with better results.
As per the Siege Media 2025 Content Marketing Trends report,
Almost 70% of content marketers are using AI tools to generate content outlines.
While 90% of content marketers are planning to use AI for content marketing in 2025
So, this is no longer a trend —that's the new reality.
What do I Recommend? - Take Small Steps
Before I dive into my recommendation, take a look at this visual:
It’s evident that every single AI tool now has a fair user base, and this will grow exponentially over time. But let this not fool you.
It’s highly unlikely, but if you’re still new to the entire game of AI, here’s what I will advise you:
DO NOT overhaul your entire strategy overnight!
A better approach will be to follow these simple 3 steps:
Pick one element - social media posts or email subject lines, etc.
Train AI - Whatever format you pick, train your AI tool with your brand voice, target audience persona, etc.
Expand - Once your AI tool is trained and you’ve understood the workflow, start with other formats like blog posts, newsletters, etc.
Remember: Your initial responses will be garbage, but don’t let it stop you.
You will have to train the AI tool with resources, audience inputs, etc., to get a more polished response. Plus, invest time in improving your prompts and developing a system that works best for you.
The Bottom Line
Over the next decade, advances in AI will mean that humans will no longer be required for “most of the things” in the world…
Source: Bill Gates’ recent interview with NBC
Yes, this can be quite a revelation, but please remember:
AI-powered content creation isn't going to replace good marketers. But marketers who use AI effectively are going to replace marketers who don't.
It’s proven that AI as a technology will remain, and will continue getting better.
So, the question isn’t whether you’re going to use AI for content marketing, but rather this:
How quickly can you learn AI to use it well?
Having said this, here’s my challenge for you:
Pick an AI tool and play with it. Experiment with different prompts on a single content format and see how it amplifies your creativity.
If AI excites you even one bit, the opportunity to combine the speed and scale of AI with your human insights and experience will be worth it.
Trust me, once you figure out how to make AI-powered content creation work for you, you'll wonder how you ever managed without it.
What's your experience with AI content tools? Hit reply and let me know — I read every response, and I'm always curious to hear what's working (or not working) for other content creators and marketers…