AI for Writers Summit: Tactics, Tools, and Takeaways

CID recently attended the Marketing AI Institute’s 2024 “AI for Writers” Summit to take stock of the current state of AI, what we’ve been able to do with AI tools so far, and what the future has in store for writers and content creators in the industry.

We gathered a few tactics, tools, and other key takeaways covered during the event so we could share them with fellow marketers, creators, and anyone who’s navigating the rapidly-changing landscapes of artificial intelligence.

Where We’re At

It is no secret that AI, and generative writing tools in particular, have flooded the industry at an exceptionally rapid pace. With hundreds of tools entering the scene in the last year alone, the sheer speed at which AI technology has been evolving has been the cause for both excitement and, understandably, hesitation.

While some are concerned that AI writing and creative tools will inevitably replace the humans who currently occupy those roles, leading AI experts consistently reaffirm that this will not be the case. Mainly, because the success of these tools is still largely, if not entirely, reliant on the consistent and highly-specific inputs of their human counterparts. 

For writers, the benefits of this influx of AI writing tools seem to greatly outweigh those aforementioned hesitations and concerns, as these tools offer a promise of enhanced efficiency and seamless production. That, and at least for now, they pose little-to-no threat to the authenticity, passion, and creativity that serve as the cornerstones for effective and impactful writing.

What We’ve Done (So Far)

When it comes to versatile AI tools, writers in particular are spoiled for choice. From prompting your prose to generating pre-formatted, SEO-optimized blurbs catered to your target audiences, for writers looking to spark inspiration or improve efficiency, the sky’s the limit. 

These are just a few of the AI and generative text tools that writers currently have at their disposal: 

Jasper - Platforms like Jasper offer writers a full-suite of templating, editing, optimizing, and distribution tools, all housed in an intuitive central hub. With multi-language and translation features in addition to a large library of pre-formatted content templates, tools like these aim to give writers everything they need to create complex content-driven campaigns as quickly and seamlessly as possible.
 
Writesonic - Template tools like Writesonic offer writers a simple and efficient way to apply their content to a larger variety of marketing templates extremely quickly. Copy can be automatically and simultaneously be formatted for both long and short form web pages, digital ads, product flyers, and everything in between, resulting in major time savings.

Frase IO - Research tools are newer to the AI scene, but they are already proving themselves as valuable allies to marketers. Frase IO is a research and SEO combo tool that helps generate SEO-optimized content using vetted research and SERP analyses. It also gives writers the option to generate large batches of in-depth information that can be generated using specific keywords, allowing them to hone in on niche topics instantly.

GrowthBar - Tools like GrowthBar offer assistance with SEO-optimized content creation, keywords, and basic competitor research. Powered by ChatGPT-4, GrowthBar and similar tools can expedite your SEO-content creation process by helping you plan, write, and optimize, longform content, then distribute it quickly.

Anyword - If connecting with your target audience is top priority, then tools like Anyword may prove extremely helpful. These simple, clean, and quick interfaces use predictive analysis to gauge the effectiveness of your copy on specific audiences. They also offer a variety of special features that help you engage your audiences with custom content formats catered to their online behaviors.

Where We’re Going

As more and more tools continue to surface, the rapid evolution of AI technologies comes with the promise of improved workflows and more efficiency with creative and production processes. At the same time, the experts at the Marketing AI Institute stressed over and over again that AI writing tools are, and will continue to be, only as effective as the humans that will remain at their helm. 

AI technologies are still very much in their infancy despite their rapid growth and development. And, with so much emphasis being placed on efficiency and automation, it is predicted that human authenticity, and content created outside of auto-populated platforms and predictive, generated interfaces will not only continue to be highly sought after, but will become exponentially more valuable as time goes on. 

Want to work with daring and dauntless digital strategists who can help you navigate and tame the AI wilderness? Contact CID to get started.