3 Things AI Has Changed About Content Marketing That Aren't Going Back

As I’ve written before, I don’t feel totally comfortable with all the ways AI is changing marketing. In some cases, I’m excited and in other ways, I’m nostalgic for how things used to be.

I'm not going to tell you everything is fine and peachy. I'm also not going to tell you to panic. What I am going to tell you is that I believe adapting is the best path for most people. It’s certainly the camp I fall into, which  means I often split time between experimentation and brushing up on evergreen marketing principles. A few years from now, all of this will have played out and everything will be clear. That’s not the case now, but here’s my best assessment of our current environment.

Either way, I think it’s useful to make an honest assessment of those changes so that we can all adapt. So here's my attempt at that. Here are three things AI has changed about content marketing that aren't going back, based on my own experience and things I’ve learned from my peers in Superpath.

1. Writing is less commercially viable skill than it used to be

This is the hardest one for me to admit. I’ve been thinking about this for a while now and the idea was really hammered home in Ryan Law’s recent post, where he wrote that, “Until recently, AI content wasn’t good enough for SEO. Now, it is. The sooner we can admit that, the more time we have to focus on the parts of marketing where humans will have a longer, happier tenure.”

This is hugely different than even just 18 months ago, when some companies were seeking out “human content” and avoiding AI slop. The technology has gotten so much better since then, to the point where many marketing teams can generate a reasonable proxy for human-written content for so much less money that it’s impossible to ignore. This technology, of course, will only continue to get better.

I think it’s important to make a distinction between writing and content. Writing is the process, content is the output. And content is still quite valuable. The final output of a creative session or an AI tool—the blog post, social post, guide, etc.—is in huge demand. The craft of making it is so incredibly different, to the point where I think most companies don’t really care how it was made, as long as it’s good enough. 

This shines a light on an important point: SaaS companies never really cared about the craft of writing, they always cared about the output. Those of us who enjoyed the craft were thrilled that we could make a living in tech pursuing a craft that is intellectually stimulating and, occasionally, a downright joy. It feels good to write! 

Writing is the backbone of so many marketers’ careers. It’s how I got my start. I found that companies were willing to pay me to write and I went hard. Even as I became more senior, I still wrote a ton and considered it a core skill.

I still think the ability to write clearly, which is so closely tied to thinking clearly, is important, it’s just not commercially viable on its own. I still write all the time because it helps me think, it’s how I communicate with coworkers and customers, and how I share my thoughts with the world. I think the process is hugely useful, but I don’t expect that content creation is going to land me a great job anymore. 

And for what it’s worth, I’m speaking specifically about B2B SaaS. If you’re a feature writer or investigative journalist, this probably isn’t the case. SaaS companies are mostly uninterested in the craft of writing for its own sake, rather that writing’s ability to drive awareness, so I’m not proclaiming that writing isn’t valuable anywhere.

2. The skillset has evolved to include things marketers haven’t done before

We recently wrote a post about AI has changed the idea of The New T-Shaped Marketer. Most people know the original version of this. A marketer with deep expertise in one discipline and broad knowledge across others is “T-shaped.”

But AI has increased the width of the “T” so much that it now includes skills that most marketers never even considered, let alone had any expertise in. The AI-equipped marketer can now reasonably be expected to write some code, make a wireframe, create video, design and so much more.

Here’s a quick snippet from that post:

It’s difficult to specify the exact skillset but there are a few themes that I see:

• AI makes execution easier. Knowing what to work on is harder. It used to be that a project’s scope limited whether or not it was pursued. For example, how many marketing teams wanted to create a free tool or calculator for lead gen back in 2018? It was too expensive and time-consuming to be worth it back then. But now, it can be done quickly. But lots of other things can be done relatively quickly too. Your ability to find projects with the highest impact and communicate that impact well is very important.
• Technical skills are more valuable than creative skills (for now). Companies want AI and people who can vibe code, make apps, create automations, write scripts, etc. are in higher demand right now. I don’t know if this will last, but here’s how I currently think about it. There is a spectrum of AI mastery. Vibe coding is on the far left side (not very technical) and deploying full-blown SaaS tools is on the right side (very technical). Some AI work feels more technical at the moment than it actually is, so it’ll become less valuable over time. The truly technical stuff will always be valuable.
• Scale is top of mind (also for now). The first thing most companies want to do with AI is the most obvious thing: more! It’s not hard to see the appeal of having one person do the work of three or more. I think over time, we’ll find that each of us will get used to higher output, but that companies will eventually realize that more blog posts, videos, social posts, etc. was only an initial reaction to AI and not ultimately the best use of it.

I think this is subject to change but not in the next 1-2 years. I think most companies want speed and scale. At some point, companies may swing back towards differentiation and creativity en masse, but only once this tranche of opportunities is saturated. 

3. Your reputation is now your primary career asset

One thing I’ve struggled with in this new world is how to let people know that I’m a good marketer. I used to let my writing, all of which was publicly available, speak for itself. That’s less and less possible for content marketers since much of the work is more behind the scenes now. 

Your reputation is increasingly important. It’s difficult to assess how good someone is at using AI or adapting in a quickly changing environment. It’s not difficult to assess if someone is great to work with. I encourage folks to build a track record of more than just great output, but great relationships. This is your leverage right now.

In a world where just about anyone can produce decent content, the question becomes who do you trust? People learn to trust you when you’re reliable, a good team player, good at communicating, can navigate messy situations and get sh*t done anyway, and generally easy to work with. I can think of a handful of coworkers I’ve had over the years that were just a breeze to work with. I’ve never assessed their technical abilities because I didn’t need to. That’s secondary to being good to work with in almost all cases.

Some of this does happen via personal branding and thought leadership. You absolutely can increase awareness of yourself and your skills by simply telling people. But the deeper version happens in the trenches. There’s a reason that when an NFL team hires a new coach that coach brings along a whole crew of people. They want people they know and trust. The same happens when a company hires a new CMO or VP. Those people recruit from their past companies because they value certain people over certain skills. You can be that person by being great to work with.

Marketing is changing fast

AI is creating some net new work and roles, but it’s mostly amplifying and accelerating existing trends. Creating automated content workflows feels net new, but the expanding skillset is gas on an existing trend. Frankly, the same is true of writing which was already (somewhat sadly) on its way to being commoditized thanks to the software industry’s massive investment in SEO.

Superpath is adapting to meet content marketers where they are. In addition to a private community of your peers, we’ve increased our programming to include customized 1:1 pairings, AI show and tells, monthly challenges, virtual and IRL meetups and member-led interest groups. We are all navigating the same waters and there’s no need to go it alone. Check out our 30-day free trial to see if it’s a good fit for you.