AI for Digital Marketing With Will Scott at DFWSEM State of Search
December 20th, 2023 by
Key Insights
- AI-powered tools offer numerous opportunities for digital marketers, from generating content ideas to researching keywords and programming code efficiently.
- While AI can produce impressive content, human intervention remains crucial. Relying solely on AI for content creation can lead to subpar results and may not align with Google’s E-E-A-T requirements.
- Marketers should view AI as a valuable assistant rather than a sole content creator, harnessing its potential while upholding campaign integrity and customer satisfaction.
Search Influence Co-founder and CEO Will Scott presented “Robots, Revolution, and the Death of ChatGPT” at the 2023 State of Search Conference in Dallas, Texas.
In Will’s artificial intelligence marketing strategy presentation, the SEO veteran discussed his vision of what incorporating AI into the content creation process will look like and how marketing teams can use AI technology responsibly.
In this blog post, we’ll dive deep into Will’s thoughts on AI in digital marketing and provide AI-powered tools and content creation techniques to bring your processes into the robotic age.
What Is the State of Search Conference?
The State of Search Conference is an annual digital marketing event produced by DFWSEM (the Dallas, Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association) that brings together industry experts, seasoned practitioners, and marketing enthusiasts.
One of the standout features of this conference is the expertise it brings under one roof. Digital marketers who attend this conference learn about the latest and greatest search marketing trends and gain valuable insights from experienced practitioners.
The digital advertising landscape is in a constant state of flux. From social media dynamics and Google’s ever-evolving algorithms to the intricacies of effective content marketing, staying ahead of the curve is essential. This conference is meticulously designed to equip attendees with practical tips and tricks to master these facets.
As the topics at the State of Search Conference are always on the cutting edge of marketing, it is no surprise that the main topic of this past year’s conference was AI in digital marketing.
A long-time resident of the digital marketing world, Will Scott was interested in how artificial intelligence might change the neighborhood. Read on for his thoughts about AI marketing strategies.
Lessons From “Robots, Revolution, And The Death Of ChatGPT”
In the late months of 2022, Will began obsessively learning and experimenting with digital marketing AI tools. And while his first thoughts on AI might have brought him to the robot apocalypse — much to the fault of movies like The Terminator, The Matrix, and Blade Runner — he quickly recalculated and began creating practical use cases for AI in digital marketing.
Everything you need to know about the AI sandwich
In the ever-evolving content marketing landscape, the AI sandwich has emerged as a game-changing approach to crafting engaging and relevant content. This innovative content creation workflow combines the power of AI-driven tools with human creativity to produce high-quality content across various platforms, from social media posts to blog articles and ad copy.
Let’s dive into the intricacies of the AI sandwich and explore how it can revolutionize your marketing campaigns.
The AI Sandwich unwrapped
At its core, the AI sandwich is a strategic content creation process that integrates the capabilities of AI-powered tools with human expertise. The workflow typically follows a three-step pattern:
- Human-Powered Prompts: The journey begins with a human writer who lays the foundation by creating thought-provoking prompts. These prompts serve as the guiding framework for the AI to work its magic.
- AI-Generated Content: Enter the AI marketing tool. This intelligent technology takes the provided prompts and crafts content that aligns with the desired objectives. It leverages machine learning algorithms to generate text that resonates with the target audience.
- Human Refinement: While AI can produce impressive content, human intervention remains crucial. Skilled editors review, refine, and enhance the AI-generated material. They ensure that the final output is grammatically correct and aligned with the brand’s voice and values.
Elevating content quality
The AI sandwich isn’t just about efficiency and cost savings; it’s a recipe for creating content that satisfies your audience’s cravings. By combining the strengths of AI and human oversight, you ensure your content meets the highest standards of relevance and quality.
Meeting Google’s E-E-A-T requirements
In today’s digital landscape, Google’s Search Quality Raters evaluate content based on criteria such as Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). The AI sandwich is tailor-made to meet these standards.
Beyond “empty calories”
Think of content generated solely by AI as the equivalent of a quick solo meal — convenient but likely lacking substance. The AI sandwich, on the other hand, resembles a hearty home-cooked meal prepared with care. It’s nourishing content that informs, engages, and resonates with your audience.
The path forward
As AI marketing tools use continues to grow, we’re in the midst of an AI-generated content explosion. While some may use these tools for spammy purposes, legitimate content creators recognize the potential to enhance their work, develop creative ideas, and serve their organizations and clients more effectively.
Embracing the AI opportunity
For those of us rooted in the world of SEO and marketing, AI, including ChatGPT and its counterparts, offers a tremendous opportunity. It’s not just a means of automating tasks; it’s a tool for testing and refining strategies, optimizing marketing campaigns, and ultimately amplifying the impact for our clients.
The AI sandwich emerges as a winning recipe in the journey to craft effective marketing campaigns and deliver relevant content. It combines the precision of AI-powered content generation with the finesse of human creativity, ensuring that your marketing efforts stand out in a crowded digital landscape.
As we move forward, embracing AI as a valuable ally in the world of content marketing will lead to new heights of success and innovation.
SEO and ChatGPT are alive and thriving together
SEO is not on life support — it’s adapting and thriving alongside AI advancements.
ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools don’t spell doom for SEO; these machine-learning tools are catalysts for faster and more innovative SEO strategies. They empower SEO professionals to dive deeper into customer data and refine their advertising campaigns.
Forward-thinking SEO experts should embrace AI tools as a means to enhance their skills. AI tools are becoming commonplace, but their true value lies in individuals who can wield them effectively.
Content creation processes like the AI sandwich and the AIO method prove that machine learning tools still need a human touch to create content that improves customer experiences.
Contrary to sensationalist headlines, ChatGPT is also far from death’s door. In fact, the screenshot below showing the last 12 months of Google Trends Data proves the AI-powered tool is quite young and spry.
Artificial intelligence tools for digital marketing
As is the Search Influence way, we’d like you to leave this blog post with some things you can use immediately to improve your marketing campaigns. Below are the marketing tools we have recently used to do everything from automating repetitive tasks to finding relevant keywords.
Artificial intelligence content tools for crafting engaging content:
- Machined.ai
- ZimmWriter
- Content at Scale
- Surfer SEO AI Writer
Artificial intelligence image creation tools:
- Midjourney
- Dall-E 2
- Stable Diffusion
Artificial intelligence SEO and keyword tools:
- Frase
- Surfer
- PageOptimizer Pro
Artificial intelligence video tools:
- Steve.ai
- Wave.video
The SEO Skyscraper Method and ChatGPT data mining are a match made in heaven
Early in 2023, Will explored “ChatGPT: Data Mining and SEO With OpenAI and Bing.” Since then, the landscape of machine learning, AI, OpenAI, ChatGPT, and content has evolved significantly.
With substantial updates to the core OpenAI GPT, both in technological advancements and content processing capabilities, we’ve entered an era where we can delve deep and wide into topics like never before.
The integration of web search capabilities through plugins and expanded data exploration tools has transformed ChatGPT into a data mining powerhouse, allowing for the summarization and comprehension of extensive and complex subjects.
Recent experiments have demonstrated the prowess of ChatGPT in summarizing top articles on a given topic while highlighting unique perspectives. Natural language processing and AI-driven content analyses have made ChatGPT a vital tool for tasks that rely on data collection and correlation analysis.
Now, let’s bring in the Skyscraper Method.
The SEO Skyscraper Method, popularized by Brian Dean at Backlinko, is a strategy that’s been imitated repeatedly.
It’s actually quite simple:
- Step 1: Find content on your given subject that is worth linking to.
- Step 2: Write content that is even more informative than the content you found.
- Step 3: Reach out to the right people who might be willing to link to the web page/content you wrote.
Back in the initial development of the Skyscraper Method, the focus was on links as indicators of authority. However, Google’s evolution towards a semantic, entity-based web has expanded the playing field. Content and its relationship to recognized entities now share the spotlight with links in SEO success.
By combining the Skyscraper Method with ChatGPT’s knack for data mining, you can unearth valuable insights with ease.
Rather than merely one-upping competitors, this approach looks at all content receiving Google’s attention. It acknowledges and respects the competition by summarizing and linking to their work, thereby incorporating semantic entities and keywords.
By leveraging ChatGPT for data mining, you can simplify the process. It starts with a Google search for your target keyword, leading to fresh ideas and a wealth of links. Then, ChatGPT can extract common elements, such as keywords and subjects covered from the content you choose to use.
While AI technology is a potent and valuable tool, you’re still Batman, and it’s still Robin.
Although ChatGPT’s utility for data mining has grown immensely in recent months, challenges persist, particularly in ensuring data accuracy and reliability. This is one of the many reasons you shouldn’t use AI blindly.
ChatGPT and the SEO Skyscraper Method form a harmonious partnership for extracting valuable insights from web pages and creating worthwhile content. This dynamic duo empowers content creators and SEO professionals to identify patterns, understand market trends, and anticipate future behaviors. As AI tools continue to evolve, their role in providing valuable insights into customer behavior and market trends will expand, making them indispensable assets for data analysis.
Next in AI marketing: opportunities, concerns, and more robots
AI-powered natural language generation tools offer marketers valuable capabilities, such as generating content ideas, researching keywords, compiling facts, and even simplifying programming tasks. However, it’s essential to recognize that these tools aren’t flawless and may produce typos or require editing and fact-checking.
One critical concern is the risk of overreliance on AI. Relying solely on AI for content creation can lead to subpar results and may not align with Google’s E-E-A-T requirements, potentially impacting user satisfaction and campaign effectiveness. Nobody likes a lazy SEO or spammers, especially Google.
A balanced approach is critical to ensure quality writing that combines AI content creation with human editing — thorough fact-checking is a must.
By using AI as a valuable assistant rather than a sole content creator, marketers can harness its potential while maintaining the integrity of their digital advertising campaigns and ensuring customer satisfaction.
There are no doubt more robots to come — AI is a worthwhile technology in a free market, after all. With everyone from venture capitalists to garage start-ups looking to get a piece of the pie (or sandwich?), we must be responsible as we forge these lands.
As modern-day explorers trekking across this new technological landscape, it’s our duty to avoid making the same mistakes as the navigators of years past.
We are not here to divide and conquer; we are here to build and progress.
What’s Next for AI Algorithms in the Digital Marketing Landscape
From social media marketing to email marketing and collecting data, AI algorithms will reshape the landscape of digital advertising.
But there’s no need to fear; Search Influence is here! (Underdog is still cool, right?)
Search Influence will happily be your guide during the AI for digital marketing revolution. No matter your business’s needs, our extensive list of services can help you grow.
Contact us today to learn how we use the latest digital technology to get our clients real-world results.
