It’s 3 p.m. on a Tuesday, and also you’re observing your content material calendar completely paralyzed. Earlier than Friday, you will have six weblog posts to publish, an e-book to provide, two newsletters to ship, and also you’ve been promising your CEO you’ll replace the web site copy for months.
Oh, and did we point out it’s essential to do all this with a scrappy staff of two, plus Jeff the intern?
If this situation hits a bit too near residence, you’re not alone. Throughout industries, advertising and marketing groups are shrinking whereas content material calls for balloon. B2B corporations now juggle a mean of 10 channels of their consumers’ journeys — double what they dealt with simply eight years in the past. In the meantime, 78% of entrepreneurs report having small groups of only one to 3 individuals, and nearly one-third (28%) have misplaced staff members to resignations up to now yr alone.
However right here’s what’s fascinating: Some groups are literally thriving on this atmosphere. They’re producing extra content material than ever whereas sustaining high quality (and staying sane in addition). These are the groups that’ve realized to leverage a sensible combo of AI automation and human experience — a method we’ve seen work persistently right here at Contently.
Right here’s the five-step playbook serving to advertising and marketing groups escape of the hamster wheel.
Step 1: Map Your Content material Chaos (And Discover the Time Vampires)
Earlier than you automate something, it’s essential to know the place your time truly goes every week. Many groups uncover they’re spending hours on duties that really feel productive however don’t transfer the needle (that 45-minute Slack debate over “use” vs. “make the most of” involves thoughts).
Begin by monitoring every part for one week — each brainstorming session, analysis deep-dive, and approval course of. You may uncover patterns like:
- Analysis rabbit holes: Losing hours researching a single weblog put up
- Approval ping-pong: Content material bouncing between 4-5 individuals for weeks
- Format wrestling: Spending hours adapting one piece of content material for various platforms
When you see these patterns, set particular, concrete targets like:
- Lower analysis time from three hours to 45 minutes per piece
- Scale back approval cycles from two weeks to 3 days
- Enhance month-to-month output from eight to 12 items of content material
Step 2: Outsource the Grunt Work to AI
When you’ve mapped out your content-related bottlenecks, you’ll have a clearer thought of the place AI might help. This may embrace duties like:
- Brainstorming and producing weblog matters
- Excessive-level analysis
- First-draft writing for easy content material like touchdown web page copy, Search engine optimisation-focused weblog posts, product descriptions, or e mail templates
- Headline optimization, metadata, and social media captions
- Content material reformatting throughout platforms
- Competitor evaluation and pattern identification
As a substitute of spending half a day researching business tendencies for a thought management article, you possibly can have AI compile the preliminary analysis in 20 minutes. Your human experience then goes into analyzing these tendencies, teasing out distinctive insights, and giving the piece a punchy, snappy voice (that you could then prepare the AI to copy for future content material).
Step 3: Hand Human Editors the Reins
AI can write, however it could actually’t assume like your model. That is the place human editors are extra invaluable than ever. They will step in for high-value duties like:
- Strategic course and messaging
- Model voice refinement
- Thought management
- Advanced storytelling
- Judgment and demanding pondering
- Truth-checking and remaining high quality checks
Consider your editor as a model translator. They take AI’s environment friendly (however typically generic) output and rework it into one thing that sounds distinct and genuine.
And for regulated industries, this editorial layer is non-negotiable. In the event you work for a healthcare or monetary companies firm, it doesn’t matter if AI cuts your content material manufacturing time in half if hallucinated claims in a weblog put up result in costly, arduous regulatory critiques.
That is the place Contently’s Managing Editor mannequin shines; our editors are skilled to work alongside AI instruments from the get-go, making certain every bit meets enterprise requirements for accuracy, model voice, and compliance whereas sustaining the pace benefits that make AI so interesting.
Step 4: Monitor Metrics That Really Matter
Don’t simply measure AI success by how a lot content material you’re pumping out. Monitor the metrics that tie again to actual enterprise outcomes.
Effectivity metrics to observe:
- Time from idea to printed piece
- Hours saved per piece of content material
- Content material items printed per staff member monthly
High quality metrics that matter:
- Common time readers spend in your content material
- Share and remark charges
- Conversion from content material to leads or gross sales
Step 5: Launch a 30-Day Pilot Program
Don’t overhaul every part directly. Choose one content material sort the place you possibly can simply measure success, like weblog posts, social media updates, or e mail newsletters.
Then, run a 30-day take a look at with clear parameters:
- Week 1: Arrange your AI occasion and start easy writing duties. Add 1–2 robust model voice samples and create detailed briefs for every content material sort to present the AI clear pointers.
- Week 2: Begin producing first drafts for easy content material (e.g. touchdown pages, Search engine optimisation weblog posts, product descriptions). Use your model voice samples, model pillars, and editorial briefs to coach the AI in your tone and messaging.
- Week 3: Evaluation AI drafts, present structured suggestions, and refine output high quality. Broaden into extra complicated content material varieties and start experimenting with repurposing (e.g. blog-to-social snippets, newsletters-to-LinkedIn posts).
- Week 4: Use AI for optimization duties (headlines, meta descriptions, CTAs) and start exploring extra strategic makes use of based mostly on what you’ve realized — corresponding to competitor evaluation or content material hole analysis.
Throughout the trial, get suggestions from everybody concerned: writers, editors, designers, and the execs approving content material. Ask particular questions on which elements of the method really feel smoother, and the place AI outputs want essentially the most human intervention.
Flip Content material Challenges into Alternatives
At Contently, we’ve seen this playbook’s effectiveness in motion: A web-based Ok-12 supplier ran a 30-day dash trial following this tough define. Partnering with a Contently Managing Editor, they mixed AI-powered content material effectivity with human editorial oversight — and jumped from 3% to 55% visibility in AI search outcomes, claiming the #1 spot throughout a number of AI platforms for eight of their ten goal queries.
By strategically integrating AI with editorial experience, even small groups can considerably increase output whereas sustaining each high quality and compliance. This five-step course of offers a measured strategy to combining artistic perception with clear, tangible outcomes — and turns content material calendar panic right into a manageable, scalable system.
Able to increase your content material operation?
Uncover how Contently’s AI Studio can empower your staff to generate a excessive quantity of high quality content material together with your current assets. Schedule a personalised demo to see our AI + editorial workflow in motion.
How does integrating AI with editorial oversight profit my content material technique?
Combining AI with editorial oversight enhances productiveness by automating resource-intensive duties whereas making certain that the ultimate content material upholds the best attainable high quality, maintains model consistency, and meets compliance requirements — permitting groups to concentrate on nuances that require human judgment or experience.
What sorts of content material workflows are finest fitted to AI automation?
Workflows that contain repetitive, time-consuming duties corresponding to knowledge aggregation and drafting preliminary variations are well-suited for AI automation. This enables human editors so as to add worth by way of artistic storytelling, strategic planning, and detailed refinements.
How can I measure the success of an AI-driven content material technique?
Success will be measured by monitoring key efficiency indicators (KPIs) like whole content material output, cycle instances, engagement charges, conversion metrics, and general return on funding (ROI). Contently’s analytics dashboard offers real-time insights to check efficiency earlier than and after integrating AI into your content material creation course of.
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