Rethinking content for an AI-first future: 6 tips from Aisha Owolabi (+ examples)
It’s not enough to complain that “the internet is oversaturated with bland, AI-generated content.” The real question is, what are YOU doing to avoid contributing to the sea of sameness content?
“There’s no more room for the old SEO playbook of ‘add some keywords, publish content, and hope for the best’. Now, users and Google can see through that. If your content ranks but doesn’t genuinely help your audience or connect back to your business, it’s not going to work anymore.”
In this article repurposed from a coffee chat with Aisha Owolabi in our exclusive Slack community, you’ll learn practical strategies to help you build a resilient content strategy for an AI-first future.
1. There have been many discussions around audience research. What unconventional approaches would you recommend for understanding a brand's audience?
The traditional approaches that you know today are still relevant. So things like diving deep and doing the actual user research, persona research, and getting user feedback are still the best ways to understand how your users think, what they're looking for, and how they feel about your content. We do a lot of user research at Smarketers Hub and Photoroom.
Of course, user research is hard to scale because of the time it takes to find, confirm, and book interviews with many users. That means you need to think about how to get quick insights and ensure that your strategy is evolving alongside the market.
I'll share what I've done to figure out a better, quicker way to get real-time insights about your audience, to understand behavioral patterns, and how AI is impacting those patterns.
Tip 1: Reverse-engineer discovery by stepping into your audience’s shoes
I don't think a lot of people do this enough. You need to put yourself in your audience's shoes by reverse-engineering the discovery process and reverse-searching the audience's questions. Relying on keyword research is not sufficient anymore.
How to do this:
Think about potential questions that users have and the answers they’re getting when they search. Visit where they hang out; learn how they’re framing their problems, what solutions they already trust, and what frustrates them. Get a clear sense of their user journey and follow that path to see what that process looks like.
Be analytical and strategic about the findings from your search results. Identify problems with the answers. Are there gaps? Are the answers too generic? Are they super specific? Interrogating the results lets you spot whether there’s an opportunity for that particular search journey or not.
2. From your experience and observations, how are tools like AI Overview, Perplexity, and ChatGPT affecting inbound marketing?
AI has disrupted the science of doing SEO, keyword research, writing a strong piece, and watching it get some traffic and climb to number one. There’s been a shift from getting content to number one on Google to maximizing visibility and trust for your content so your audience can recommend it.
With AI overviews displaying answers right there on Google, it removes the need for users to click through to your website. So if your brand relies solely on organic search and top of the funnel content, the risk of losing traffic is high, even if your content is useful and gives your audience the insights that they're looking for.
Tip 2: Expand your content discovery beyond Google
Instead of just Google, more people are searching on TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, etc. So, traditional SEO shouldn’t be the bread and butter of your entire strategy. Diversify your approach across different channels.
How to do this:
Experiment with other content formats, and increase your touchpoints and visibility across board.
Rather than fixating on ranking number one on Google, educate stakeholders to help them understand the current search landscape. Then, come up with effective strategies to get them on board.
Research the channels your audience is already on, and focus your efforts there. Don't just randomly pick a channel to invest in because people are raving about it.
3. With AI-generated content everywhere, what type of content will result in acquiring customers? And how can teams rethink their content strategy moving forward?
It’s interesting how AI has impacted the way humans consume content. AI is great at giving super quick insights, no story, no fluff. Being able to get their answers immediately has influenced users’ expectations when they're searching for content today.
Tip 3: Prioritize delivering immediate value
In a world of AI summaries and shrinking attention spans, there’s no room for beating around the bush. Focus on delivering your core message clearly and quickly, through the right channels, in a format your audience will actually engage with.
How to do this:
Whether it’s a blog post, video, or social content, aim to provide quick, high-impact takeaways right from the start.
Tailor your delivery to match the format and platform - what works for LinkedIn might not land on Instagram or YouTube.
Use AI tools to generate and test multiple versions of the same message across platforms. This helps uncover what resonates most and gives you data-backed insights to guide future content.
Tip 4: Lean heavily on first-person narratives
There’s a reason so many of us head to TikTok, or even LinkedIn over Google when searching: we’re drawn to real, personal stories. First-person narratives build trust and connection in a way brand accounts often can’t.
Take LinkedIn, for example. At Photoroom, our company posts tend to perform decently. But when a customer or team member shares the same story from their own profile, engagement often skyrockets.
💡 One recent example: we shared a story about Label Emmaüs, a French solidarity marketplace, on our company page. It performed averagely, but when their account manager, who worked on the project, shared it from their profile, it took off. Why? Because the message came from a real person with a genuine connection to the story.
How to do this:
Build first-person narratives into your entire content strategy. Start by identifying your strongest advocates - customers, team members, partners, and empower them to share their own experiences by creating enablement materials that make it easy for others to tell these stories authentically.
Share real customer stories that are not only results-based but also have the full story, the full journey, and the whole context of the customer's situation and the impact of your product or service in resolving the pain points.
Tip 5: Distribution strategy is non-negotiable
Distribution must be a big part of your strategy. There’s no point in creating content if no one is reading or watching it. So, think about how to get it into the hands of your users.
How to do this:
Align with your team (social, community, product, etc.) on content pieces and platforms you want to invest in.
Before investing in content distribution, get your team’s buy-in, ensuring that everyone understands their roles in getting the content to your audience.
Tip 6: Invest in your owned channels
Owning your channels, such as newsletters, Slack communities, or closed Facebook groups, is important in addition to all your other organic marketing initiatives.
For one, you won’t be at the mercy of algorithm changes and updates. It’s also a way to have direct contact with your audience, share your content, receive product feedback, and recruit customers for user testing.
Concluding thoughts
As a marketer, it’s not your job to have all the answers. It’s not to have the perfect strategy either. Your job is to look at all the available information, make a tailored, data-driven decision as much as possible, and then experiment, test, learn, and continue to improve. Hopefully, the six tips shared in this piece will help you refine your content strategy for an AI-driven future
Missed the coffee chat? Watch the full session with Aisha Owolabi on YouTube. If you enjoyed reading this piece, join Marketers Room to participate in future coffee chats.
