Why you need to integrate AI into your content creation workflows
Hands in the air if you're ever like "Woah, will AI just slow down for a second?".
You are not alone, but sadly, you are not in control of this one.
Over the past few years, we've seen artificial intelligence just grow and grow... and grow some more. It's hard to keep up, but it's showing zero sign of slowing down. In fact, it's showing minimal signs of what exactly it will do next, or how far it will go in the future.
However, what we do know is that its vast development and integration into the world of marketing is inevitable—and if you're not already on board, you're going to be left behind.
AI is the driver, we're just the passengers.
- Gary Survis, Insights Partners
Integrating AI into your workflows is essential if you want to be working smarter, not harder. Not to mention, if you want to keep up with your competition.
So, buckle up that AI seatbelt; here's why you need to integrate AI into your content creation workflows.
The evolution of AI capabilities
Okay, there have been a number of discontinuous jumps with AI. We've gone from level to level, including:
- Chatbots: Your basic digital helper that can answer questions and handle simple back-and-forth conversations.
- Reasoners: Smart systems that can actually think through problems and make logical connections between different pieces of information.
- AI Agents: Independent digital workers that can take initiative and handle complex tasks from start to finish.
And we're yet to see:
- Innovators: Future AI that will create genuinely new ideas and solutions, rather than just combining existing knowledge.
- Organizations: The final boss of AI—systems that can essentially run entire businesses and operations by themselves.
While even Sam Altman isn't totally sure what this last level will look like (something like AI running a business), it's coming and you're gonna want to be ready for it.
"It is possible that we will have superintelligence in a few thousand days; it may take longer, but I'm confident we'll get there"
- Sam Altman, CEO, OpenAI
Understanding AI agents
AI agents have been on the brain since the end of 2024, so what are they?
AI agents are sophisticated software programs designed to perform specific tasks autonomously while learning and adapting from their interactions.
The difference between AI agents and simple automation tools is that an AI agent can:
- Understand context
- Make informed decisions
- Handle complex workflows with minimal human intervention
Let's take the marketing task of content creation as an example. An AI agent might function as a collaborative partner that not only generates draft content, but also understands your brand voice remembers past content strategies, and makes data-driven suggestions for improvement.
When creating a blog post, an AI agent can analyze your existing content library, understand your typical writing style, and then generate drafts that align with your established tone and maintain a consistent messaging style.
These agents can also learn from feedback and editorial changes over time, becoming increasingly attuned to your specific content needs and preferences.
Why you want to integrate AI into your workflows
Introducing AI into your marketing workflows has a bunch of benefits, and those benefits fall under these two big benefits:
- Productivity
- Business impact
Let's dive a little bit deeper, shall we?
1) How AI integration promotes productivity
What company doesn't like the sound of more productivity in their employees? And that is one thing that is oh so clear: AI has assisted in greater productivity and greater output in terms of content for those companies that are using it correctly--without skimping on quality.
AI has helped many of us with one-off productions, brainstorming for creative marketing campaigns, boring admin and data-diving... meaning more content is produced because you've got more time for all that fun stuff. In fact, AI now plays a huge part in effective content scaling.
Here are some statistics about AI and productivity from Insights Partners:
- 83% of reduction in blog draft time
- 32% less time on sales admin
Check out our full guide on AI-generated content creation for marketers.
2) How AI integration drives business impact
Creating more quality content is one thing, but there's always going to be one big question on every CMO and every CEO's mind: what's it doing for the business?
Focusing on content creation tasks and workflows, and where AI can benefit this, is where we'll see the greatest change.
We call it the scalability gap, and to fill that gap we need to look at core value levers. You know, like what is your actual goal?
If it's to increase revenue and reduce overall costs (whose isn't), then a single blog post isn't going to make that difference. But your content creation workflows are.
You need to take AI and you need to reimagine your workflow—that's where the win is.
Framework for workflow reimagination
Here are the questions you need to ask yourself when reassessing your workflow (for the better):
1) OKR framework: What's the goal?
- Pick an objective
- Select a strategy
- Set a goal
2) AI-powered workflow: How can AI help you?
- List the different activities within your team
- Break down each activity into a set of tasks
- Map tasks to AI capabilities
- Organize tasks into a clear workflow
3) AI vendor consideration: Which AI tools should you use?
- Pick an entry point
- Set the requirements you need from a tool
- Evaluate your AI vendors thoroughly
- Make that (sometimes hard) decision
4) AI integration plan: How are we going to integrate this AI tool?
- Plan for the change
- Consider agencies that might help
- Build for flexibility (because we don't know what's coming next)
5) Change management plan: What needs to change (and how)?
- Redefine staff roles and upskill workers
- Organize around redefined roles
- Promote AI literacy and ownership
- Clarify policies and enforce them
Here's an example: "I want quicker, more effective campaign creation"
What's the goal? Improved campaign performance, less campaign creation time, higher ROI, more personalization.
- How can AI help?
Faster campaign creation with automated setup and reduced manual efforts. Optimized performance with A/B testing and multivariate optimization for better result. More data-driven decisions with real-time insights and iterative improvements. Personalization at scale with tailored messaging and dynamic experiences. - Which AI tools should we use?
Optimizely and Writer AI for content creation, as well as data and campaign activation.
- How are we going to integrated this tool?
Luckily, Optimizely makes for very easy integrations for your martech stack. 👀 - What needs to change (and how)?
Staff - reduce manual campaign setup tasks, upskill marketing teams. Structure - align marketing and data teams, revisit campaign approval processes.
Optimizely + AI capabilities
Because we're obsessed with all things marketing, that automatically means we're obsessed with incorporating AI into marketing. Because, just like you, we don't want to be left behind.
To continue on our ultimate mission of making marketers' lives easier, we created Optimizely Opal and embedded it across our entire suite of products (also known as Optimizely One).
Opal is your smart AI assistant, who's ready and waiting to help you wherever you are in the content lifecycle.
Ditch vs pitch: See how Optimizely Opal takes on the jobs you wish you could get rid of, freeing up your time to do more of the stuff you love.
Find out all about Opal AI now.
What's next?
Listen, educate yourself, and always be ready to take action.
Don't forget to check out The AI Playbook: A practical guide to AI for marketers
