For years, many companies using content to market their products have used a relatively simple playbook: Publish content designed to rank prominently in search results, lure users to their websites and convert a subset into paying customers.
But as AI threatens to fundamentally upend the way we search for and consume information on the Internet, all of that is about to change. Companies investing in content may soon reach a fork in the road where they’ll need to either double down on creating original high-value content designed to build genuine long-term relationships with audiences, or make peace with the fact that they’ll be forced to pay for distribution.
Already, some mainstream publishers are beginning to use AI in a way that enhances and highlights their unique offerings. Bloomberg has BloombergGPT, others are rolling out chatbots as a way to demonstrate expertise and specialized data to their customers. And some brand publishers are trying to figure out how to use AI to deliver content in a hyper personalized way.
A new AI era
As Google and Microsoft build generative AI into search results and an increasing number of people go to chatbots for answers, there will be far-reaching implications on how audiences discover brand content, and whether they will come to brand sites in order to get answers to queries.
Companies have built entire marketing strategies on the idea that they can use low-level search traffic as a way to attract audiences – but most of the time, this has meant repackaged, mid-quality, commoditized information rules the roost. It often rarely demonstrates true expertise, focusing instead on information that could be easily found elsewhere. Its main function is as a front door, versus a true building block for loyalty or trust. Still, for a while, it did its job.
But in a new era where the “10 blue links” get pushed down to make room for chatbot-fueled answers, it’s going to mean at the very least less traffic for any publisher. At the most, it’s going to necessitate a rethinking of how brand content must evolve for the AI era.
AI presents a defining moment for content marketers and brand publishers, and a true opportunity to recommit to create valuable, educational and entertaining content that audiences will crave even more.
To be clear, digital publishing was already headed in this direction. High quality content was being prioritized, not just by Google’s own algorithms but by readers, who have been pummeled by commoditized content that was deemed “good enough” but not ever really “good.”
AI is accelerating that conversation. It’s only been six months since ChatGPT launched to the public; already, the tech itself has undergone an evolution, by all accounts getting better at delivering on what people want.
Companies may wish to take some cues from top news media executives, who are thinking about AI and its impact to their strategies deeply. For many, the coming era will be an opportunity to differentiate from the “torrent of crap” that is about to be unleashed on the Internet, as New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger put it during a speech in New York two weeks ago. “AI is almost certainly going to usher in an unprecedented torrent of crap… I suspect you’re going to need to use [publishers’] brands as proxies for trust,” he said.’
That trust element is critical. We were already operating in a time of limitless content on the Internet, a proliferation not just of mis- and dis-information but of low-value articles, videos, posts and blogs. Last year, an increasing number of brand publishers told us that in 2023, they were hoping to focus on trust as a critical KPI for their content efforts – that they would attempt to position themselves as purveyors of truthful, high-quality information as a way to stand out. And that was before the advent of generative AI.
News publishers are similarly hoping that they will be able to parlay themselves as creators of trustworthy information and turn that into valuable reader revenue. For brand publishers, the payoff could be similar: Create content that is worth reader attention and loyalty, and parlay that into long-term customer relationships.