Howdy hey ,

Welcome back to the Content Galaxy 🌌 Which, lately, has been crashing headlong into cyberspace.

If you work in content, you can't escape the generative AI conversation. The fever pitch is cresting, and everyone is scrambling to understand and use AI. Most talk centers on "increasing worker efficiency" or "augmenting people's abilities."

But what does that mean? It seems most folks don't really know yet, and that's okay. But from the cloudy confusion and excitement around AI adoption has emerged a candidate: AI-powered writing.

Tools galore exist to whip up drafts, "ideate," edit for us — to handle the chore of writing. After all, isn't that more efficient? To not waste time on something so unproductive as slogging through a first draft?

We're so eager to replace the act of writing, but that process nurtures our best ideas. By removing it, we rob ourselves of a better understanding of ourselves, our teams, our business, and our industry.

Great businesses know how writing leads to outstanding content — and better business decisions. Consider Amazon's 6-Page Memo process under Jeff Bezos: When a senior leader at Amazon had an idea, they would refine their concept by producing this lengthy memo, studying their idea from multiple angles. The other senior leaders would sit together, read silently, and then discuss. The multi-billion dollar results speak for themselves.

That doesn't mean you need massive memos for every company blog post. But if we keep looking at the writing process as a chore, we'll miss out on the ancillary benefits: clearer critical thinking, stronger analytical muscles, an innate sense of story, and a deeper understanding of our contributions to the marketplace. Everything we profess to love in the content we produce for our clients.

AI has a role in this, but it's probably not drafting content on our behalf. I'd challenge agency leaders to look beyond the obvious and consider how AI could buy the time teams need for the vital act of writing (automated project management, anyone?). Take the pressure off the real time-sucking tasks, and give your people the creative space to flourish.

By the nature of their work and the many clients they represent, agencies can lead conversations around AI. What will you have to say?

With that, a few other posts about how AI is changing content.

Stellar content about content

Google Search Really Has Gotten Worse

The next big content battleground will be distributing your great content to the right people at the right time. SEO might have less to offer in that realm. An international study found that most users' Google search results for products have become spammy, SEO-laden trash.

It's not all of Google (not yet, anyway) — the study's scope was limited. But it hints at a worrying future: AI's incredible ability to mass-produce sorta-spammy content could quickly shove aside the less plentiful but meaningful content readers want.

B2B sellers should be concerned about this potential future. A useful acquisition channel could disappear because farmed-out AI work floods out the market.

Your Action Item: It's too early to give up entirely on SEO, but I wouldn't make any big, expensive SEO plays for now.

Instead, focus on giving readers satisfying content experiences. Google's Helpful Content Update is starting to counter the spam flood. Time is your friend right now; use it to advise your agency's clients on producing compelling, story-driven content that people read and interact with. Build your moat now.

§

The State of AI in PR: Takeaways from Muck Rack's 2024 Report

Who in PR is experimenting with AI well? Anna Roolf's post for Crenshaw Communications lays out a solid foundation. She dug into Muck Rack's generative AI study and shared great points like:

• AI adoption will increase in PR agencies in the next 12-18 months but will level off as organizations determine how to use it.
• Agencies will build policies around AI use, including disclosing their use of AI to clients.
• The next generation of PR talent might get too AI-reliant, so consider how to keep the humanness in your work.

Your Action Item: Read her post and the Muck Rack report. Depending on how much you're using AI now, either codify a policy and share it with clients, or talk to your incoming ACs and AEs about where they could use help from AI (because they're probably using it already).

Content from my pocket of the galaxy

📝 How PR Can Actually Use ChatGPT for Content

So, if AI is not the best option for conducting the act of writing, how can these AI tools help your agency? Myriad important and repeatable processes occur around content creation. AI can give you a hand there.

Your Action Item: The linked article includes a swipe file with use cases like agenda-building, interview-prepping, and information-managementing. Plus, prompts to get you started. Download it and try a few before your next SME sourcing session.

§

AI is only a tool; it's how we choose to use this tool that matters. We want to do what's best for our teams and clients. We'll make mistakes, but that's part of the journey.

Be humble and thoughtful in your approach, but lead with conviction and an ethical backbone. Agencies have a lot to contribute to the AI conversation. Now's the time to speak up.

I'll be back in two weeks with another trip around the galaxy.

See you soon,

Alex

P.S. I've been reworking a creative writing piece (I told you last time that I'd share my habit-building). Maybe I'll have something worth sharing next time ;)