How good is AI at creating strategic blog content? Six top tools compared.

09 May How good is AI at creating strategic blog content? Six top tools compared.

To test the viability of using AI large language model and natural language processing technology to create strategic content, I selected six tools and submitted an actual blog post assignment to see how they’d perform.

Granted, this is just one type of content of the many that generative AI is starting to be used for. And AI prompt-writing is an unfolding art, making this a very limited experiment. But my experience is illuminating on what’s easy to do and not at this stage of AI development.

Read on to see how some of the leading generative AI tools performed in creating high-quality content based on specific marketing goals. And get a few pro tips from one of the foremost SEO/marketing influencers on what the AI era means for content marketing.

I asked Bard, Bing Chat, ChatGPT, Jasper, SEMRush’s Copymatic and Anyword to write a blog post.

I used the trial/free versions of each of tools, using this prompt:

Generate a 700-to-1200-word blog post for [client] targeting operators of T&D lines about how advanced aerial inspections can help with electric utility supply chain challenges. Provide a meta description, title tag, keywords and two suggested images. And build in some of [client’s] corporate messaging.

(By the way, the hero image for this post was generated using DALL-E, based on the prompt “marketer frustrated by generative AI tools.”)

Findings: None produced content that was better than starting from scratch

Bard offered up three different copy options, one of which stated the article thesis capably in the intro. But the piece did not fulfill the promise of the lede in the copy, which was a collection of generalities related to drone inspections for infrastructure. The post was too brand-forward, filled with corporate-speak, didn’t convincingly make the case for the solution to the business problem, and was too short to be useful. It did a workmanlike job of suggesting the meta (though much longer in length than SEO best practice).

And it was ironically extremely repetitive. (Keyword stuffing by a Google tool? J’accuse!)

Bing Chat had trouble with the full query and did not generate a complete post, nor would it provide the meta, title tag, keywords or image suggestions. When I simplified my query, it spit out a lot of corporate techspeak, much of it hallucinated. But it did generate the meta and other backend info.

ChatGPT did a solid job on title tag, keyword and image suggestions and (to a lesser extent) meta description (waaaaay over the optimal 160 characters). It also gave a good college try to build in corporate messaging. But the overall draft was brand- not customer-centric, with phraseology that just doesn’t work in content marketing: “At [name of client] we understand the importance of reliable and sustainable energy to the global community.” Plus, the lede and much of the copy felt, well, robotic:

“As the world’s population grows and technology advances, the demand for electricity continues to increase. This growth presents new challenges for electric utilities and their supply chains, including aging infrastructure, workforce development, and an increasing demand for renewable energy. To keep up with these challenges, operators of transmission and distribution (T&D) lines must implement advanced solutions that enable them to build, protect, and maintain sustainable infrastructure.”

Jasper sacrificed the main theme (advanced inspections to solve supply chain challenges) on the altar of corporate messaging. The information was too basic and the language too expository to engage a reader. It threw in a bunch of copy about inspection for construction sites, which was far off topic. Mentions of corporate messaging were rote, not organic.

“Through this blog post, we’ll explore how advanced aerial inspections can help electric utility operators of T&D lines accelerate the global transition to renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure.”

SEMRush AI Writing Assistant by Copymatic generates an outline or one paragraph at a time, not full blog posts. The outlines provided such broad topics for each section that the length of the blog post would likely far exceed the requested word count. When queried to produce a paragraph on “examples of companies using advanced aerial inspections for their electric utility supply chain challenges”, option four came closest to making the connection between inspections and supply chain solutions. But the content was formal, lacked specificity, and less than engaging:

“Organisations that have already used aerial inspections for their electric utility supply chain challenges have seen significant benefits. By having a clear picture of their operations, they have been able to improve planning and decision-making, resulting in a more efficient and effective service. In some cases, this has even led to cost savings, as organisations have been able to avoid expensive emergency repairs by addressing problems early.”

Anyword

My original query had to be shortened to accommodate a 500-character limit, so the corporate messaging instructions were simply to “build in some [client] corporate messaging.” The tool prompted me to fill in keywords, but I wanted to find out if the AI could tell me that. It served me up five in-the-ballpark title options, ranging from casual to more buttoned down.

The outline provided led with the non-starter “Introducing [client]”, so I asked for more suggestions. But the AI didn’t understand how to level the content to the audience, offering up, “What are T&D lines?” After more tries, I resorted to providing my own outline. Three intros were proffered, all too brand-forward and none of them usable. The content had a generous share of cringeworthy platitudes:

“The supply chain of a transmission and distribution (T&D) line is complex and requires many moving parts to run smoothly.”

“Electricity is the lifeblood of our global economy, and its reliable delivery is dependent on the efficient and safe operation of transmission and distribution (T&D) lines.”

I was then prompted to “tell the AI what to write about” with an option to provide a webpage as a reference point. If not for my bubbling frustration, I would have played around with the fun option to “write in a sarcastic style.” But it was time to abandon ship.

Here’s how I’m using AI for content generation now

I don’t find using the current generative AI tools an efficiency gain when it comes to creating outlines and drafts. My clients hire me to help them convey their original viewpoints and help them stand out. AI-generated content too often lacks strategic context and nuance, is too brand-forward, can be tiresomely repetitive, fails to provide ledes that hook readers, lacks emotional and storytelling punch, and doesn’t adhere to brand voice. It adds unrelated and sometimes even plain wrong content.

But LLM and NLP tools can speed up content development. Bing Chat leads users to valuable resources that go beyond what’s at the top of search engine results, with citations for sources and prompts on related exploration. ChatGPT is efficient in creating starting points for title tag and meta descriptions.

Leading digital marketer Neil Patel says human-generated content still wins at marketing—at least for now. Here’s some topline advice from him at this stage of generative AI development.

Quality matters: make content that’s amazing and shareable. Neil says:

“If websites use ChatGPT to create a large amount of content, it won’t be easy to rank that content.

“Quality content with backlinks is what ranks. Search engines are already good at drowning out the noise. Just look at the term “auto insurance”: 1.3 billion results. The term “credit cards” has over 2 billion results. Even if you search for longtail terms like “how to optimize your site for Google”, there are 685 million results.

“Whether the content is created through AI or manually by a human, it doesn’t matter. Unless it is amazing and people link to it and share it, you just won’t rank well.

“These new AI tools that are popping up will make it easier for you to create content. But creating content doesn’t guarantee success as search engines already have enough good results for you to choose from.

“And what these AI tools are doing is dissecting all the content they have indexed and creating new content based on the old content. Which means it won’t have the uniqueness and freshness that people are looking for. No one wants to read regurgitated content that’s just a spin on existing content.”

People will migrate even more to sources they trust. Neil says:

“The content these AI writers produce is off in many cases. But that’s nothing new… there are a lot of inaccurate results that rank in search and search engines have continually improved upon this over time and you can expect the same with the AI results. They will get better.

“It’s also why platforms prefer to rank and showcase content from well-known brands because they are less likely to produce “fake news” or inaccurate information.

“And people will learn which search engines and sources of AI content to trust the most because it’s not just about getting a solution to your query, it’s about getting the right solution and an accurate one.”

Optimize for voice search. Neil offers these two tips:

“Make sure your content is mobile first: fast-loading and concise, with organically written long-tail keywords built in.

“Craft content by answering conversational questions. And if a question can be answered in one sentence instead of five or six, opt for short and sweet.”

So how did that post I was assigned turn out anyway?

View the full post here, and here’s the lede:

At the movies, clever heroes or heroines get stripped down to essentials. Their gadgets go on the fritz, they run out of gas in the middle of nowhere—or the power goes out. Then they figure out ingenious workarounds, like pirating spare parts, or braiding sheets into rope, or duct tape — lots of duct tape.

The following appendix dives into deeper detail on what each tool produced for my blog post prompt. Get in touch if you’d like to know more about how to create memorable content that gets results.

APPENDIX: Full detail on outputs to my prompts

Bard response 1

Bard response 2

Bard response 3

Bing Chat response 1

Bing Chat response 2

I simplified the query to this: write a 700-to-1200-word blog post for [client] targeting operators of T&D lines about how advanced aerial inspections can help with electric utility supply chain challenges. Build in some of the following corporate messaging [redacted].

ChatGPT response

Meta Description: Discover how advanced aerial inspections can help operators of T&D lines tackle electric utility supply chain challenges, and how [client’s] advanced inspection software can provide a critical view across time of high-value infrastructure, enabling customers to build, protect, and maintain sustainable infrastructure for a global transition to renewable energy.

Title Tag: Advanced Aerial Inspections: A Critical View of T&D Lines to Meet Supply Chain Challenges

Keywords: advanced aerial inspections, electric utility supply chain challenges, T&D lines, renewable energy, sustainable infrastructure, critical view, [client], inspection software, high-value infrastructure, build, protect, maintain

Images:

1. Aerial view of a transmission line with a solar farm in the background, highlighting the intersection of traditional and renewable energy infrastructure.
2. A close-up of a [client] inspector using a drone to inspect a transmission tower, showcasing the advanced technology used in aerial inspections.

As the world’s population grows and technology advances, the demand for electricity continues to increase. This growth presents new challenges for electric utilities and their supply chains, including aging infrastructure, workforce development, and an increasing demand for renewable energy. To keep up with these challenges, operators of transmission and distribution (T&D) lines must implement advanced solutions that enable them to build, protect, and maintain sustainable infrastructure.

Fortunately, advanced aerial inspections can help operators of T&D lines meet these challenges head-on. By providing a critical view across time of high-value infrastructure, advanced inspection software from companies like [client] enables customers to detect problems early, reducing downtime, and maximizing the life of their assets.

Accelerating the Global Transition to Renewable Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure

[Client’s] mission is to accelerate the global transition to renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure. By providing advanced aerial inspections of T&D lines, we help customers identify and address challenges related to aging infrastructure, workforce development, and the increasing demand for renewable energy.

At [client], we understand the importance of reliable and sustainable energy to the global community. Our advanced inspection software allows customers to identify and address issues before they become problems, ensuring that the grid is always available to provide reliable energy to communities across the world.

A Critical View Across Time of High-Value Infrastructure

T&D lines are essential for the safe and reliable distribution of energy across the grid. Over time, these lines can become damaged or corroded, leading to power outages and other issues. Advanced aerial inspections from [client] provide a critical view across time of high-value infrastructure, allowing operators to detect potential problems before they occur.

Our inspection software uses advanced technology, including drones, to collect high-quality data on T&D lines. This data is then analyzed by our team of experts, who use machine learning algorithms to identify potential issues, such as corrosion, structural damage, or other anomalies.

By providing this critical view across time of high-value infrastructure, [client’s] inspection software enables operators to make informed decisions about the maintenance and repair of their assets, reducing downtime, and maximizing the life of their infrastructure.

Building, Protecting, and Maintaining Infrastructure

At [client], we understand that building, protecting, and maintaining infrastructure is essential for a sustainable future. Our advanced aerial inspections help customers identify and address challenges related to aging infrastructure, workforce development, and the increasing demand for renewable energy.

Our inspection software is designed to be easy to use and customizable, allowing customers to tailor their inspections to their specific needs. By providing high-quality data and advanced analysis, we help customers make informed decisions about the maintenance and repair of their assets, reducing downtime, and maximizing the life of their infrastructure.

Conclusion

As the demand for electricity continues to increase, operators of T&D lines must implement advanced solutions that enable them to build, protect, and maintain sustainable infrastructure. Advanced aerial inspections from [client] provide a critical view across time of high

Jasper response

Blog Title: How Advanced Aerial Inspections Can Help with Electric Utility Supply Chain Challenges

Meta Description: Learn how advanced aerial inspections can help electric utility operators of T&D lines accelerate the global transition to renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure.

Title Tag: Advanced Aerial Inspections for Electric Utilities

Keywords: advanced aerial inspections, electric utility supply chain challenges, renewable energy, sustainable infrastructure

Images Suggested: 1) a drone flying in the air taking pictures of powerlines; 2) a computer screen with a view of powerlines from the air

Blog Introduction: Electric utilities are facing huge challenges when it comes to their supply chains. From aging infrastructure to increased demand for renewable energy sources, electric utilities need all the help they can get in order to keep up with the changing times. Fortunately, advances in technology have made it possible for electric utilities to utilize advanced aerial inspections as a way to quickly identify issues and make necessary repairs. Through this blog post, we’ll explore how advanced aerial inspections can help electric utility operators of T&D lines accelerate the global transition to renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure.

Blog Body: One of the most important ways that aerial inspections can help electric utility operators is by providing them with a critical view across time of high value infrastructure assets. By using drones or other airborne devices equipped with cameras, operators can take photographs or videos from above ground level which enable them to inspect vast areas without having to physically climb onto poles or towers. This is especially useful for inspecting transmission and distribution (T&D) lines which typically span over large areas and may be located in hard-to-reach places such as mountains and forests.  In addition, these images can be used as reference points in order to detect any changes or damage over time so that operators can quickly identify any issues before they become serious problems.  Furthermore, these images provide an invaluable resource when performing maintenance operations such as vegetation management which involves clearing away trees or shrubs that may interfere with electricity flows due to contact with power lines.

Another great benefit of advanced aerial inspections is that they allow operators to monitor construction sites where new electric facilities are being installed without having to visit the site physically on a regular basis. This not only saves time but also money since there is no need for extra personnel costs associated with on-site visits. Furthermore, this type of monitoring allows operators to ensure that construction projects are progressing according to schedule and budget while also allowing them to detect any potential issues before they become an expensive problem down the road. Finally, this type of inspection also allows operators to conduct audits remotely so that they can quickly identify any non-compliance issues in their operations at various sites around the world without having expensive personnel onsite at all times.

Conclusion: Advanced aerial inspections are becoming more essential tools for today’s electric utility operators who are faced with many challenges such as aging infrastructure and increased demand for renewable energy sources. By utilizing drones or other airborne devices equipped with cameras, operators have access to critical views across time of high value infrastructure assets which enables them better understand their systems from remote locations while also saving both time and money on monitoring construction sites or performing maintenance operations such as vegetation management . Ultimately, these advanced aerial inspections provide valuable insights into complex supply chain processes which enable electric utilities more efficiently build, protect and maintain their infrastructures while helping accelerate the global transition towards renewable energy and sustainable infrastructures.

SEMRush AI Writing Assistant by Copymatic response

Users select an outline or one paragraph to generate. Here are the four outline options generated.

Outline option 1

Outline option 2

Outline option 3

Outline option 4

SEMRush paragraph generator

Paragraph option 1

There are many electric utility companies that have used advanced aerial inspections for their supply chain challenges. For example, one company used an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to inspect their power lines. The UAV was equipped with a high-definition camera and was able to take pictures of the power lines from different angles. This allowed the company to identify any potential problems with the power lines. Another company used a similar approach to inspect their pipelines. By using a UAV, they were able to take pictures of the pipelines from different angles and identify any potential problems.

Paragraph option 2

In recent years, a number of companies have begun using advanced aerial inspection technologies to address electric utility supply chain challenges. This new breed of technology uses drones or other unmanned aircraft to conduct detailed inspections of power lines, substations, and other critical infrastructure.

The benefits of this approach are many. First, it helps ensure the safety of workers by reducing the need for them to enter potentially hazardous environments. Second, it can help identify potential problems before they cause outages or other disruptions. Third, it provides a more efficient and cost-effective way to conduct routine inspections.

A number of companies are already using this approach, including Duke Energy, Southern Company, and American Electric Power. In each case, these companies have been able to improve the safety and reliability of their operations while also reducing costs.

Paragraph option 3

There are many companies that have used advanced aerial inspections for their electric utility supply chain challenges. For example, one company used an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to inspect a power line. The UAV was equipped with an infrared camera and flew along the power line. The camera detected any hotspots on the power line, which indicated potential problems. The company was able to fix the problems before they caused any damage or interruptions to service.

Another company used drones to inspect solar panels. The drones flew over the solar panels and took pictures of them. These pictures were then analyzed to detect any defects in the panels. This allowed the company to repair or replace any defective panels before they caused any problems.

These are just two examples of companies that have used advanced aerial inspections to solve their electric utility supply chain challenges. This technology can be used in a variety of ways to improve efficiency and prevent problems.

Paragraph option 4

Utilities face many challenges when it comes to managing their electric supply chains. From maintaining infrastructure to keeping track of inventory, utilities must constantly monitor and adapt their operations to ensure a reliable and efficient service. One way that companies are using to help overcome these challenges is by utilising advanced aerial inspections.

Aerial inspections provide a comprehensive overview of an electric utility’s supply chain, allowing for accurate and up-to-date information on the condition of equipment and infrastructure. This helps organisations to identify potential risks and problems early, before they cause significant disruption or damage. In addition, aerial inspections can also be used to monitor progress on maintenance and repair work, ensuring that projects are completed on time and to budget.

Organisations that have already used aerial inspections for their electric utility supply chain challenges have seen significant benefits. By having a clear picture of their operations, they have been able to improve planning and decision-making, resulting in a more efficient and effective service. In some cases, this has even led to cost savings, as organisations have been able to avoid expensive emergency repairs by addressing problems early.

If you’re facing electric utility supply chain challenges, then advanced aerial inspections could be the answer you’re looking for. With its ability to provide detailed information on all aspects of your operations, aerial inspections can help you overcome the obstacles you’re facing and improve the efficiency of your service.

Anyword