Hi there.
Ready for a quick experiment?
Play this short audio track.
Would you give that promotional piece a thumbs-up for a job well done?
I think it’s effectively written and introduces the divorce consulting firm in a clear, convincing way.
That script fits many marketing scenarios, for example:
- To introduce the firm on a website
- As part of a social media post
- As a video explainer (by adding a video clip)
- To voice a 24/7 phone information line
- As a TV or radio spot
What if I told you what you just heard was written, voiced, and assembled entirely by artificial intelligence — AI — in minutes.
I entered a few bits of information — the business name, the city, a service list, and the type of voice I wanted.
AI apps did the rest — writing the script, voicing it as “Lana,” and adding the background music.
How about the image of Lana above?
You guessed it, synthesized by AI with a simple text prompt, as were all the images on this page.
The script, the voice, and the images are not copied from any other source.
Today’s AI technology is smart enough to research, write, optimize, image, and voice marketing content — fast.
Let’s look at how we can strengthen and accelerate professional service marketing with these powerful AI tools.
The Cat is Out of the Bag — AI Content Marketing is Here
AI is about to play a massive, game-changing role in content marketing. It’s a disruptive technology on par with the invention of photography, television, and credit cards.
I’ve been doing online marketing work for a long while, and I’ve never seen a technology erupt so fast or with such fervor. The pace of development is astounding, as are the results.
2022 was a watershed year. Suddenly (after decades of research!) AI-assisted content marketing has hit its tipping point. Sophisticated AI technology has drifted down from giant tech and media companies to local professionals like you.
For marketing purposes, these are the top-three AI content types:
1. AI-assisted SEO writing has redefined competitive research, topic selection, and the creation of complete first drafts, ready for fact-checking and refinement.
2. Let your leads listen on the go with synthesized speech AI. Choose from a wide range of voices selectable by language, gender, age, or nationality. Change the text, and the content is re-voiced in minutes.
3. AI image synthesis brings wonderfully creative results from a short text “prompt”. Finally, we can say adios to shopworn stock photos.
We have these three leading-edge AI technologies now, and we’re using them to amplify the most important aspects of our client’s online marketing strategies:
- Attracting Leads
- Converting Leads into Clients
Attracting Leads with AI
Search engine visibility depends on the quantity and quality of your website content (along with other signals). The topical relevance of your pages makes a difference.
Imagine a potential client searching for “divorce mediation near me.”
To rank in search for that topic, you would need solid content on “divorce mediation” (and closely-related topics) contained in at least one optimized post. Without that content, your firm will not rank well, and inquiries will be minimal.
The strength of your content relative to your competitor’s content matters too.
I hate to say it, but if firms create fresh content, they usually publish short, unoptimized blog posts based on gut instinct. Google Analytics data shows that method doesn’t often move the needle. Typically either the topic is off the mark (for lack of research tools), or the page won’t rank (because the content is thin, or the competition is too intense).
With AI, we can focus our attention on the most effective tactics that drive search ranking:
- Outmaneuver competitors by researching how they cover topics, then using AI tools to “build a better mousetrap” — stronger, more comprehensive content.
- Identity what topic to write about along with the best title, keywords, and headings.
- Write comprehensive draft content to attract a broad spectrum of searchers.
Content is the currency of search, and search is the #1 driver of new leads for local businesses.
To create meaningful content cost-effectively, AI is an essential marketing technology, as well as an enormous competitive advantage.
Convert Leads into Clients with AI
Let’s start with three statistics you may find disheartening but are truly an opportunity:
- About 97% of website visitors don’t convert — they don’t take action.
- About 90% of website visitors are new — they don’t know who you are.
- 90%+ of pages on the internet get zero organic traffic.
So almost all of your website visitors are fresh faces that do not know your brand, will not take action towards becoming a client, and don’t read your content. Ugh. :-\
Can we agree that’s an enormous hole in your online marketing funnel?
To fix your marketing message:
- Differentiate your service from others
- Explain exactly how clients benefit
- Answer any foreseeable questions
- Present a compelling call-to-action
Most websites and promotional campaigns miss the mark on these points, but you can do better!
AI can help explore hidden benefits, craft messages that explain your service, and detail who you best serve and do not serve (to enable self-qualification). In short, tell a convincing story about why potential clients should hire your firm.
Why are all these things so rare and tricky to do?
One reason is that professionals are often too close to their product, which is . . . themselves. If you live and breathe a professional service, it’s challenging to step outside yourself and see it as clients do.
My best advice is to “walk in your client’s shoes.” Communicate the essential points that make a difference to them from their point of view.
Breaking down the barrier between you and your clients is the magic sauce of marketing — AI tools can shake some of that sauce out of the bottle.
Will Google Penalize AI Content?
Update February 8, 2023:
Per the concise original post, Google rewards content that is useful, helpful, original, and ideally, satisfies some elements of “E-E-A-T” — experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and especially, trustworthiness — regardless of the creation method.
“Appropriate use of AI or automation is not against our guidelines.”
Google rewards content that demonstrates topical authority, trustworthiness, and expertise. In short, content that’s useful.
Conversely, Google penalizes spammy, less valuable content, regardless of source.
So here’s a more fundamental question: is your content useful?
If AI improves usefulness, and we know that it does if used correctly, that’s solid ground, in my opinion.
Humans still need to do the things AI cannot do well: storytelling, thought leadership, and humor. So, for now, we’re talking about a hybrid strategy that combines human insight with AI thoroughness and speed. By the way, you don’t need to go all-in with AI to reap benefits. For some, AI-assisted writing will mean creating content briefs or simply an outline.
How AI fits into the process makes all the difference — it can create high-quality content or complete rubbish. Our approach seeks to extract the best from AI research, writing, and optimization tools to produce the most useful information possible.
How to Get Started with AI Content Marketing
Divorce professionals will benefit most from these AI content types:
- Core content: posts that cover common topics and keywords.
- Conversion copy: service introductions, calls-to-action, FAQs, and explainers.
For now, we’re focusing on core content — blog posts.
Remember that AI tools require expertise and judgment, like all powerful tools. Especially for longer content, it’s not “just click the button” to generate the final product magically.
So, we propose to do the work for you.
We plan to create comprehensive, super-optimized posts, then share them with our clients.
You won’t need to buy the tools, learn how to use the tools, or know anything about AI or SEO to benefit.
There’s no research, writing, or optimization required.
Our basic creation process:
- Identify clusters of local-intent keywords
- Analyze what existing content Google ranks highly
- Produce strong blog posts to match those keyword clusters.
- Share the posts with you for publication on your site
We’re talking about posts of 2,000 – 3,000+ words. Yes, overkill for local ranking purposes, but we like to set the bar high.
We encourage clients to modify the core content to include state-specific laws or personal insights.
You can also use a different low-tech rapid content method to supplement our AI-assisted material — more about that in another post.
So, here it is:
Online marketing requires content. If you’ve wanted to create content but never get around to it, or you’re frustrated with content that’s not making a difference, our AI-assisted service is a solution.
Over the coming months, we plan to release content kits for specific markets, starting with these groups:
- Family Law Attorneys
- Divorce Financial Professionals
- Divorce Mediators
You’ll be able to buy content kits separately or as part of our Divorce Pro Marketing Package.
Thanks for listening!