Here’s a fun little thought experiment.
You get to choose one skill—and just the one—to stave off the threat of your content marketing career falling foul to generative artifical intelligence.
What do you pick? The ability to write copy so crisp and impactful that ChatGPT flounders in your wake? How about an almost preturnatural instinct for spotting trends that routinely puts you miles ahead of your competitors? Perhaps you’re resigned to AI’s brilliance and would choose to excel at utilising it more effectively than anyone else? I mean, if you can’t beat them, join them, right?
Is the job-pocalypse upon us?
The future of content marketing in the age of AI is a moving target. We’re bombarded with bold claims about the end of writing, that SEO is dead, that the machines are coming for us all and the only ones who’ll survive the job-pocalypse are those ‘lucky’ few who get good at asking AI nicely for content.
But for anyone actually working in the field, the only thing we can say with certainty is that the ground is shifting fast.
And that creates opportunity.
Pivot, test and adapt
For content writers and strategists, the core skill set is no longer just about mastering ‘best practice’. Those practices are increasingly short-lived, replaced by newer ones that may or may not be based on real data. Instead, the ability to pivot, test, and adapt has become the most valuable trait you can possess.
So what does all this mean for employers or clients? It means they need writers and content marketers who are more than just good with words. They need people who can listen to the noise of the algorithm, extract signals, and—crucially—go back to the drawing board when new tech or new iterations make existing strategies redundent.
Want to make yourself invaluable in an age of AI? Accept that the ‘one skill’ you’ll need is the nimbleness to follow the trajectory of this tech as it develops.