Three ways you can take advantage of AI to get more out of your content

by Brenna Watson-Paul & Pat Boxall

With over 4.4 million blog posts published daily on WordPress alone, standing out in today’s marketing landscape feels like fighting for a seat at an already overflowing table. It’s tough out there, with content needing to be optimised for both humans and machines. Throw in tighter deadlines, growing demands and constant shifts in best practice, and it's no surprise even the mightiest feel stretched.

This article is an easy, low-stakes intro to using AI in your favour and preventing your stretch from becoming a snap. What we’ll cover:

• AI Overviews (the new benchmark)

• Agentic AI tools (wait, what?)

• Predictive analytics to create responsive content (because relevance is everything)

Remember, there's more to AI than shortcutting your way through content production. It’s a powerful tool that helps us personalise, optimise, and uncover insights that make our work more impactful.

1. Optimise content for AI Overviews

58% of consumers have started using genAI tools instead of traditional search engines for product and service recommendations. Tech giants like Google have responded to this trend with AI-powered overviews (AIOs) – content summaries, snippets and links generated by AI to answer queries faster and more efficiently.

How content producers can outplay generative AI search

This evolution from SEO to AIO opens doors for challenger and smaller brands. They can now compete in search results so long as their content is insightful, accurate and focused on real user queries.

Real-world application

This is your chance to create standout content. Start by conducting a thorough analysis (use AI if you like) of industry-relevant FAQs, forums and web content, then develop comprehensive blogs to answer the most common questions. We're seeing a growing emphasis on "how-to" and informative content, so this will encourage search engines like Google to source your material.

But first, shift your mindset. Instead of fixating on click-through rates (CTRs), start tracking impressions. If your content appears in a zero-click search or snippet, it's still building brand awareness and authority. Keep an eye on these visibility metrics – in the AI-assisted search era, they're an important measure of success.

Master agentic AI tools

Capgemini found that two-thirds of Gen Z and Millennials want hyper-personalised, AI-powered experiences. Enter agentic AI, which takes autonomous action to achieve specific outcomes.

Unlike traditional AI, which typically follows predefined rules or processes, agentic AI has the capability to make decisions, learn from experiences and adapt its behaviour to achieve its specified goals. In other words: forget one-size-fits-all. Your customers' inboxes are flooded, retargeting is becoming less effective and traditional websites aren't converting. So how can you stay front of mind?

Real-world application

Personalising an EDM with just a name won’t cut it anymore. Agentic AI empowers businesses – particularly those in high-trust or expert-driven industries – to deliver hyper-targeted experiences that drive engagement and conversions.

Here’s how a retirement facility could leverage agentic AI tools:

• Customised onboarding with Agentic AI: Leverage Agentic AI to create personalised onboarding experiences for clients using retirement planning tools. Tutorials and guides dynamically adapt based on each client’s financial history, risk tolerance, and goals, ensuring the platform feels uniquely tailored to their needs.

• Personalised insurance recommendations: Agentic AI-driven insights enable hyper-targeted retirement insurance options. For instance, suggest coverage plans aligned with a client’s lifestyle, savings profile, and future expenses, making the process faster and more relevant.

• Dynamic dashboards for retirement investments: Use Agentic AI-powered dashboards to provide real-time, personalised investment insights. These dashboards can suggest optimising contributions, adjusting portfolios, or taking advantage of market opportunities – helping clients stay on track to meet their retirement goals.

Our advice is to think big. Agentic AI can customise web content and pages, email flows, cart experiences, and more. The result is greater engagement and higher conversion rates – because you're delivering relevant content to your audience with fewer hurdles.

For streamlined execution, tap into AI analytics platforms like Google Analytics or HubSpot to segment audiences and better understand consumer behaviour.

3. Engage predictive analytics for agile marketing

Predictive analytics is your content crystal ball. By analysing historical data – past purchases, web activity or social engagement – you can anticipate customer needs before they express them. 

Industries like banking, HR and healthcare already rely on predictive tools to reduce risk and boost customer satisfaction. As IBM puts it, “An organization that knows what to expect based on past patterns has a business advantage.”

Real-world application

Predictive analytics helps you turn raw data into a smarter strategy. For content marketing, this means:

• Knowing what topics your audience will be searching for

• Refining your publishing calendar

• Creating content that addresses emerging needs and behaviours

ActiveCampaign says the ability of predictive analytics to analyse patterns and predict future trends can provide key advantages. Here's how the process could look if you ran a tourism company.

1. Defining the question

How can we anticipate when and where our audience is most interested in booking adventure trips so we can tailor our content and campaigns accordingly?

2. Using predictive analytics

Data from past website traffic, booking behaviour and Google Trends reveals:

• A yearly spike in searches for "hiking trips in New Zealand" and "Tasmania adventure tours" in August and September

• A correlation between newsletter sign-ups and specific long weekends/public holidays

• High bounce rates on winter travel pages, suggesting a problem with timing and interest.

3. Taking data-based action

Your audience starts researching and planning spring and summer outdoor trips in the late winter, so you schedule blog content to go live in August. You also create lead magnets (like destination guides or packing lists) and social ads aligned with this early planning window.

You can go a step further by involving agentic AI, too. Adding hyper-personalised content – suggesting destinations easily reached from the user's location, for example, or customised CTAs based on repeat or first-time visitation – might nudge them to convert.

Now, your tourism business is creating a living experience instead of publishing static content. You're shifting and responding, like any great tour guide would.

Where to put your energy next?

It’s less about using AI to write your content and more so giving it a helping hand. If you’ve already dabbled in AI for admin tasks and small wins, it's time to aim higher.

Review your content strategy and identify how these AI tools might make an impact, whether it's to do with SEO, personalisation or predictive planning.

AI isn’t a replacement for great storytelling. But it is a powerful tool to optimise content in today’s tricky (and let’s face it, bizarre) digital landscape. Get the balance right of writing for humans and machines and you’ll continue to build a standout brand your audience trusts and remembers.

Don't know where to start? We can help. Book a call with us today.

Image credits: Illustration by pch.vector on Freepik. Custom GIF by masoncarr2244 and amysue56 on Tenor.