I’m going to be actual with you: I’m exhausted. We blinked, and it felt like all the pieces was run by synthetic intelligence (AI). I’m being dramatic, in fact, however AI is reworking how we work, play, and dwell quicker than any tech I’ve seen in my decade-long advertising and marketing profession.
With so many adjustments and unknowns, it’s been overwhelming even for the seasoned entrepreneurs and writers right here at HubSpot. However the extra we be taught, the extra we understand AI does not should be the enemy of content material writers.
When used as a considerate addition to a human-led content material creation course of, AI is usually a highly effective instrument that helps us all work quicker and smarter – with out sacrificing our human contact.
Right here on the HubSpot weblog group, we have been experimenting with AI for some time now, and, like everybody, we’re nonetheless figuring it out.
However we have additionally uncovered some thrilling use instances which have streamlined a few of our extra time-intensive workflows, improved our output, and given us time again for deeper subject analysis.
We’re not about gatekeeping, so let’s discuss by how we’ve introduced AI into our writing course of.
How HubSpot Bloggers Use AI in Their Writing Course of
Step 1: We use AI to interrupt by inventive blocks and generate concepts.
Each nice article begins with a spark of inspiration. Typically the concepts circulation freely; different occasions, we want assist getting off the bottom. That is the place our relationship with AI begins.
I’ve penned round 800 articles as a content material marketer, and even I nonetheless get author’s block. After I had bother up to now, I’d chat with teammates for ideas and concepts. However working remotely, there are fewer alternatives to speak casually like this.
Whereas AI cannot substitute chats with teammates, it has been a game-changer once I need assist fleshing out an thought or interested by the right way to method a subject.
“After I’m planning matters to cowl, AI is an extremely useful brainstorming buddy,” shares Fellow HubSpotter Caroline Forsey.
“I simply throw an thought or perhaps a normal subject in a chat, and it kicks again angles, subtopics, and even potential titles. I don’t use its strategies verbatim. However beginning off with that inventive spark saves me hours on ideation, letting the human group layer in voice and nuance from the get-go.”
I couldn’t agree extra.
Lately, I used to be developing with matters for HubSpot’s Breaking the Blueprint column, and had some bother getting began. I tagged ChatGPT in for some assist, prompting:
“I‘m brainstorming article matters for a weblog centered on giving entrepreneurs and enterprise professionals from underrepresented teams recommendation and data they should know. I need to goal particular matters and issues which are distinctive to those teams. I’d additionally like to the touch upon matters associated to the evolving position of AI on society and enterprise. Are you able to give me some concepts?”
Here is a peek at its response:
From there, I workshopped the strategies after which met with a colleague to finalize the matters that greatest suited our viewers.
Like I mentioned, AI doesn‘t absolutely substitute bouncing concepts off a colleague, however it will probably present a promising start line whenever you’re caught. This acquired my inventive juices flowing, and that’s all I wanted. As soon as we’ve got our route, it is time to dive into analysis.
Step 2: We energy our analysis with AI as an info assistant.
With our subject and angle outlined, we have to perceive our topic inside and outside. That is the place AI turns into our analysis powerhouse.
As a content material marketer and editor, my high concern is at all times high quality and accuracy. I need to be sure the knowledge I put in entrance of any viewers is efficacious and reliable. Meaning numerous analysis, and good analysis takes time.
Generative AI may help exponentially right here with its potential to collect and summarize info from a number of sources, typically in seconds. In reality, 47% of entrepreneurs report utilizing AI for analysis already.
With regards to my very own analysis course of, I not should filter by pages and pages of Google outcomes to search out the knowledge I would like. As a substitute, AI does a lot of the heavy trying to find me and wraps it up into a pleasant, easy-to-understand package deal. It doesn’t simply give me a useful resource which may reply my query like a search engine; it offers me a solution immediately.
Forsey additionally sees the advantages of utilizing AI for content material analysis.
She remembers, “As soon as, I wanted to write down a submit — mockingly — in regards to the variations between ChatGPT, Google‘s Bard [now Gemini], and Bing’s AI-powered search engine. So, I requested ChatGPT: ’Are you able to inform me the variations between ChatGPT, Google‘s Bard, and Bing’s AI-powered search engine? Please put the professionals and cons in a desk format.’”
Shortly after, Caroline acquired again an in depth chart illustrating precisely what she wished in just a few brief paragraphs:
Kaitlin Milliken, Senior Program Supervisor for our Freelance Author Community, considers AI a giant a part of her analysis course of as effectively. She shares the way it’s helped her distill details about HubSpot merchandise when writing.
“After we write about merchandise, I am going to ask AI to clarify in additional element what makes a sure product distinctive, and it offers me a listing of specifics that may assist inform my writing/modifying.”
The outcome? Utilizing AI for content material analysis and evaluation has helped us dig deeper and uncover angles and understandings we might have missed or taken extra time to return throughout with out it. Now comes the precise writing.
Step 3: We collaborate with AI on tough outlines and messy first drafts.
Right here‘s the place issues get fascinating. We don’t simply analysis and brainstorm with AI — we truly let it assist us write. However there are parameters to our method.
The HubSpot weblog group doesn’t simply copy, paste, and publish AI-generated content material. Slightly, we use AI as a jumping-off level — that messy first draft to gasoline concepts.
One of many huge causes individuals learn HubSpot articles is to be taught from real-life entrepreneurs, gross sales, and repair individuals. They need knowledgeable, verified examples and accounts of what works and what doesn’t.
That sort of human experience doesn’t come from AI. Human judgment and storytelling can’t be replicated. AI can’t produce lived information, expertise, and insights, however it will probably rapidly collect preliminary, normal info for our writers and editors to construct right into a closing piece.
Our writers use AI to avoid wasting time, significantly for extra normal, instructional articles. Many, together with myself, use AI to draft the extra simple sections of weblog posts to allow them to deal with extra impactful ones.
As an illustration, I’ve typically turned to AI to draft conclusions in current months. With the majority of my article content material finalized, I pop into ChatGPT and ask it to draft a conclusion that matches the tone and concepts shared. From there, I refine and edit to my liking.
HubSpot author Tristen Taylor additionally makes use of AI for weblog intros and conclusions. She explains:
“Earlier than utilizing AI, I typically discovered myself rewriting introductions and conclusion paragraphs a number of occasions. Now that I’ve entry to those instruments, my time for finishing weblog articles has been minimize down tremendously. AI can seize the subject, intent, and focused key phrases I would like by refined AI prompts.”
She provides, “It additionally permits me to refocus on the content material or info of worth that readers are in search of, as an alternative of ruminating over small particulars at the start or finish.”
Our group has used AI in our inventive temporary and outlining course of for over a 12 months, and we‘ve began experimenting with AI-generated first drafts. Up to now, we’ve discovered AI drafting to be a useful time-saving measure for some matters, although not all.
For extra normal matters, comparable to “what’s” and “the right way to’s,” it frees up extra of our writers‘ and editors’ time to talk with different consultants, collect distinctive examples and case research, and “humanize” extra generic matters general, however AI can’t provide the unique concepts wanted for op-eds and thought management items.
Learn: The way to Humanize AI Content material So It Will Rank, Interact, and Get Shared in 2025
That is the place our philosophy comes into play: “AI assists, people lead.” AI helps ideation, drafting, and iteration — however individuals make the ultimate name. AI gathers the items; we put collectively the puzzle. We by no means publish AI-generated content material with out considerate human editorial oversight.
Be taught extra about our AI rules right here.
Step 4: We use AI to investigate information and uncover insights.
Numbers don‘t lie. They add credibility to our articles, however they don’t at all times inform their story clearly both. Here is how AI helps us make sense of our information.
Numbers usually are not my sturdy go well with. When confronted with survey information or efficiency analytics, my head spins a bit, so when the prospect of utilizing AI for information evaluation happened, I couldn’t have been extra excited.
Earlier this 12 months, I examined this use case for our State of Inclusive Advertising and marketing 2025 report. ChatGPT lets you add spreadsheets, so I connected the file and requested it to provide me probably the most important tendencies coming by the information.
Initially, the agent simply returned a simplified spreadsheet (womp), however once I requested that it clarify the qualitative tendencies in paragraph kind, right here’s what I acquired:
May I’ve distilled these tendencies with out the assistance of AI? Sure — however not within the minute or two it took ChatGPT.
Senior Workers Author and Web site Editor Amy Rigby echoes this, reflecting on analyzing information for our web site advertising and marketing report.
“LLMs are extremely highly effective at figuring out patterns in information, particularly ChatGPT’s o3 mannequin. I used ChatGPT to assist me spotlight tendencies and additional section our web site advertising and marketing survey information, leading to a a lot deeper, richer report. I used to get annoyed with ChatGPT as a result of its math was often fallacious, however the o3 mannequin has tremendously improved.”
Whereas it’s tempting simply to take the tendencies AI finds and run, double-check them. As we all know, AI could make errors and make issues up. That is the most important problem entrepreneurs report going through with AI, so take the time to spot-check your information to make sure the agent didn’t take any liberties.
(Be aware: OpenAI simply launched GPT 5, so hopefully, it’s improved on this space.)
Step 5: We experiment with AI-generated visuals to reinforce our content material.
Nice phrases deserve nice visuals. Here is how we use AI to create compelling imagery and interactive parts that might in any other case be out of attain.
So, I fancy myself a eager self-taught graphic designer, however writing stays my first and most refined ability. Whereas written content material nonetheless issues, shopper content material consumption habits and shopping for habits more and more demand extra visible and interactive mediums like movies, infographics, and quizzes.
This sort of superior content material is out of attain for me and entrepreneurs with restricted design and growth abilities.
Fortunately, many AI instruments can be found now to assist us. In reality, our AI Traits for Entrepreneurs report discovered that picture and design turbines are tied with normal chatbots for the most well-liked AI instrument entrepreneurs use.
Supply
Senior advertising and marketing supervisor and AI blogger Martina Bretous showcases generative AI’s prowess on this space in her collection “Is it Actual or AI?”
In it, she crafts quite a lot of multimedia content material (i.e., video, audio, pictures) utilizing AI and challenges readers to see if they’ll determine them. As an illustration, this video of a good looking yellow chicken she featured was AI-generated on PikaLabs.
Spectacular, proper? I additionally used ChatGPT to create this extremely particular featured picture of a piggy financial institution representing a Fb price range.
Supply
Total, AI helps us create visible parts that may actually improve the expertise of our content material and make the ideas simpler to know. There are tons of sturdy AI video and AI picture turbines, together with HubSpot’s Breeze, that you should utilize to do the identical.
Step 6: We use AI as a high quality management examine.
Earlier than any piece goes dwell, it goes by our modifying course of. And sure, AI performs a task right here too — however not in the way in which you may anticipate.
Whether or not we understand it or not, we’ve been utilizing AI for proofreading and modifying for many years.
Give it some thought: spell and grammar examine on Microsoft Phrase and Google Docs, “autocorrect” on iPhone, Grammarly — even non-writers depend on these instruments to attenuate misspelled phrases and grammar points that might come off as negligent or unprofessional.
In the present day, this has simply gotten extra superior.
“Individuals are rightfully involved about AI’s potential to hallucinate in modifying, however one factor that will get misplaced within the debate is that people make errors, too,” displays Rigby.
In current months, she has turned to AI brokers as proofreaders and even editors for her articles.
She continues, “Each author is aware of the expertise of being too near their very own work to see it clearly or being in such a rush to fulfill a deadline that they miss one thing. So, along with human editorial oversight, I see LLMs as one other set of eyes, an additional layer of verification.”
“I fact-check all of my articles, however for added assurance, I typically run them by ChatGPT or Claude and ask the AI to flag any errors, which I can then have a look at extra intently. AI typically does catch typos and errors that I missed.”
She doesn’t simply cease at grammar and spelling. Rigby recommends asking brokers for suggestions on even the right way to enhance your writing.
She says, “I typically ask AI to critique my work, poke holes in my logic, and level out weaknesses I’ll not have observed.”
I wish to immediate it with one thing like, ‘Suppose like a digital marketer who will learn this piece to resolve which software program to purchase. What issues would they’ve after studying this? What questions would come up that weren’t answered within the piece?” This helps me return and re-examine and strengthen my arguments.”
Rigby has additionally constructed a customized GPT referred to as StyleScout for our group’s inner use, which helps writers rapidly scan their drafts for model inconsistencies. This was as simple as importing our inner model guides to the GPT and letting AI deal with the remaining to make sure our content material is constantly on model.
“Earlier than I submit an article, I can run it by the GPT and get a line-by-line breakdown of something which may violate our model tips. Sure, AI typically returns outputs which are overly pedantic or heavy-handed. That’s why human judgment at all times will get the ultimate say. It is my duty to examine that what it tells me is smart and correct. If it isn’t, I disregard it.”
Take a look at our free Masterclass “The way to Create Customized GPTs That 10x Your Advertising and marketing Outcomes” to learn to construct a customized GPT on your group.
Step 7: We use AI to whip up “microcopy” (i.e., meta descriptions, social posts).
The article is written, edited, and able to publish. However our work is not completed—now we have to put it up for sale. That is one other space the place AI shines.
For some cause, author’s block strikes hardest once I write meta descriptions or social posts for my weblog articles. Maybe it’s subject burnout, or I’m simply too near the items to distill the actual golden nuggets of data.
Regardless of the cause, rapidly producing the proper messaging to advertise your content material is one among my favourite makes use of of AI. As an illustration, right here’s what ChatGPT gave me once I requested it for some social copy based mostly on this text:
It’s not good, nevertheless it offers me one thing to take and make my very own.
Jamie Juviler, HubSpot Supervisor, Workers Writing & AEO, has additionally leveraged AI for meta descriptions. He suggests feeding your introduction paragraph into an AI chatbot after which asking it to provide a 100-150-character meta description.
The fantastic thing about this method is that AI handles the preliminary inventive elevate, releasing us as much as deal with refining the message and making certain it aligns with our model voice.
Bonus: AI helps us keep present on the business.
It might sound cliché, however the rumors are true: Advertising and marketing adjustments rapidly. Fortunately, AI helps our weblog group sustain with it.
Juviler explains his method. “On this new realm of AEO and, extra broadly, AI-powered advertising and marketing, I have been leveraging Gen AI as an info consolidation agent.”
“We‘re continuously flooded with AI-related information, ideas, and applied sciences, so every time I come throughout a brand new piece of data — whether or not it’s a video, weblog submit, podcast, publication, and so on.— I run it by a customized GPT I’ve arrange that helps me decide whether or not it’s necessary or new. Whether it is, the AI modifies a private monitoring doc I preserve for the business as wanted.”
This method permits Juviler to remain on high of the stream of AI information with out getting overwhelmed. This idea may be used for different tendencies we cowl, like electronic mail advertising and marketing, creator monetization, and social platform algorithm adjustments, or any subject of curiosity in your business.
We’re on this collectively.
Like everybody at present, our group is studying as we go in the case of AI. The know-how has its advantages but additionally drawbacks, and with continuously evolving know-how and unclear laws, it’s a little bit of the Wild West. However we’re figuring it out.
We need to lead with transparency with our viewers, so we’re dedicated to sharing how we use AI in our work, because it evolves, and each step of the way in which.
We’ll embody a disclaimer on any submit we write that has been AI-supported, letting that we used AI to finish the submit. And also you’re welcome to dig into the HubSpot Media AI tips to be taught extra.
We don’t know what tomorrow holds, however we all know AI will assist us all navigate this altering panorama. We all know AI cannot substitute the humanity behind the HubSpot weblog — and we’ll by no means take that human connection without any consideration.
Editor’s word: This submit was initially printed in Could 2023 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.
