By Lisa Woods on 26 Nov 2024
AI-driven content marketing often gets dismissed as a race to the bottom, where quantity overshadows quality - but for us, it’s been a goldmine of innovation, unlocking strategies that amplify both performance and value for our clients.
From the start, we saw the untapped potential in AI, ready to supercharge our SEO strategies and deliver more value to clients, driving results that genuinely move the needle on every KPI.
AI-generated content isn’t new, but when ChatGPT made its debut in late 2022, it felt like a “sink-or-swim” moment for content marketing. Suddenly, full articles became just a click away, which raised the big question: why would clients still need content marketers' expertise when they can now access this tool?
The answer became clear as we grew increasingly unimpressed with the generic, soulless output of standard AI. For anyone familiar with ChatGPT’s writing, it’s easy to spot the language loops and predictable phrasing that make content read more like a school essay than a brand’s voice.
Determined not to settle, we decided to adapt with a more scientific approach. By developing a client-specific GPT model, we now deliver content that ensures consistency, relevance, and quality - outperforming even our previous manual standards.
This tailored strategy has not only optimised our workflows but has also set a new benchmark in content excellence, driving impactful results that resonate with our clients and contribute meaningfully to their business goals.
From a Series of Prompts to Custom GPTs
Initially, we relied on prompts to guide ChatGPT in creating content, but even the best series of prompts couldn't fully capture the nuanced brand voices, industry-specific language, or SEO strategies unique to each client.
Prompts, while useful, often resulted in output that lacked depth and personalisation - key elements that differentiate our content from generic articles. This limitation highlighted the need for custom solutions.
Custom GPTs are AI models we tailor for each client. They don’t just generate content; they embody a unique blend of our client’s branding requirements, SEO considerations, and industry knowledge.
By incorporating Google’s latest updates - like the Helpful Content update - we've designed these GPTs to favour high-quality, valuable information, which Google rewards with better rankings. This approach not only maximises SEO performance but also ensures that each piece aligns with the client’s voice and business goals.
How Custom GPTs Work
To create a custom GPT that would act as a true extension of our SEO team, we needed to provide it with a carefully curated "training diet." By incorporating three essential datasets, we transformed our GPT into a model capable of producing content that was not only high-quality but also strategically optimised for organic performance.
Building Our Custom GPT: Training the AI Brain
1. Search Optimisation Rules: Our top priority was embedding Google’s latest ranking principles and optimisation frameworks directly into our custom GPT model. By integrating over 200 critical factors influencing organic rankings, we built a powerful foundation for the model’s SEO capabilities. This ensures that our AI-generated content is not only compelling but also strategically optimised to excel on search engine results pages (SERPs).
The outcome? Content that not only grabs attention but consistently outperforms in competitive search landscapes.
2. Brand-Specific Tone and Unique Selling Points (USPs): Every brand has its own identity and messaging style, so we tailored each GPT model to reflect this individuality. By training our GPTs on brand-specific tone, messaging nuances, and key unique selling points (USPs), we ensure the content is not only polished and persuasive but also resonates with the brand's personality and values.
This customisation aligns content with brand objectives, preserving the integrity of each client’s voice across multiple pieces.
3. SEO Insights: Finally, we integrated the unique expertise of our SEO team into the GPT, incorporating our signature content optimisation techniques, advanced keyword analysis frameworks, and refined content auditing skills.
This knowledge transforms the GPT from a general AI model into a specialised tool that can deliver high-impact results for our clients. By building in our advanced SEO practices, we created an AI capable of producing content that is not only effective from an SEO perspective but also aligned with high-level industry standards.
How the Custom GPT Works Across Industries
1. Lead Generation
For lead generation, our content strategy focuses on creating SEO-optimised blogs that address the specific pain points of target audiences while aligning with high-volume search terms. This approach ensures that content is both discoverable and relevant, effectively capturing and engaging leads at various stages of the funnel.
♦ Pain-Point-Centric Content: Our custom GPTs are trained to produce blog content that speaks directly to the challenges and questions potential leads are facing. By addressing relevant pain points with actionable insights, our blogs help position our clients as trusted resources. This builds initial trust and drives engagement from high-intent users who are actively seeking solutions.
♦ SEO-Driven Lead Capture: Each blog is strategically developed to target keywords and search queries that align with the user’s stage in the buyer’s journey, whether they’re just beginning to explore solutions or are closer to making a decision. By tailoring content to match search intent, we ensure that leads are captured organically, pulling in high-quality traffic that is more likely to convert.
♦ Mid-Funnel Engagement: Our blog content serves multiple purposes in lead generation, capturing top-of-funnel interest and nurturing mid-funnel engagement. These blogs provide helpful, in-depth information without requiring gated access, allowing users to explore and engage with our clients’ brands naturally. This approach not only strengthens trust but also supports a seamless progression through the funnel ensuring we’re meeting the user at every pain point they encounter.
2. Revenue Growth
Our custom GPTs are optimised to enhance the topical relevance of category and subcategory pages, as well as to support email flows for pre- and post-purchase engagement. By focusing on high-impact pages and relevant keyword integration, we help boost organic visibility and subsequently conversions.
♦ Topical Relevance for Category/Subcategory Pages: Our custom GPTs help prioritise and optimise category and subcategory pages with the highest revenue potential, focusing on content that enhances topical relevance. By aligning these pages with high-intent keywords, we strengthen their position in search results, driving qualified traffic directly to key product areas. This approach boosts organic rankings for product collections and improves visibility, ultimately supporting revenue growth.
♦ SEO-Integrated Email Flows: To drive conversions, our custom GPTs plug into email flows for both pre-purchase and post-purchase engagement. By integrating keywords with matching intent, we create content that speaks directly to users at different stages of the buying process. Pre-purchase emails focus on nurturing potential buyers with targeted recommendations and product information, while post-purchase emails continue engagement, promoting complementary products, tips, and brand loyalty.
♦ Conversion-Oriented Content for Key Revenue Drivers: By optimising for both search relevance and conversion potential, our GPT-driven content across these channels amplifies revenue opportunities. This combination ensures that clients are meeting their audience with the right messaging at the right time, enhancing the likelihood of purchase and encouraging repeat business.
The Results: Marrying Quality with Quantity
Our custom GPT models have revolutionised our content creation process, reducing the time needed to produce a high-quality, SEO-optimised blog from over five hours to just two. Despite this dramatic efficiency gain, we maintain rigorous standards to ensure each piece aligns with Google’s best practices and captures the distinctive tone and voice of our clients' brands.
Custom GPTs represent more than just an AI trend; they signify a strategic evolution in how brands can leverage AI. By embedding our team's expertise into the technology, we’ve set a new industry standard, blending human insight with cutting-edge innovation to create impactful, tailored content.
This approach has not only amplified our ability to scale but has also raised the bar for quality. Our results speak for themselves: measurable outcomes that consistently exceed expectations. It’s an achievement that has earned us the prestigious Global Content Award for Best Use of AI in Content, a proud milestone that highlights the value of our strategy and the depth of our expertise.
By marrying quality with quantity, we’ve transformed content marketing into a powerful force for growth, proving that scalability and excellence can - and should - go hand in hand.
If you’d like to talk to us about how we can upgrade your content marketing strategy, feel free to send us a message!
