AI vs Human Writers: Who Reigns Supreme in Marketing?

Navigating the world of marketing is getting trickier, especially with AI tools popping up everywhere.

Now, businesses are facing a big question: Should they use AI to write their marketing copy, or stick with human creativity?

Forbes tells us that 42% of businesses are already using AI for their web copy, and 33% are thinking about joining in. But does AI really do the job as well as people can.

If you're feeling stuck or unsure, you're not alone. Choosing between AI and human writers isn't just about the latest tech—it's about what feels right for your brand. It's a big decision that brings up a lot of mixed feelings.

Here at Media Junction, we're all about blending innovation with a personal touch. With over 20 years of experience in marketing, website design, and HubSpot, we're here to help your brand shine online. We understand the ins and outs of both AI and human writing, and we're excited to share our knowledge with you.

In this article, we're diving into the pros and cons of AI and human writers. We'll help you figure out the best choice for your brand, or even how to use both to your advantage.

Stick with us, and let's explore what's best for your marketing together.

Comparing Human and AI-Powered Marketing

Before we get into their pros and cons, let’s define exactly what we mean when we say “human” and “AI” writers.

Human writers, for our purposes, are people who write copy for a company. They may be employees, contractors, or freelancers working with/through an agency.

AI writers can be a bit harder to conceptualize. For our purposes, we’re mostly talking about AI tools that can produce full-scale articles, such as copy.ai or Jasper.

Tools that can assist writers by facilitating research, editing, or outlining (i.e., ChatGPT) also fall under this category.

With that out of the way, let’s take a look at how the two options stack up.

Pros of Human-Powered Marketing

Choosing human writers means you're investing in human talent and creativity. Even if marketing copy might not seem like traditional art, you're supporting someone's skill and passion to craft messages that benefit your brand.

Doing so comes with benefits you simply can’t replicate with AI:

• Creativity – Human beings have an innate ability to abstract and associate a-logically for a certain je ne sais quoi that AI models at their absolute best can just barely imitate.
• Customization – Humans are able to edit and re-work a piece, customizing it to specific needs and making wide-scale changes while keeping the tone and format consistent.
• Coachability – Humans can be trained to adapt to new styles and conventions; they can also be counted upon to self-start and -correct, learning from their mistakes over time.

Businesses have relied on human writers forever, and for good reason.

Cons of Human-Powered Marketing

While human writers bring a unique touch to marketing, they come with their own set of challenges. It's important to weigh some potential drawbacks:

• Costs – Copywriters’ salaries range from $59K – $91K annually, per Glassdoor, and teams typically need multiple writers and/or editors. Outsourcing rates vary widely.
• Volatility – Working with humans means dealing with human realities, like sudden changes in availability. Third-party solutions can exacerbate these issues further.

Indeed, the old adage "you get what you pay for" rings true here; investing in high-quality, human-crafted content is an investment, not just in money but in managing the intricacies of human dynamics.

With respect to volatility, building flexibility and accountability into your communications with staff and outsourcers can’t prevent rainy days, per se, but it’ll make them easier to weather.

Pros of AI-Powered Marketing

As noted above, AI writers and writing systems include both plug-and-play text generators and tools that writers and editors use to facilitate the writing process.

Their biggest benefits include:

• Speed – With near-instantaneous word generation, AI can write much more quickly than humans—Jasper claims it can write an article 10x faster—which translates into volume.
• Expertise – AI tools can also integrate scientific rigor, whether used to produce text or strictly for research. With AI, any staffer can approximate a subject matter expert (SME).
• Optimization – AI tools can also optimize the editing process, tailoring long-form content to specific marketing initiatives such as search engine optimization (SEO).

When properly configured, AI tools can supercharge even the leanest writing team’s output.

Cons of AI-Powered Marketing

However, a big caveat to the above is that AI tools need to be used strategically to get the most out of them. There are also pitfalls companies can fall into if they aren’t careful, including:

• Quality control – AI models’ training data often contains errors, which can be reflected in AI tools’ outputs. Using them means allocating resources to quality assurance (QA).
• Human needs – Even the biggest AI proponents will tell you it works best when carefully guided by human hands—you’ll need to maintain and train writers/editors to use it well.

Much of the mitigation here comes from planning a careful implementation. If AI tools supplant existing writers, you may need to plan for growing pains and potential burnt bridges. The humans best equipped to help you integrate and leverage AI may be the writers it replaces.

Should You Use Human or AI Writers?

On the one hand, using AI writers makes sense for firms that need to produce copy en masse and need to minimize content production spend.

On the other hand, businesses that require a more personalized touch or prefer quality to quantity might want to stick with human writers.

Ultimately, you can’t go wrong with a team of skillful wordsmiths that’s sufficiently resourced and supported. However, you can go wrong by thinking that this needs to be a zero-sum decision.

The real answer is that you can and should be leveraging both human and AI writing to get the best of both worlds.

Forward-thinking marketers are complementing their writing teams with AI tools, empowering them to create dynamic content at scale—and reaping the rewards.

Optimize Your Writing, Human- and/or AI-Powered

We've looked at using both human writers and AI tools for marketing, and here's the takeaway: mixing the creativity of people with the speed and power of AI might just be the winning recipe.

The world of marketing keeps changing, and being able to create messages that really speak to people, while also keeping up with the demand for new content, is super important. Now that you know more about the benefits and downsides of both options, you're ready to make smarter choices for your business.

Why does this matter? Well, in today's world, making content that catches people's attention is key, and being able to do it quickly and well can really help your business stand out. With what you've learned, you're all set to boost your marketing in a way that's right for you.

At Media Junction, we're experts at finding the perfect mix of human touch and AI smarts to make your marketing better. We know how to blend these two to make your message louder and reach further.

Want to see how AI can make your marketing even cooler? Check out these articles for some great tips:

• 4 Essential Strategies to Revolutionize Your Blogging with ChatGPT
• 8 Ways Marketers Can Start Using ChatGPT Today

If you're thinking about how to make your marketing strategy really shine, we're here to help.