Subscribe now to grow your content marketing and writing muscles! Each week, you'll get an expert interview from a leading content marketer (free consulting—yay!), quick & actionable writing tips, and content marketing trends you may have missed delivered straight to your inbox. It's an easy decision—join 7000 other content marketers now!
Share
Are you using the best AI tools? + ChatGPT search
Published about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Hello Reader!
In this issue...
AI Marketing Alliance: Sign up to see the best AI tools demoed. Learn how to use them to gain a competitive edge.
Expert interview: Mauro Semedo
50+ new content jobs: Go directly to this week's jobs
Top stories: Read 8 of this week's best content stories covering trends and strategies, including a new must-read report on ChatGPT search.
Thanks,
Ashley
Partner | AI Marketing Alliance
See the Best AI Tools Demoed Live—Creative, Analytics, and Engagement Solutions
Get ready to see the top AI tools transforming marketing—live and in action. Join DemoFest 2025: Adding AI to Your MarTech Stack on February 27th from 12 PM to 2 PM EST for a fast-paced, no-fluff experience featuring 15-minute rapid-fire demos from the most innovative AI marketing companies.
This is your chance to skip the AI hype and discover the tools that real marketing teams at brands like Intel, SAP, and HubSpot are already using to gain a competitive edge.
Clay. Data-driven prospecting and marketing insights
Usergems. AI-powered lead generation and prospecting
Letterdrop. SEO-powered content marketing
Wondercraft. AI audio content creation
Why should you attend?
You’ll leave with practical strategies and AI-powered solutions that you can implement immediately. Whether you’re looking to speed up creative production, enhance customer insights, or optimize real-time engagement, there’s something here for you.
Pick and choose the demos you care about most, connect with top AI innovators, and gain insights designed to help you win in 2025.
Don’t miss your chance to experience the best AI tools in marketing, all in one place.
1. Tell me more about yourself and your journey into content. I'm an eCommerce UX Designer, running a solo design agency. I started as a general UX Designer but decided to specialize in helping sustainable and positive-impact brands in the eCommerce space. When it comes to content, I create it primarily for my business with two goals in mind: providing value and promoting myself. Early on, my writing leaned toward complex, detailed social media posts, but I quickly realized the importance of simplicity. Now, I focus on crafting practical, easy-to-understand ideas that resonate with readers. While I’ve also done UX writing, it’s not my primary focus. My journey in both design and content has been about refining my approach to deliver clarity and value, whether it’s through a website or a piece of content. 2. How can content marketers balance user design and content creation to engage users most effectively? I believe there’s only good or bad design—nothing in between. There’s no need to balance content and design because they work together to create a seamless user experience. Content ensures there’s value for the user (and good UX requires a lot of content), while design makes that value accessible, visually appealing, and easy to interact with. When both are aligned, the result is always effective and engaging.
I read top content articles every week and find the best (so you don't have to).
🚨 Feature (kinda a must): New Semrush Study Reveals ChatGPT Search Trends: Insights from 80 Million Clickstream Records (Semrush)
Generative AI is reshaping search behavior, with ChatGPT increasingly driving traffic to smaller domains and educational resources, challenging traditional search engines like Google. Semrush analysis of 80 million clickstream records reveals key shifts in user intent and engagement. Read the full report and see how this impacts your digital strategy.
👉 Want to turn LinkedIn into a powerful marketing tool for your brand? This guide breaks down the best strategies, content formats, and engagement tactics to build credibility, reach your audience, and drive real business impact. Read the article to learn how to craft a LinkedIn content strategy that works.
2/ The Zero/Low Search Volume Dilemma (Sarah Taher)
👉 AI Overviews are taking over low and zero-search volume keywords—so what does that mean for your content strategy? This article explores why Google prioritizes long-tail queries, how AI is reshaping search, and what SEO experts should do next. Read the article before your traffic takes a hit.
👉 Is your organic traffic dropping, and you’re not sure why? This analysis, inspired by Aleyda Solis' insights, breaks down key questions and tools to diagnose ranking drops, understand Google's updates, and uncover hidden traffic opportunities. Read more.
4/ Google's Helpful Content Update Wasn't About Content Quality. It Was About Site Quality (Semrush)
👉 Google’s Helpful Content Update wasn’t just about bad content—it was about site-wide authority and weak backlinks. If your rankings dropped despite high-quality content, your link profile and overall site structure might be the real culprits. Read the full article.
👉 What makes a news article perfectly optimized for Google? This breakdown reveals the seven most valuable SEO elements—from headlines to internal linking—that can make or break your article’s visibility in Top Stories, Discover, and Google News. Read more here.
6/ 'Branding Moments': The Secret Science of Memorable Content (The Storytelling Edge)
👉 What makes content truly unforgettable? Neuroscientists have uncovered the secret: branding moments—the precise second when your audience's brain locks onto your story. More here.
Subscribe now to grow your content marketing and writing muscles! Each week, you'll get an expert interview from a leading content marketer (free consulting—yay!), quick & actionable writing tips, and content marketing trends you may have missed delivered straight to your inbox. It's an easy decision—join 7000 other content marketers now!
Hello Reader! Sponsored by: Lasso The easiest way to boost your affiliate earnings Affiliate marketers, bloggers, and content creators, meet your new best friend: Lasso—the ultimate toolkit for maximizing your affiliate earnings. With Lasso, you can automatically increase Amazon commission rates on eligible products, getting 3-5x higher payouts on the same products. Lasso also upgrades links in YouTube descriptions automatically, creates mobile deep links, and localizes Amazon links for...
Hello Reader! Good writing has rhythm, structure, and intention. Every choice you make shapes the story. It can mirror or elicit emotions—sharp and staccato for tension, like Raymond Carver: “He sat. She looked at him. He didn’t say anything. The clock ticked.” Or, it can flow like music—melodic, immersive, and full of wonder—like Brian Doyle: "What is it about the hum and thrum of a mother to her son and a father to his daughter that is unlike anything else in the universe, unlike anything...
read it Hello Reader! I know we've said this before, but content has been so bonkers lately. I've been experiencing so many instances of "let's use AI to make this more efficient." And, while AI can make many things more efficient, sometimes it really is better to have a human driving the carriage. Here are some instances where you may be asked to use AI, and ways to make it work: 1/ AI is great at summarizing. This is my FAVORITE use case. ✅ Use it to decode transcripts and articles and give...
