Right here’s precisely how the HubSpot weblog staff makes use of AI

I’m going to be actual with you: I’m exhausted. We blinked, and it felt like every part was run by synthetic intelligence (AI). I’m being dramatic, after all, 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 study, the extra we notice 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 generally is a highly effective device that helps us all work quicker and smarter – with out sacrificing our human contact.

Right here on the HubSpot weblog staff, 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 circumstances 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 speak by how we’ve introduced AI into our writing course of.

Lately, I used to be arising with matters for HubSpot’s Breaking the Blueprint column, and had some hassle getting began. I tagged ChatGPT in for some assist, prompting:

“I‘m brainstorming article matters for a weblog targeted on giving entrepreneurs and enterprise professionals from underrepresented teams recommendation and knowledge they should know. I need to goal particular matters and considerations which might be 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?”

This is a peek at its response:

From there, I workshopped the strategies after which met with a colleague to finalize the matters that finest suited our viewers.

Like I stated, AI doesn‘t absolutely substitute bouncing concepts off a colleague, however it could present a promising place to begin whenever you’re caught. This acquired my artistic 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 data 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 prime concern is all the time high quality and accuracy. I need to make sure that the knowledge I put in entrance of any viewers is effective and reliable. Meaning lots of analysis, and good analysis takes time.

Generative AI will help exponentially right here with its capacity to collect and summarize data from a number of sources, usually in seconds. Actually, 47% of entrepreneurs report utilizing AI for analysis already.

In relation to my very own analysis course of, I not should filter by pages and pages of Google outcomes to search out the knowledge I want. As a substitute, AI does a lot of the heavy attempting to find me and wraps it up into a pleasant, easy-to-understand package deal. It doesn’t simply give me a useful resource that would possibly reply my query like a search engine; it provides me a solution immediately.

Forsey additionally sees the advantages of utilizing AI for content material analysis.

She recollects, “As soon as, I wanted to put in writing 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 needed in a couple of brief paragraphs:

Kaitlin Milliken, Senior Program Supervisor for our Freelance Author Community, considers AI a giant a part of her analysis course of as nicely. She shares the way it’s helped her distill details about HubSpot merchandise when writing.

“Once we write about merchandise, I will ask AI to clarify in additional element what makes a sure product distinctive, and it provides me a listing of specifics that may assist inform my writing/modifying.”

The consequence? Utilizing AI for content material analysis and evaluation has helped us dig deeper and uncover angles and understandings we could have missed or taken extra time to come back 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 attention-grabbing. We don’t simply analysis and brainstorm with AI — we really let it assist us write. However there are parameters to our strategy.

The HubSpot weblog staff doesn’t simply copy, paste, and publish AI-generated content material. Fairly, 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 study from real-life entrepreneurs, gross sales, and repair individuals. They need professional, verified examples and accounts of what works and what doesn’t.

That form 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 could rapidly collect preliminary, basic data for our writers and editors to construct right into a last piece.

Our writers use AI to save lots of time, notably for extra basic, academic 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 example, I’ve usually turned to AI to draft conclusions in latest 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 usually discovered myself rewriting introductions and conclusion paragraphs a number of instances. Now that I’ve entry to those instruments, my time for finishing weblog articles has been lower down tremendously. AI can seize the subject, intent, and focused key phrases I want by refined AI prompts.”

She provides, “It additionally permits me to refocus on the content material or data of worth that readers are in search of, as a substitute of ruminating over small particulars firstly or finish.”

Our staff has used AI in our artistic transient and outlining course of for over a yr, and we‘ve began experimenting with AI-generated first drafts. To date, we’ve discovered AI drafting to be a useful time-saving measure for some matters, although not all.

For extra basic matters, resembling “what’s” and “the best way to’s,” it frees up extra of our writers‘ and editors’ time to talk with different specialists, 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: Methods 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 research information and uncover insights.

Numbers don‘t lie. They add credibility to our articles, however they don’t all the time inform their story clearly both. This is how AI helps us make sense of our information.

Numbers are usually not my robust swimsuit. 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 yr, I examined this use case for our State of Inclusive Advertising and marketing 2025 report. ChatGPT permits you to add spreadsheets, so I hooked up the file and requested it to provide me probably the most important traits coming by the info.

Initially, the agent simply returned a simplified spreadsheet (womp), however after I requested that it clarify the qualitative traits in paragraph type, right here’s what I acquired:

May I’ve distilled these traits 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 traits 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 regularly improper, however the o3 mannequin has enormously improved.”

Whereas it’s tempting simply to take the traits 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 dealing with 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 boost our content material.

Nice phrases deserve nice visuals. This 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 type of superior content material is out of attain for me and entrepreneurs with restricted design and improvement expertise.

Fortunately, many AI instruments can be found now to assist us. Actually, our AI Developments for Entrepreneurs report discovered that picture and design mills are tied with basic chatbots for the most well-liked AI device entrepreneurs use.

Supply

Senior advertising and marketing supervisor and AI blogger Martina Bretous showcases generative AI’s prowess on this space in her sequence “Is it Actual or AI?”

In it, she crafts a wide range of multimedia content material (i.e., video, audio, photographs) utilizing AI and challenges readers to see if they’ll determine them. As an example, this video of a gorgeous yellow hen 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 funds.

Supply

General, AI helps us create visible parts that may really improve the expertise of our content material and make the ideas simpler to know. There are tons of strong AI video and AI picture mills, together with HubSpot’s Breeze, that you should use to do the identical.

Step 6: We use AI as a top quality management verify.

Earlier than any piece goes dwell, it goes by our modifying course of. And sure, AI performs a job right here too — however not in the best way you would possibly anticipate.

Whether or not we notice it or not, we’ve been utilizing AI for proofreading and modifying for many years.

Give it some thought: spell and grammar verify on Microsoft Phrase and Google Docs, “autocorrect” on iPhone, Grammarly — even non-writers depend on these instruments to reduce misspelled phrases and grammar points that would come off as negligent or unprofessional.

At this time, 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 latest 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 satisfy 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 carefully. AI usually 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 best 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 seen.”

I wish to immediate it with one thing like, ‘Suppose like a digital marketer who will learn this piece to determine which software program to purchase. What considerations 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 staff’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 persistently on model.

“Earlier than I submit an article, I can run it by the GPT and get a line-by-line breakdown of something that may violate our model tips. Sure, AI typically returns outputs which might be overly pedantic or heavy-handed. That’s why human judgment all the time will get the ultimate say. It is my duty to verify that what it tells me is smart and correct. If it isn’t, I disregard it.”

Take a look at our free Masterclass “Methods to Create Customized GPTs That 10x Your Advertising and marketing Outcomes” to learn to construct a customized GPT to your staff.

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 executed—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 after 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 true golden nuggets of data.

Regardless of the cause, rapidly producing the correct messaging to advertise your content material is one in every of my favourite makes use of of AI. As an example, right here’s what ChatGPT gave me after I requested it for some social copy primarily based on this text:

It’s not good, but it surely provides 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 supply a 100-150-character meta description.

The fantastic thing about this strategy is that AI handles the preliminary artistic 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 staff sustain with it.

Juviler explains his strategy. “On this new realm of AEO and, extra broadly, AI-powered advertising and marketing, I have been leveraging Gen AI as an data consolidation agent.”

“We‘re continuously flooded with AI-related information, suggestions, and applied sciences, so at any time when I come throughout a brand new piece of data — whether or not it’s a video, weblog submit, podcast, publication, and many others.— I run it by a customized GPT I’ve arrange that helps me decide whether or not it’s vital 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 prime of the stream of AI information with out getting overwhelmed. This idea may be used for different traits 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 right now, our staff is studying as we go in the case of AI. The know-how has its advantages but in addition 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 best way.

We’ll embody a disclaimer on any submit we write that has been AI-supported, letting you already know that we used AI to finish the submit. And also you’re welcome to dig into the HubSpot Media AI tips to study 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 with no consideration.