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Access to AI-supported tools, including ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, has expanded greatly, giving advisors more opportunities to generate and share content quickly.
But as with any other tech innovation, it’s worth considering the benefits and challenges fully before going all-in on AI, especially with something as important as your firm’s content marketing strategy.
Offloading certain tasks to AI can be appealing, especially for solo advisors (or those operating with a lean team). Used effectively, it can be a time and energy-saver. But as you’re likely aware, AI tools are not perfect — they also tend to produce repetitive, generalized content that may not always resonate with your target audience.
Maybe you’ve already started experimenting with AI-generated content. Or you might be curious whether an AI engine really has a place within your firm.
Let’s consider the possibilities together.
First, Consider Your Goals
Before determining where (or if) AI fits into your workflow, identify your content goals.
The advisors we work with are often interested in:
- Connecting with a niche audience on LinkedIn;
- Optimizing their digital presence for SEO and AEO (search and answer engines);
- Keeping current clients informed and engaged;
- Increasing referrals;
- Growing their firm; and
- Building thought leadership and industry authority.
You’re likely looking to accomplish a combination of all of the above. Understanding what you’d like to accomplish will help you determine if there is, in fact, an opportunity for AI to support or streamline your process.
Where AI Helps
To be clear, AI does not replace human intelligence or the unique perspective you bring to the table. As much as it’s tempting to take a “set it and forget it” approach to using AI, you will need to remain involved and vigilant with whatever content you produce.
Remember, other advisors have access to the same tools you do. The content your engine creates will be similar (or sometimes, the same) to what it generates for other advisors.
The difference is in how you write prompts, edit responses, and ultimately leverage what’s created. As with many things in life, the more you put into it, the more you’ll get out.
Solo advisors may find AI especially helpful for:
1. Brainstorming Ideas
As you sit down to write LinkedIn posts, email newsletters, or blog posts, not knowing where to start is often the first and hardest hurdle.
AI tools are a great place to brainstorm ideas, especially when you tell the generator about your firm, what you do, who you serve, and your clients’ common pain points. Once you have some ideas generated, you can hit the ground running on your own or prompt for more detailed deliverables.
2. Repurposing Content
With content marketing, the key is to work smarter, not harder — particularly when you’re doing it on your own. Once you’ve created something, like a video or blog post, AI is a great tool for repurposing it.
This can be especially effective when you write the original content, as it’s essentially repackaging your own words into different formats, such as LinkedIn posts, email newsletters, landing page copy, etc.
Where It Doesn’t Help
AI does have its downfalls, at least in the iterations available to advisors today. (But who knows what tomorrow will bring?)
For example, AI is not the best source for feedback or critiques. Certain generators, like ChatGPT, tend to agree with users and provide positive feedback no matter what. AI also lacks real human perception, meaning it struggles to provide meaningful determinations on how something will resonate with real audiences or what to improve.
AI-generated content may also lack depth of knowledge, making it difficult to strictly leverage AI content to connect with sophisticated or unique audiences (doctors, lawyers, executives, etc.).
This is where your experience can really shine: wrapping your unique perspective into an AI-created outline or template.
Don’t Forget the Fundamentals
Wherever you incorporate AI into your process, you’ll still need to remember the basics of what makes content marketing work.
Keep your messaging focused on who you’re trying to connect with. You can leverage AI to create valuable resources with deep insights, but in order to be effective, those insights must resonate with the right audience at the right time (top of the funnel versus ready to hire an advisor, for example).
AI won’t have the same expertise as you do when it comes to speaking clearly and directly to your ideal clients based on their financial picture. But, AI can help get topics and drafts started.
To get the most out of your AI drafts, share as much insight into who your ideal client is and what stage of their decision-making journey they’re in. For example, you might use an AI prompt such as:
My financial advisory firm specializes in helping physicians at various stages of their career. We want to post a series of insights on LinkedIn, and most of our LinkedIn audience consists of mid-career physicians who are balancing their growing career, their young children, and their long-term financial future. They know they could use financial help, but they’re not ready to hire an advisor yet. What are some topics for our LinkedIn series that would resonate with them?
Once you have a response, you can blend in your specific expertise and understanding of your audience.
It’s also important that you always opt for clarity over creativity. AI often drafts content with a lot of metaphors and flowery language, which have their place, but should never come at the expense of clear writing. If your readers are confused, they aren’t connecting.
Similarly, make sure whatever you’re publishing is a good reflection of your name and reputation. AI content, especially when unedited, has a tendency to sound good enough on the surface while lacking real meaning or depth.
Just because something is quick to generate doesn’t always mean it’s worth sharing with the world. AI-generated content still needs your oversight and input, and it always should reflect your firm’s values and goals.
To help, try sharing examples of previous posts, newsletters, or just your website URL with your chosen AI platform and ask it to provide a draft or edits that follow a similar cadence, tone, and format.
Whenever you lean on AI for help, make sure that you ultimately blend your firm’s unique style into the content you share. After all, your personality and your team are the true differentiators of your firm, and you don’t want that to get lost in generic, fully AI-generated content.
Read more by Mikel Bruce:
Mikel Bruce is the CEO of TinyFrog Technologies, a San Diego web design agency specializing in WordPress web design & development and secured hosting & maintenance. TinyFrog provides a conversion-based approach to web design, with a focus on creating websites that are relevant to the people exploring and navigating it. TinyFrog has built over 1,500 websites over the last 22 years, and has extensive experience designing and building websites for financial advisors.
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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
