From Reads to Leads is a newsletter for writers who want more. It's about marketing. Strategy. Positioning. Operations. Results. And yes, it talks about writing too. But through a marketing lens. If this was sent to you, subscribe here so you don't miss the next email.
In today's newsletter:
I became a content writer in 2013 when I got hired to blog for a software development company.
Very few businesses in this industry at that time thought B2B buyers would actually use Google to search for vendors.
Content writing in the software field was new. And the company that hired me simply decided to make an experiment.
Long story short: I was lucky. Right place, right time.
Fast forward nearly a decade.
Before 2022 (before ChatGPT), being a content writer meant there was always work if you knew your stuff.
Writing was a competitive skill. It took time and practice to make it in B2B content. Honestly, how did we even do it without ChatGPT?
Now, things have changed.
Thanks to AI, everyone can write. Or at least, everyone can generate words that look like writing. That’s a big shift. The barrier to entry has collapsed.
So, what does that mean for content writers?
As I said in my pre-AI era book "From Reads To Leads”:
For content to work, people need to read it. And for people to read it, you need to get better at writing.
If content gets read, your marketing works. And people don't read poor content. So, how has the quality of writing changed with ChatGPT?
ChatGPT-generated content is not great.
At least now, bad writers can produce something… tolerable. It's still generic, but it doesn’t hurt to read.
That alone explains why some companies think they don’t need writers anymore.
They write a prompt and get a blog post. They don't need to spend that much time editing as they did before AI. Why hire someone?
An observation:
The companies replacing writers with AI are usually the same ones that used to hire bad writers in the first place.
These businesses never had a strong content culture.
They never expected much from content to begin with, so using ChatGPT is, in a way, an upgrade for them.
Companies still need content. They have two options – paid and free:
I bet you know which option they choose.
But eventually, everyone will realize: content that brings marketing wins can’t be fully automated.
But not just any writers.
They won’t rehire the ones whose work can’t beat ChatGPT. They’ll look for writers who can do what AI can’t:
Recently, I commented on a LinkedIn thread asking: Do we have too many writers now (that so many have decided they can make easy money with ChatGPT)? How can a writer become more competitive?
My take was simple:
One person replied:
“We’ll still need writers. There will always be a need for people to do a fraction of the work, just like we still hire developers, carpenters, or movers.”
But here’s the difference: carpenters and movers won’t be replaced by AI. Writers who do only “a fraction of the work” (putting together words based on a detailed brief) are. That kind of writing can be done by ChatGPT.
Businesses need content to do something: drive leads, build trust, rank on Google, move someone from point A to B in the buyer journey.
That’s not writing. That’s marketing.
So if you’re a writer who isn’t thinking like a marketer, you will be replaced. Writing is now a subset skill.
To survive, writers need to own outcomes, not just output.
I was in Ukraine for my vacation last week with my kid and my husband. We visited my family.
Lately, russians have been bombing Ukrainians especially hard, targeting schools, ambulances, hospitals, and residential buildings. They do it because they can. Because they feel like they can do whatever they want without having to pay for it. It's unbearable.
If you want to support Ukraine, follow this link: https://savelife.in.ua/en/donate-en/
Kate
P.S. If we aren't connected already, follow me on LinkedIn and Instagram. If you like this newsletter, please refer your friends.
P.P.S. Need a hand with content? Fix your mediocrity problem with Zmist & Copy
Fancy-pants words, ambiguity, and complexity are the enemies of good copy. Clarity is one of the main principles of writing content that people will read. Learn how to make your copy clear and simple.
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