One of the biggest reasons I\u2019m a late(r) convert to AI is that AI-generated content usually has some tells. And while I\u2019m a little closer to it than most, when I spot social media content that\u2019s a direct copy-paste from GPT, it feels canned and inauthentic, and I lose trust in the person or brand.<\/p>\n\n
While I firmly believe that authenticity is important everywhere you market your business<\/em>, it\u2019s especially important when it comes to making connections and growing relationships<\/strong> on social media.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n In fact, while I\u2019m 100% on board with using AI to brainstorm or flesh out ideas, I will never advocate blindly publishing AI-generated social, blog, or email content. With that in mind, I want to share my approach to using AI in social media strategies<\/a> in a way that allows you to be more effective in how<\/em> you spend your time while still sounding like you.<\/p>\n Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n How AI Can Level Up Your Social Media<\/a> <\/p>\n How to Maintain Authenticity When Using AI<\/a> <\/a> <\/p>\n AI isn\u2019t going anywhere. ChatGPT alone is responsible for millions of conversations every day. And the vast majority of marketers responding to our 2025 Marketing Trends Survey<\/a> say that AI is making a significant impact on their work, to the tune of nearly 80%.<\/p>\n With that in mind, you\u2019re probably already using AI and doing so feeling pretty good about job security. Just 18% of marketers expressed concern that AI would take over most marketers\u2019 job duties.<\/p>\n The rest feel confident that it will either take away menial aspects of marketing or act as a partner, making marketing more efficient. The key phrase here? \u201cMore efficient.\u201d Notice, I didn\u2019t say \u201cas a total replacement.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s because generative AI has some specific telltale signs. Some of them?<\/p>\n Parallel construction sentence structure \u2014 \u201cnot only\u2026but also.\u201d There are more, and I\u2019m not using this as an example of why not<\/em> to use generative AI. People do use those tells, too \u2014 and that\u2019s precisely why ChatGPT does. Instead, I want to point out that if all of your social content looks like AI or is obviously AI-generated, it can feel inauthentic and may erode your audience\u2019s trust.<\/p>\n M. Shannon Hernandez<\/a>, founder and CEO of Joyful Business Revolution, agrees. \u201cI have seen nothing that AI has leveled up on social media. The world of social media is swimming with AI, and now is the time to embrace your very humanness and actually stand out in a sea of mediocrity.\u201d<\/p>\n While generative AI is the most popular use for social media, some great options include:<\/p>\n Brainstorming<\/strong>. I love plugging basic ideas into ChatGPT and asking it to flesh them out further or point out questions people may have. <\/p>\n Maintaining a consistent voice.<\/strong> Teach your favorite AI tool how you write. Then, it can help you make sense of random musings. <\/p>\n Polishing your content.<\/strong> Whenever I have something that\u2019s close to the sentiment but doesn\u2019t quite flow right, I often go to GPT to help me make it sound better. <\/p>\n Getting more mileage out of long-form content.<\/strong> Most people I know publish a blog and drop a few posts on social media. Instead, you can use AI to help you pull out some important ideas and make your content go further without repeating yourself. <\/p>\n Showing up more consistently<\/strong>. Hit-and-run (also known as post-and-ghost) social media isn\u2019t a strategy. AI can help you come up with more ideas at scale and give you writing prompts for social posts so you can write and schedule a ton of content at once. <\/p>\n Creating images<\/strong>. Whether you\u2019re using DALL-E to come up with images or using Canva to mass-create quote images to go with captions you\u2019ve written, I think this is one of the best ways to work smarter, not harder. <\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n Over 32% of marketers say product demonstrations or tutorials perform best on social media, with user-generated (22.5%) and behind-the-scenes (22%) content right on its heels.<\/p>\n So, what\u2019s falling behind in terms of social media performance? Educational content ranks lowest. And just 18% of marketers say influencer marketing is their top-performing content.<\/p>\n But here\u2019s what really caught my eye \u2014 84% of marketers expect AI-generated influencers or avatars to start replacing real humans this year.<\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s a red flag, because AI can\u2019t replace real connection<\/em>. And if you\u2019re using AI in your content strategy, how you use it matters. Here are a few tips for maintaining authenticity in your social media strategy.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve probably heard the phrase \u201cgarbage in, garbage out.\u201d The same applies to AI. It isn\u2019t a mind reader \u2014 at least not yet. That means it can only go off of the information you feed it about what you\u2019re creating, which makes it important to spend time developing your prompts.<\/p>\n \u201cAs you\u2019re building the prompt, make sure that you put enough effort into the description. I like to tell it who I am, who the client is, the voice to use, and an overview of what you\u2019re looking for. Where possible, it\u2019s helpful to give an example. Once you\u2019ve done that, you\u2019ve given AI enough to go on and give you a draft for the first version you can edit,\u201d says Alyssa Burkus<\/a>, a ghostwriter who offers thought leadership consulting.<\/p>\n Pro tip: <\/strong>Don\u2019t be afraid to kick it back with feedback until it gets you closer to what you want.<\/p>\n In my experience, AI rarely nails my sentiment the first time. So I like to ask for 3-4 versions of whatever I\u2019m using it to create, especially when it comes to emails and social media copy. I find that the slight variations help me get really close to what I want. Plus, it gives me some phrasing I can pick and choose from.<\/p>\n I am low-key obsessed with creating different custom GPTs. I\u2019ve got a few types set up \u2014 true custom GPTs and what I call \u201cGPT memories.\u201d<\/p>\n If you find you\u2019re going to create a lot of a specific type of content, which comes with complex instructions, it\u2019s probably worth your while to train a custom GPT.<\/p>\n\n Just choose \u201cMy GPTs\u201d in the dropdown menu and follow the instructions to train your own. The possibilities are endless, so I\u2019m not going to go into more detail here. I\u2019ve got these for emails, social posts, and even landing pages to streamline the drafting process.<\/p>\n The other thing I like to use is ChatGPT\u2019s memories. For example, I\u2019ve taught mine a handful of LinkedIn prompts, hooks, and rules I like to use. Then, all I have to do is ask ChatGPT if it remembers my LinkedIn rules and what they are. Once it responds, I can ask it to take whatever we\u2019ve been discussing and use those rules to give me some social post ideas.<\/p>\n Your stories and your perspective are what make you come alive. There\u2019s nothing more authentic than sharing what\u2019s actually happening in your business right now<\/em>. Use AI to shape your stories or repurpose your content \u2014 but ground it in something real. Even coupling an AI-generated social media caption with a candid photo can make it feel more personal.<\/p>\n One of my favorite takeaways from a recent AI + SEO webinar with Neil Patel was not to do it all in one go. Instead of asking AI to write a full social caption, carousel, and CTA in one prompt, break it up.<\/p>\n Ask it to do A. Then ask it to take A and do B. Then add C. You\u2019ll get better results \u2014 and more control.<\/p>\n Anecdotally, I\u2019ve found this true as well, so it was quite validating to hear it. By dripping out information piece by piece, AI can build a foundation for what I\u2019m using it to do and be far more effective than cramming it all into one prompt.<\/p>\n Want to make sure your social media content feels authentic? Tell your AI chatbot exactly what you want to say or be known for.<\/p>\n Use a tool like Loom, Otter.ai, or even the voice feature in Google Docs to talk out your two cents on whatever topic is at hand, and then feed that transcript into the generative AI tool with a prompt to use your thoughts and ideas to map out some social posts.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve found it helpful to ask for ideas first and then flesh those out into posts with a dedicated structure.<\/p>\n AI isn\u2019t just about generating new content. It\u2019s also helpful to keep your finger on the pulse of what\u2019s going on in your space.<\/p>\n Nikita Morell<\/a>, copywriter and messaging strategist for architects, shares, \u201cOne of my favorite ways to use AI for social media is using tools like Gumloop to \u2018listen in\u2019 on discussions and help me identify topics to share on social media. From there, it can either come up with post drafts for me to edit or just send me a list of ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAI can\u2019t sound human. That\u2019s why it gets tone so wrong. Tone is fundamentally the communication of emotion. And emotion is (for now) a purely human concept,\u201d says Gill Hill<\/a>, editor, brand voice specialist, and founder of Interrobang!?<\/a><\/p>\n While this relates in part to the telltale signs of AI mentioned above, it goes further. If you think of AI as the average of all things said on the Internet, it makes sense that AI-generated content extracts personality and everything that makes content interesting.<\/p>\n Hill agrees. \u201cAs brands realize that AI is just a hollow shell of emojis that attempt to replicate tone, they are reaching out for human help. Companies who have never thought about brand voice before (or heaven forbid, discounted it as unnecessary) now look at AI copy and know that the tone is wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n The solution, then, is to go ahead and use AI to your heart\u2019s content. Just don\u2019t post it blindly.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n My friend Monique Swansen<\/a> has a rule: \u201cJust because you can, doesn\u2019t mean you should.\u201d While she usually uses it in an accounting context because that\u2019s her zone of genius, I\u2019ve found it applies in so many other places\u2026 including AI.<\/p>\n Even if AI can<\/em> do something, it doesn\u2019t always mean you should use it that way. Here are a few situations where it\u2019s best to leave AI on the sidelines.<\/p>\n It\u2019s tempting to click on LinkedIn\u2019s AI prompts when it generates a comment \u2014 I get it. However, in my experience, AI comments seem to do one of two things:<\/p>\n Summarize the post. What do the two have in common? Neither adds anything of value. And they both feel inauthentic. The best comments \u2014 the ones people actually<\/em> notice \u2014 add to the discussion and share personal experiences. Just like you\u2019d see in any real-life situation.<\/p>\n Same goes for DMs. Some people I know have started putting a period in their LinkedIn profile names to make it easier to spot the bots.<\/p>\n Thought leadership, at its core, is your thoughts and perspectives, informed by your <\/em>lived experiences. By definition, AI doesn\u2019t have that \u2014 it\u2019s artificial. It can pull from patterns, mimic tone, and organize ideas. But it doesn\u2019t know what you know.<\/p>\n Sure, use AI to flesh out an outline or smooth out a few talking points \u2014 after you\u2019ve plugged in your two cents.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t plug a post into GPT, copy it word-for-word, and hit publish. It usually feels generic and removes all the energy from your voice.<\/p>\n
\n When You Should Avoid AI<\/a>
\n Being Transparent About How You Use AI<\/a> <\/p>\nHow AI Can Level Up Your Social Media<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n Abundance of emojis \u2014 \ud83c\udf89 \ud83d\udca5 \u2665\ufe0f \u2705
\n Generic hooks \u2014 \u201cIn today\u2019s fast-paced world\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n1. Use descriptive AI prompts.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
2. Ask for multiple versions.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
3. Create rules or custom GPTs for different types of copy.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
4. Share your experiences.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
5. Take it one prompt at a time.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
6. Feed AI a transcript of you talking.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
7. Use AI for social listening.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
8. Add a human touch and oversight to every post.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
When You Should Avoid AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The Comments Section or DMs<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n Choose one aspect of the post to elevate. <\/p>\nOriginal Thought Leadership<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Copy and Paste Situations<\/strong><\/h3>\n