BY Jessica Helinski
More sellers are using AI for sales content, but are they doing it responsibly? As AI adoption grows, reps must understand the importance of thoughtful AI use. This is especially true when creating and sharing content, which impacts their credibility.
Your content has the potential to sway buyers. When researching a supplier, product or service online, B2B buyers say they look for content including blog posts, vendor-written articles and social media posts, according to SalesFuel’s research.
In fact, buyers are even willing to share their contact information with a seller in exchange for:
- How-to tips — 27.24%
- An email newsletter subscription — 22.86%
- Case studies and success stories ‑22.36%
- A position paper or e‑book – 10.39%
But AI-generated content is becoming increasingly common, and buyers are taking notice. In fact, SalesFuel reports that nearly 30% of buyers say they've seen content that looks like it was generated by AI. A quarter say they’ve received emails that appear to be AI-written.
While buyers don’t dislike the use of AI, they don’t appreciate the “manufactured” feeling that AI-generated content can convey. They want a personal connection and custom messaging from vendors.
As Director of AdMall Sales Denise Gibson points out, “Buyers are increasingly attuned to the tone of the messages they receive."
"When content feels automated, it loses the sense of authenticity that builds trust," she adds.
What are best practices for using AI for sales content?
Sellers are using AI as part of their jobs, and many are using it to help them write. SalesFuel reports that 23% even say that it makes them a better writer. As more reps embrace AI-writing assistance, they must be thoughtful about the content they create with it.
It’s important that sellers strike a balance between using AI and their own personal input. 90% of buyers say they prefer working with salespeople over AI, clearly demonstrating reps’ value. And as Gibson shared, impersonal messaging from AI doesn’t resonate.
When using AI as a content-generating assistant, it’s vital to embrace best practices.
“Quality signals like accuracy, expertise and authority matter more than ever,” explains Bruce Clay, Search Engine Land.
Clay points out that many assume AI-generated content is high quality just because it flows well. When crafting content using AI, he suggests asking yourself:
- Would an expert phrase it this way?
- Does it match your voice?
- Does it provide the depth of human insight that the intended audience expects?
He also suggests training whichever large language model (LLM) your company uses. This way, the AI-generated content aligns with your usual creative content.
Create or Maintain a Style Guide
- Define audience personas.
- Specify voice traits and tone.
- Set reading level guidelines.
- List do’s and don’ts for phrases and language.
- Include formatting rules (greeting, headers, sentence/paragraph length, lists).
Build a Prompt Kit
- Include the style guide to ensure consistent tone and formatting.
- Use a content brief template to define content goals, specific audience, type (news, how-to, whitepaper), role, and desired outcome.
- Provide top-performing past articles, marketing materials, or other sales content as examples to train the LLM.
- Upload preferred third-party sources and prompt the model to cite sources after each paragraph.
Continuously Update
Like other aspects of your sales strategy, this shouldn’t be a one-and-done task. It’s important to revisit and refine the style guide, prompt kit and examples over time.
This will not only improve model performance and efficiency but also ensure your content evolves with your intended audiences.
When done thoughtfully, using AI for sales content can be an effective way to engage with buyers. But reps must prioritize their own human insight and emphasize personal connections. By blending AI assistance with your own expertise and following best practices, your content can remain authentic, credible and valuable.
Photo by Cytonn Photography on Unsplash
