Many asset managers and wealth managers love how artificial intelligence (AI) creates copious content quickly, efficiently, and cheaply. However, AI-created marketing content may have substantial drawbacks. Here are the six worst mistakes asset managers make in using AI for marketing and what to do about them.

1. AI Content is Robotic

Most AI programs create content that sounds and reads like it was written by a soulless robot. Which is true, in a sense—a robot did write it. Ask an AI program a question, and it gives you an answer based on the existing gigabytes of data points and patterns in its system.

At first glance, AI-produced writing may look helpful and thorough. But does the text sound like it could be for any industry, not just for asset management? Does it read like any of your fund or financial services competitors could have created it? Does the writing include specific and unique personal examples, stories, case studies, and/or facts that only your firm’s people could have lived and written about.

What to do about robotic content: Your writers and editors must be part of the creation process. There’s no substitute for human judgment in telling an amazing and relevant story. You don’t want your thought leadership posts, videos, website, presentations, white papers, social media, or other material sounding like little writer robots are hunkering over an assembly line, with no bathroom breaks.

2. AI Content Lacks Soul

AI marketing material, when produced without human intervention, has little if any emotional intelligence, cultural awareness, or personal touch. In other words, it lacks soul.

The multi-Grammy award-winning jazz pianist Herbie Hancock loves technology and uses it in his music. Still, the albums he has created—straight-ahead jazz, funk, fusion, rap, rock, world, electronic, soul, and a mixture—are based on his unique creativity, originality, experience, and perspective. He doesn’t repeat himself. AI can produce text that may sound great for asset manager blogs, presentations, videos, and more. But where’s the soul and heart?

What to do about content without soul: Your content marketing team must ask AI the right question (or questions). You can’t expect emotion or passion from vague questions like “write me a blog post about trends in asset management.” Better to prompt your favorite AI program with specific and detailed requirements. Better yet, and essential, of course, is to review and rewrite, in your own words, the generic verse that AI notes.

3. AI Content Lacks Insight

Real people can provide meaningful insights. Your firm’s senior executives, marketers, and portfolio managers know their stuff, or should. Don’t expect AI to produce novel investment thoughts.

AI doesn’t have the knowledge, expertise, and synapses of your great team of managers. For example, AI may oversimplify your sophisticated investment strategy, use too much jargon, or repeat itself.

Plus, most AI databases are not necessarily up-to-date; their information might be months old. The result: its input has no idea of current market conditions or what investors are thinking.

What to do about content with no insight: Knowing your unique messaging and how to communicate it, whether in writing or speaking, takes strategic planning and training to communicate your expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. In Google parlance, experience, expertise, authority, and trust, is known as “EEAT.” Writing that maximizes the EEAT paradigm will make sure you write with insight. Text with EEAT also helps boost your page rankings on Google.

4. AI Content May Not be Compliant

Don’t assume that the information your AI tool gives you is legally compliant. AI text may be promissory or include prohibited testimonials or outdated and non-compliant performance data. FINRA has created and will continue to develop regulations regarding AI-created content and more.

What to do about potentially non-compliant content: Your compliance staff likely has a content review process independent of who or how the material was created. They’ll review for proper disclosure, attribution, and all the important things they must look at.

5. AI Content Can Be Viewed as Plagiarism

The potential for plagiarism is high with so much AI-produced material being created. Who wants to post copied content that may undermine trust, damage your reputation, and face copyright infringement claims?

Moreover, Google will penalize your website and blog posts if you publish duplicate content, lowering your page rankings.

What to do about plagiarized content: AI technology may come to the rescue. Several technology tools detect plagiarism; the most commonly used (no endorsement implied) include Copyleaks, Grammarly, and Scribbr. These programs, and others like them, may also have a feature that detects AI-written content.

6. AI Content Can Be Off-Brand

Watch for AI-generated subject matter that doesn’t sound like your firm’s tone, voice, vocabulary, and brand. Don’t destroy the brand identity you may have worked years to cultivate.

What to do about content that’s not you: We’ve said it before, and here it bears repeating: your marketing team must review all text to ensure it maintains your brand voice, no matter who or how it was created.

Top AI Content Marketing Generators

Here’s an unofficial and incomplete list of AI engines to consider for marketing content creation and collaboration. This list is not an endorsement of any program. Many provide more comprehensive services than those listed below. Remember, these are tools, not human replacements—real people still need to create the work.

• Articles, website text, social media. ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity
• Videos, audio, webinars. InVideo, Runway, Synthesia
• Presentations, infographics, charts. Canva, Infogram, Piktochart
• Fact sheets, annual, and semi-annual reports.  Broadridge, Kurtosys, Seismic
• Email text and subject lines. HubSpot, Jasper, Mailmodo

The Final Word on AI in Marketing Content (For Now)

Enlightened asset managers must think of AI as a collaborative marketing tool that can help provide ideas you may not have thought about, create outlines, and speed the process.

Sophisticated clients and prospects can recognize AI-created writing when they see it and will penalize you for it. Don’t post crappy AI content.

AI will undoubtedly get more creative and compelling over time.

However, as always, your executives and creative talent must incorporate your firm’s unique perspective—the human touch—into everything you publish.

Schedule a complimentary strategy session to discover how AI-generated marketing content can help or impede your marketing strategy and growth plans.

Frank Serebrin is the Content Marketing Director for Sondhelm Partners. He leads strategic and creative content and marketing services for our asset management and wealth management clients.