Rottmann Lab

When you decide to incorporate ChatGPT and Midjourney into your editorial process, it is essential to establish clear roles within your editorial team and streamline the entire process as a first step. Clarity regarding the exact sequence of steps and their respective deliverables and how you will use generative AI in each step is crucial for quickly entering a productive collaboration mode on your transformation journey. In this post, we will share the blueprint of our editorial process, which can be adapted to different clients’ contexts. This blueprint may serve as a useful point of reference for your first steps with generative AI in your editorial team. We will outline the steps of an editorial process, emphasizing the importance of analytics and providing examples of data sources to better understand your audiences. Furthermore, we will discuss the potential of generative AI in each step.

Steps of a typical editorial process that includes generative AI

Step 1: First Editorial Meeting: Setting the Parameters and Communication Goals for the Sprint

The Sprint Planning lays the foundation for creating impactful content as a team. A sprint focusses on one communication and business goal and all editorial members will generate content that analyzes the topic through a different lens. Analytics will help identify topics that resonate with your target audience and contribute to your target word cloud/messaging house. Tools like Google Analytics and social media insights can offer valuable information about audience demographics, interests, and preferences. Also the performance of your past messaging to the same audience might give you some promising ideas. If you have to start from scratch, feed target audiences and word cloud to ChatGPT and ask it to generate content ideas for your channels as an ideation sparring partner. You might even ask your AI colleague to rank the ideas in order of their impact on the sprints business goal and off you go!

Generative AI Value Add for this step: ChatGPT can be utilized to generate content briefing outlines and content ideas tailored to your target audience’s needs and preferences. Make sure you control the prompt by providing a clear communication goal, business goal, and your target word cloud to maintain control over your messaging.

Step 2: Topical Editors Start Describing the Primary Asset

The primary asset is the collection of all content you want to use for your asset. This is usually a blog post, featuring a lot of details and different aspects. In this first stage of asset creation, the editorial team should brainstorm ideas and draft an initial indicative title and abstract for each of the primary assets. Analyzing audience engagement metrics, such as click-through rates and time spent on page, can help determine which topics and formats resonate with your target audience.

Generative AI Value Add for this step: ChatGPT can be utilized to generate content briefing outlines and content ideas. We typically begin sessions by telling ChatGPT to assume the role of our target audience and start developing content ideas from a strict audience perspective. Make sure you control the prompts to the generative AI by providing a clear communication goal, business goal, and your target word cloud to maintain control over your messaging (these are prerequisites to start the process; you can learn more about them in this blog post).

Step 3a: Topical Editor Developing the Asset

The topical editor will begin with due diligence on existing assets. This may involve checking for redundant content such as other web content, presentations, speech transcripts, interviews with newspapers, and podcasts (which can be transcribed using tools or recorded on your phone and transcribed using the dictate function in Word if you don’t want to invest in software right away). Let me take a quick break here and mention some words on the confidentiality of cloud services that you might be using on your journey. Any tool that uses your content sources as input and transfers content to a cloud service puts your confidential data at risk of being leaked (e.g. an unpublished not by your CEO on the business outlook that is supposed to remain confidential until publishing day). Be aware that anything that enters generative AI uses clouds, and this content becomes available to other sources immediately. You have two options: either don’t upload non-public information or make sure your organization has a set-up in place that encrypts and anonymizes content and audits API usage regularly. However, please note that this is a longer-term project and requires careful planning.

Other activities that occur in this step include selecting additional keywords to add to the target cloud’s priority keywords, ideally choosing specific keywords that are frequently used by your target audience. The Voice of the Audience Editor is the ideal person to contribute such information. The editorial colleagues in charge of amplification will provide input on ideal amplification assets to use, based on the audience group and the asset’s call to action. These colleagues will also help you determine the right success parameters for the asset, as they may believe that even “short” videos are too long for the sprint’s purpose.

Generative AI Value Add for this step: In this step, generative AI can add significant value by helping to create audience-centric outlines for the new asset. These outlines can be used as an interview questionnaire with Subject Matter Experts to ensure that the content is relevant and tailored to the target audience’s needs. Additionally, generative AI can provide keyword optimization for the initial draft, create attention-grabbing titles and headlines, suggest visually complementary assets that can accompany the blog post, and offer innovative ideas for more engaging digital formats and interaction designs based on the audience group and the call to action. All of these elements can help to increase the asset’s appeal and effectiveness in reaching and engaging the target audience.

Step 3b: Amplification Planning by the Amplification Editors

In amplification planning, the goal is to determine the most effective channels and formats to promote the content. The Amplification Editors review and draft optimal amplification tactics for the sprint based on the inputs of Step 1. By analyzing data from owned, earned, and paid channels, it’s possible to gain insights into which platforms are best suited for specific types of content and target audiences.

Generative AI Value Add for this step: Generative AI can be extremely helpful in this step by identifying the ideal social media platforms for promoting the content. By prompting questions like “List the most effective social media platforms for promoting a blog post about sustainable fashion,” generative AI can help discover new ways to reach the target audience. This tool can also suggest innovative formats for content delivery, such as interactive quizzes or videos, that may be more effective for specific platforms or audiences. Additionally, generative AI can provide insights into the most popular hashtags and keywords related to the topic, which can be useful for optimizing the content for search engines and social media algorithms. Overall, leveraging generative AI in amplification planning can help ensure the content reaches the right audience through the most effective channels and formats.

Step 4: Second Editorial Board Meeting

This editorial meeting is a crucial opportunity for the content director and the editorial team to discuss the content briefings and amplification tactics. It’s during this meeting that you identify overlaps and ensure that the content strategy aligns with the audience’s needs and interests. Generative AI can play a key role in helping you develop new ideas and close gaps in keywords or audiences that emerge during the meeting.

Additionally, during this meeting, the team should decide which assets will have the biggest impact on the sprint’s business goal and allocate amplification funding to these assets. By using generative AI to analyze data from owned, earned, and paid channels, the team can gain insights into which types of content are most likely to succeed on which platforms, making it easier to decide where to invest your amplification budget.

Generative AI Value Add for this step: Generative AI can also assist in identifying new content formats and tactics that may have been overlooked, allowing the team to create more diverse and engaging content that resonates with your target audience. With the help of AI-generated ideas and insights, your team can be more effective in meeting your business goals and delivering high-quality content that connects with your audience.

Step 5: Topical Editors finalize the primary and derived assets

In this final step, the asset is completed, ideally starting with an interview questionnaire (as described in Step 5). This ensures that you bring all the specific know-how of your company to the spotlight. Improving the asset, optimizing it for keywords, and adding titles and headlines can be done by using generative AI after you have contributed the necessary inputs. Quality checks and proofreading are then completed.

Next, there is the production of other digital assets that make your primary asset easier to grasp, consume, and amplify. These can be simple quotes, podcasts with your Subject Matter Expert, infographics based on your primary asset, and more.

Generative AI Value Add for this step: Generative AI can help you define mood boards (with Midjourney) and briefings for all derived assets. Simply upload your primary asset and ask ChatGPT to generate a concept for an infographic, video, or questions for an interview with your SME on a podcast. Generative AI is extremely effective once you have a unique and well-made source like your primary asset.

Conclusion: It Is a Crucial but Complex Topic

In conclusion, the use of generative AI and analytics can greatly enhance the editorial process. By utilizing these tools, organizations can create outside-in driven content that resonates with their target audience and establishes their brand as a trusted source of information and expertise.

If your organization is looking to improve their communication processes with the help of generative AI and analytics, we invite you to contact us. Our team has hands-on experience in using these tools to develop and implement effective content strategies that drive business results for your specific organization and goals. Let’s work together to create content that resonates with your target audience and establishes your brand as a thought leader in your industry!