Most businesses publish more content than ever, yet close fewer deals.

I know that sounds backward, and it is. Because the problem today is not volume. The problem is that most AI-assisted content is created to fill space, not build trust.

We need to give our buyers a little more credit.

Here's a scenario of what's actually happening right now in our fast-and-cheap AI-generated content craze. A company decides it needs to "do more content." Someone on the team gets access to an AI tool. They prompt it with something vague because they have a dozen other things to do that day, and a quick blog post adds a nice check off their to-do list.

Shockingly, the hurried prompt produces something generic. Publish and repeat. Laptops close for the day, and we call it a content strategy.

Six months later, the marketing team has met 100% of their content KPIs. And somehow, the sales team hasn't.

Most of the sales team is actually venting on a Teams chat, asking what the heck marketing is doing since they’ve heard, “I’ve never heard of your company,” from no less than 12 prospects this week.

This vicious cycle delivers a high volume of content that sounds like every other company in their category, says nothing specific, helps no one make a decision, and quietly trains the market to ignore them.

Laura Johns

The Human Problem Nobody Wants to Admit

AI wants you to be right. It doesn’t give two flips if you generate inbound leads. It has no stake in whether your phone rings, whether your pipeline moves, or whether that blog post ever gets read by a single person who might actually buy from you.

Those parts are entirely on us humans.

And here is something else that requires a human brain: AI doesn't have a clue what's going on in your buyer's mind.

Human brains are also capable of getting really obsessed with their clients. So much so that they really understand what their customer is going through before they buy from them. They can use the data that AI and automation provide, pair it with that deep, human understanding of your customer’s problems, and develop a killer content strategy that puts the words your buyer actually needs to hear at that moment in time right in front of them, with your logo right beside that supportive guide.

Back to the not-so-great part of us humans.

We’ve tricked ourselves into believing that our clients are sitting around thinking about us as much as we are sitting around thinking about them.

But statistically, at any given moment, 97% of your total buying population is not thinking about you. In fact, they’re not even ready to make a purchase. They are locked into a contract with your competitor. They are still in research mode. They are 11 months away from the conversation you want to have. Or, God forbid, they’re actually happy with their current vendor.

The content that does something different helps your buyer, whether they ever buy from you or not. It gives more than it takes. It answers their question because it was so thoughtfully written that it makes them feel seen and heard. Then, they remember you.

Over time, that same content prompts a buyer to question their current vendor. It raises their standard without them realizing it. It brings things to the surface just enough to make them realize what good actually looks like, with proof (i.e., your clients saying so, not you), so that when their contract window opens, you are already the obvious answer.

Done right, this is not lazy content at all. It is a long game built on trust. The brands that play it are not always the ones with the busiest LinkedIn feed. They are the ones who stayed intentional enough about their buyer that when renewal came up, the prospect came to them.

Where AI Shines in Content Strategy

Here is the thing nobody in the AI conversation is saying:

AI should be doing the work that gives your company its humanity back.

Research, structure, first drafts, repurposing, scaling distribution. Those are legitimate uses. Powerful ones. They return hours to your team every single week. But those hours are supposed to go somewhere meaningful, toward the judgment calls, the client stories, the specific insights, the genuine empathy that no AI tool can manufacture because it was not in the room when your client called you at 7 a.m. in a panic.

What This Means for Your Team

The bar just got higher.

When a buyer searches for answers today, AI summaries surface the most credible responses, not the most recent ones. Your content is now competing with synthesized answers pulled from every expert in your space and packaged cleanly. Generic content does not win in that environment.

That is the bar. The companies that clear it will build authority that compounds for years. Salespeople will actually love your marketing team.

My challenge is to those of you who are human. You are the only part of this equation that AI cannot replicate. Act like it.

(Laura Johns is CEO of The Business Growers, a growth partner serving MSPs, IT, and telecom companies. She will be presenting Marketing Content That Converts: Gaining Authority in the AI Era at the Channel Partners Conference on Tuesday, April 14, 5:40 PM, Level 2, Hall C, Booth 2469. In her 20-minute presentation, she promises to give away the one framework that will change how your team briefs, builds, and distributes content starting the week you get home.)